THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO FIND OUT IF INFANTS WOULD EXHIBIT BEHAVIORS CONSISTENT WITH PIAGET'S OBSERVATIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF RECIPROCAL COORDINATIONS AMONG THE LOOKING, SUCKING AND GRASPING SCHEMAS. A SECOND PURPOSE WAS TO SEE IF INCREASED LOOKING AT AND TOUCHING OF NEARBY OBJECTS BY INFANTS WOULD RESULT IN ACCELERATION OF THE COORDINATING PROCESS. EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS WERE A GROUP OF NORMAL BUT INSTITUTION-REARED INFANTS (1 1/2 TO 5 MONTHS OLD) WITH A CONTROL GROUP OF 43 WHO HAD BEEN SPECIALLY TRAINED. ONCE A WEEK EACH BABY WAS BROUGHT TO THE TESTING ROOM AND GIVEN 3 OPPORTUNITIES TO RESPOND TO THE PRESENTATION OF THE TEST OBJECT. EACH WAS THEN GIVEN THE OBJECT-IN-HAND TEST. SOME OF THE INFANTS HAD BEEN REARED UNDER CONDITIONS DESIGNED TO ACCELERATE SENSORIMOTOR DEVELOPMENT. THESE SUBJECTS SHOWED PRECOCIOUS VISUALLY-DIRECTED REACHING AND HEIGHTENED VISUAL ATTENTIVENESS DEMONSTRATING A FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REARING CONDITIONS AND DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES. THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY SUPPORT PIAGET'S THEORY OF SEQUENTIAL DEVELOPMENT AND RECIPROCAL COORDINATION BUT SUGGEST THAT (1) MANY MORE INFANT RESPONSES ARE IDENTIFIABLE AND (2) THAT ENVIRONMENT CAN AFFECT THE RATE OF SENSORIMOTOR DEVELOPMENT. (MS)