First “Where” and then “How”: Developmental Processes in Exploring Solutions to Problems with Hidden Demands

Abstract

The required actions to solve many everyday motor problems are not immediately apparent. How do children discover these hidden demands? Exploration was assessed in 24- to 56-month-olds (n = 47; 26 girls) by tracking how children touched a tablet screen to open “virtual cabinets” with different locks. Children were strategic explorers. Hypothesis-driven exploration increased with age by first focusing on the appropriate area (“hypothesis” about where to act) and then on the appropriate action (“hypothesis” about how to act). Even when children did not hypothesize about where and how to solve the problem, they showed more directed than random exploration, and directed exploration increased with age. However, children did not generalize exploration of hidden demands from one problem to another.