The elaboration of exploratory play.

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Human Evolution

Background:

• Previous theories suggested exploration decreases with age.
• Human life history and learning are interconnected.
• Understanding cognitive development across the lifespan is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively investigate changes in children's exploration across a wide age range.
• To gain insights into the unfolding of exploration from a life-history perspective.
• To challenge existing models of cognitive maturation.

Main Methods:

• A novel touchscreen environment was used to quantify exploratory play.
• A large sample of children (n=105) aged 1 year 10 months to 12 years 2 months in the USA participated.
• Exploratory behaviors were measured quantitatively.

Main Results:

• Children transition from less broad exploration as toddlers to more efficient and broad exploration as adolescents.
• Exploration does not linearly decrease with age; it becomes more elaborate.
• Data challenge the notion of declining curiosity with age.

Conclusions:

• Human exploration becomes more elaborate throughout childhood, not less.
• This finding offers a new perspective on life history and cognitive development.
• Exploration patterns evolve dynamically across human development.