Individual differences in exploratory behavior in the second year of life

For children in their second year, exploration is an inherently social phenomenon with fundamental implications for learning about the animate and inanimate world. This article examines how 15-month-old children spontaneously involve their mothers in their exploration of a novel task in an unstructured setting. Forty-six 15-month-olds were presented with a novel exploration task with their mothers present but uninvolved. The task consisted of a box with 15 clear plastic drawers each containing a novel toy. Types of bids to mothers, children's affect, and exploratory behaviors were coded. In the absence of active maternal cues, 15-month-old children quickly and frequently involved their mothers in their exploratory efforts, and at least half of the bids were accompanied by positive affect. Active bids to mother (walking or extending a toy) were associated with more manipulation of novel toys, whereas passive bids such as looking were related to less active exploration of toys and more visual inspection of the task stimuli. Furthermore, the earlier any type of bid to mother, the quicker children approached novel toys. Finally, there were notable sex differences both in children's bids to their mothers and in their approach to the task. While exploring, girls made more active bids for physical contact with their mothers. On the other hand, girls spent more time than boys visually examining the box itself without touching, but boys spent more time than girls exploring and touching the box. These results are discussed in terms of how mothers and children mutually contribute to children's interest in novel exploration.