Understanding Object Exploration: The Role of Infant Temperament
Malachowski, Lauren Grace
0000-0001-8344-0826
:
2023-03-16
Abstract
Object exploration presents infants with valuable opportunities for learning across domains. What factors motivate and constrain exploratory behavior? Previous work has largely focused on contextual factors (e.g., SES, parenting style). In the present studies, we highlight the infant’s contributions to object exploration by testing links between parent-reported temperament and observed exploratory behaviors. In a sample of 6-month-olds (Study 1) and a sample of 24-month-olds (Study 2), we assessed object exploration via behavioral coding of child behavior during a lab-based free play task. Across both samples, infants rated higher in temperamental surgency (characterized by high positive affect, approach, and activity level) engaged in more rapid object exploration (i.e., moving quickly between objects). Additionally, infants in a temperament cluster characterized by high activity level, high positive affect, and high negative affect spent more time engaged in fine motor exploration (i.e., fingering and transferring) compared to a cluster of infants characterized by average activity level, high positive affect, and low negative affect. Overall, our findings suggest that temperament is a relevant factor to consider when seeking to understand between-person variation in infant and toddler exploratory behavior.