Abstract
The A-not-B task is a marker task for infant development where an infant searches for an object being hidden twice, in two consecutive places. In two studies N = 70 infants plus 40 controls were tested in this task using two separate, infant-sized tables. In the first study, the separate tables were joined in front of the infant to form one area. No facilitation effect occurred. In the second study, an air gap was left between tables which facilitated search, but no learning transfer occurred. Results are discussed on the background of object-place binding theory (Treisman, 2006a, b): Initially object-place binding is taking place, which then needs to be dissociated, if the object must be bound to a new, second place. Thus infants need to switch from an object priority to a place priority. An object and place association-dissociation-association binding model (ADA) of spatial learning integrates object-based (object permanence) with space-based accounts of the A-not-B task