The term ‘experience’ has been used by develop mental psychologists to refer both to effects of environmental stimulation and to opportunity for the acquisition of a particular behavior. This paper contrasts these differing conceptions of the role of experience and their consequences for various issues in this field. The two types of experiental effects are further expanded by considering the role of control, through selection and exploratory behavior, over environmental stimulation, and of feedback from the environment to the child’s response. The relevance of the resulting fourfold scheme for a conceptualization of environmental effects in development is discussed and suggestions made for a functional ecology of develo
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