Abstract
Individual differences in infants’ engagement with their environment manifest early in development and are noticed by parents. Three views have been advanced to explain differences in seeking novel stimulation. The optimal stimulation hypothesis suggests that individuals seek further stimulation when they are under‐responsive to current sensory input. The processing speed hypothesis proposes that those capable of processing information faster are driven to seek stimulation more frequently. The information prioritization hypothesis suggests the differences in stimulation seeking index variation in the prioritization of incoming relative to ongoing information processing. Ten‐month‐old infants saw 10 repetitions of a video clip and changes in frontal theta oscillatory amplitude were measured as an index of information processing speed. Stimulus‐locked P1 peak amplitude in response to checkerboards briefly overlaid on the video at random points during its presentation indexed processing of incoming stimulation. Parental report of higher visual seeking did not relate to reduced P1 peak amplitude or to a stronger decrease in frontal theta amplitude with repetition, thus not supporting either the optimal stimulation or the processing speed hypotheses. Higher visual seeking occurred in those infants whose P1 peak amplitude was greater than expected based on their theta amplitude. These findings indicate that visual sensory seeking in infancy is explained by a bias toward novel stimulation, thus supporting the information prioritization hypothesis.
Highlights
Infants’ sensory environment is complex and cluttered, containing many competing inputs to which attention can be allocated
P1 peak amplitude was greater than expected based on their theta amplitude. These findings indicate that visual sensory seeking in infancy is explained by a bias towards novel stimulation, supporting the information prioritization hypothesis
We investigated the associations between this measure and [1] the overall P1 peak amplitude, [2] the change in frontal theta oscillatory amplitude from bin 2 to 3 and [3] the degree of modulation of the P1 peak amplitude by ongoing theta amplitude
Summary
Infants’ sensory environment is complex and cluttered, containing many competing inputs to which attention can be allocated. The ability to deploy attention to relevant stimuli is one of the first coordinated active exploration abilities to emerge in development (Amso & Scerif, 2015) and is a gateway for learning and memory (Posner, 2011). Even before they can ask questions, infants manifest differences in how actively they engage with their environment. Observational studies, in which infants’ exploration of their environment is recorded, describe variation in how many of the objects in their proximity or how many different aspects of a complex object infants engage with (Bornstein et al, 2013; Muentener et al, 2018). Studies using parent-reported questionnaires, such as the Infant-Toddler
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
