Project: Interest Development in Infancy
With this project, we investigate early interest development in girls and boys. The following questions are addressed:
- Do infants already show interests during the first year of life? How stable are these interests over time? What patterns of exploratory behaviour emerge in person–object interactions?
- Are there individual or gender-specific differences?
- Can situational interest be induced? And under which conditions does individual, enduring interest emerge?
In an initial longitudinal study, we are currently examining 54 children aged 8, 10, 12, and 14 months using an experimental design. Two habituation tasks (animals and vehicles) are combined with an object preference task, allowing us to determine whether children prefer animals or vehicles once they are familiar with both. The procedure of the experiments is identical across the three assessment points in order to capture developmental changes and/or stability. First, we analyse whether early individual interests can be identified and whether they are stable across age. In addition, we attempt to induce situational interest within the context of a peekaboo game (by varying contextual variables). The findings will also clarify the extent to which gender-specific or individual differences emerge (depending on mobility status or prior experience with animals or vehicles).
Presentation: Interest Development