Awesome play: Awe increases preschooler’s exploration and discovery

Abstract

Affective states, exploration, and learning are tightly inter- twined. For example, research has connected surprise to play and learning in early development (Stahl & Feigenson, 2015), but less is known about the potential impact of other affec- tive states and how they might influence exploration and sub- sequent discovery. Given that past research has suggested that awe may increase feelings of uncertainty and lead to pursuit of cognitive accommodation in adults (Valdesolo & Graham, 2014), we posit that awe-induced uncertainty may similarly lead children to think-outside-the-box and explore more during play. In Experiment 1, we modify emotion-inducing videos (Awe, Happy and Calm) and validate them on adult participants using the perceived self-size Circle Task (Bai et al., 2017). In Experiment 2, children were presented with one of the three videos and their exploratory play with a novel toy was recorded. Results revealed both a significant effect of the manipulation (children associated with smaller selves in the Awe condition) and also an influence of the videos on play. Children in the Awe condition played more and explored more variably than children in the control conditions. These results suggest that awe influences motivation that increases variability and discovery in exploration.

Balancing exploration and exploitation with information and randomization

“…Finally, it is an open question how explore-exploit behavior relates to emotions such as curiosity, interest, and affect [92,93,94,95,96,97]. While these concepts are thought to inspire or inhibit exploration or exploitation, the relationship between them and exploreexploit behavior has not been sufficiently explored.…”

Empowerment contributes to exploration behaviour in a creative video game

“…For example, in the pharmaceutical sciences, researchers attempt to find new methods to produce vaccines even faster in the future. Children at play might also exhibit this kind of intrinsic drive to explore actions that train them to explore even more actions 9,19 . Empowerment differs from uncertainty-guided strategies, in that it focuses less on reducing uncertainty about the environment and more on the intrinsic drive towards a state of maximum influence 20 .…”

Exploring individual differences in infants’ looking preferences for impossible events: The Early Multidimensional Curiosity Scale

“…It has been proposed that uncertainty elicited by this contrast provokes a need for accommodation, ultimately triggering a drive to extend and/or change existing knowledge structures (Keltner and Haidt, 2003). In support of this, in one study, preschool children who were shown awe-inducing videos reported a smaller perceived self-size, and subsequently heightened exploration relative to children shown happy-or calm-inducing videos (Colantonio and Bonawitz, 2018). Thus, it is possible that infants whose caregivers engage in awe-inducing activities tend to be more sensitive to gaps in their knowledge, which may, in turn, lead them to show greater looking preferences for physically impossible events.…”

“…We also asked about children's exposure to awe-inducing experiences, as recent experimental work has linked the experience of awe to epistemic curiosity (Anderson et al, 2020;Paulson et al, 2021), and has even shown a causal link between exposure to awe and curiosity (Colantonio and Bonawitz, 2018). We selected awe-inducing experiences that past work has linked to curiosity, such as going to science or art museums (Gottfried et al, 2016) and spending time in nature (Keltner and Haidt, 2003;Valdesolo and Graham, 2014).…”

“…;” Medina and Sobel, 2020 ), encouragement of autonomy in exploration (e.g., “How often do you lead play time?”; Medina and Sobel, 2020 ), and exposure to novelty and uncertainty (e.g., “How often do you take your child to new places?”; Gottfried et al, 2016 ). We also asked about children’s exposure to awe-inducing experiences, as recent experimental work has linked the experience of awe to epistemic curiosity ( Anderson et al, 2020 ; Paulson et al, 2021 ), and has even shown a causal link between exposure to awe and curiosity ( Colantonio and Bonawitz, 2018 ). We selected awe-inducing experiences that past work has linked to curiosity, such as going to science or art museums ( Gottfried et al, 2016 ) and spending time in nature ( Keltner and Haidt, 2003 ; Valdesolo and Graham, 2014 ).…”