INFANT AND TODDLER PLAY - ASSESSMENT OF EXPLORATORY STYLE AND DEVELOPMENT LEVEL

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate development and individual differences in exploration and play during infancy and toddlerhood. Using an assessment that integrated measures from Power, Chapieski, and McGrath (1985) and Bretherton, O'Connell, Shore, and Ba tes (1984), 34 children were videotaped during individual play at 19 a nd 30 months. Both measures of developmental level (pretend play level and meaningful sequence) showed a significant increase from 19 to 30 months, but a pattern of change for exploratory style measures (divers ity and sustained attention) was inconsistent. In a cluster analysis a t 19 months, a three-cluster solution yielded focused, delayed, and sc attered subgroups, whereas at 30 months, the cluster analysis yielded competent and delayed subgroups. Nineteen-month cluster membership is predictive of 30-month cluster membership, with children in the scatte red subgroup at 19 months being more likely to belong to the delayed s ubgroup at 30 months. Although the exploration/play system appears to coalesce during infancy and toddlerhood, the exploration and play meas ures contribute unique information to the developing profile of toddle r competence.