Abstract
After arriving at nursery school, a 3-year-old might find a basket of Legos and sit and begin working with them, sorting them, connecting them, and so on. At 4 years of age, the same child is likely to carry the basket of Legos into the midst of several peers playing “Spacepeople,” sit on the floor, announce that he or she is the engineer, play with the Legos and simultaneously assuming that he er she is included in the peer group and playing Spacepeople. Study of young children at 3 and 4 years of age suggests differences in terms of their focus and engagement with both play objects1 and others. At 3 years of age, the child is likely to play in solitary or parallel play with play objects, whereas at 4 years of age, the child seeks out others with whom to play and is likely to play with play objects in parallel or cooperative play. To some extent the observed change over time clearly reflects an increased interest in and/or capacity for social functioning. On the other hand, the presence of the Legos in each scenario and their particular role in the activity of this child reflects what may seem to be a surprising level of continuity
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Baldwin, J. M. (1906). Thoughts and things: A study of the development of meaning of thought,1. New York: Macmillan
Baldwin, J. M . (1907). Thoughts and things: A study of the development of meaning of thought, 2. New York: Macmillan
Belsky, J., & Tolan, W. J. (1981). Infants as producers of their own development: An ecological analysis. In R. M. Lerner & N. A. Busch-Rossnagel (Eds.), Individuals as producers of their own development (pp. 87 – 116 ). New York: Academic Press
Berlyne, D. E. (I960). Conflict, arousal, and curiosity. New York: McGraw-Hill
Buss, A. H., & Plomin, R. (1984). Temperament: Early developing personality traits. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Butler, R. (1984). Interest in the task and interest in peers work in competitive and non-competitive conditions: A developmental study. Child Development, 60, 562 – 570
Chess, S., & Thomas, A. (1986). Temperament in clinical practice. New York: Guilford Press
Dewey, J. (1913). Interest and effort in education. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Escalona, S. K. (1968). The roots of individuality: Normal patterns of development in infancy. Chicago: Aldine
Goldsmith, H. H., Buss, A. H., Plomin, R., Rothbart, M. K., Thomas, A., Chess, S., Hinde, R. A., & McCall, R. B. (1987). Roundtable: What is temperament? Four approaches. Child Development, 58, 505 – 529
Goldsmith, H. H., & Campos, J. J. (1986). Fundamental issues in the study of early temperament: The Denver twin study. In M. E. Lamb, A. L. Brown, & B. Rogoff (Eds.), Advances in Developmental Psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 231 – 238 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Goldsmith, H. H., & Campos, J. J. (1986). Fundamental issues in the study of early temperament: The Denver twin study. In M. E. Lamb, A. L. Brown, & B. Rogoff (Eds.), Advances in Developmental Psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 231 – 238 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Hinde, R. (1979). Towards understanding relationships. London: Academic Press
Izard, C. E. (1977). Human emotions. New York: Plenum
James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology. London: Macmillan
Karmiloff-Smith, A. (1984). Children’s problem solving. In M. E. Lamb, A. L. Brown, and B. Rogoff (Eds.), Advances in developmental psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 41 – 90 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Keller, H., Miranda, D., & Gauda, R. (1989). The meaning of temperament: Culture specific analyses. Paper presented at the European Congress of Psychology, Amsterdam
Kohnstamm, G. A., Bates, J. E., & Rothbart, M. K. (1989). Childhood temperament: A forum on key issues and problems. Chicester, NY: Wiley
Kohnstamm, G. A., Bates, J. E., & Rothbart, M. K. (1989). Childhood temperament: A forum on key issues and problems. Chicester, NY: Wiley
Krapp, A., & Fink, B. (1986). The transition from family to kindergarten and its impact on person-object relationships. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Association for the Study of People and their Physical Surroundings. Haifa, Israel
Kulm, G. (1984). The classification of problem-solving research variables. In G. A. Goldin & C. E. McClintock (Eds.), Task variables (pp. 1–21). Philadelphia, PA: The Franklin Institute Press.
Kulm, G. (1984). The classification of problem-solving research variables. In G. A. Goldin & C. E. McClintock (Eds.), Task variables (pp. 1 – 21 ). Philadelphia, PA: The Franklin Institute Press.
Lepper, M. R., & Greene, D. (1978). The hidden costs of reward. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
McDevitt, S. C., & Carey, W. B. (1978). The measurement of temperament in 3-7 year old children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17, 223 – 228.
Parten, M. (1933). Social play among preschool children. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 28, 128 – 145.
Piaget, J. (1968). The mental development of the child. In D. Elkind (Ed.), Six psychological studies. New York: Random House. (Original work published 1940)
Plomin, R., & Dunn, J. (1986). The study of temperament: Changes, continuities and challenges. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Prenzel, M. (1988). Conditions for the persistence of interest In U. Schiefele (Chair), Content and Interest as Motivational Factors in Learning. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. New Orleans, LA.
Prenzel, M. (in press). In K. A. Renninger, S. Hidi, & A. Krapp (Eds.), The role of interest in learning and development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Renninger, K. A. (1990). Children’s play interests, representation, and activity. In R. Fivush & J. Hudson (Eds.), Knowing and remembering in young children. Emory Cognition Series (Vol. 3 ). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Renninger, K. A. (1989). Individual patterns in children’s play interests. In L. T. Winegar (Ed.), Social Interaction and the development of children’s understanding. (pp. 147 – 172 ). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Renninger, K. A. (1989). Individual patterns in children’s play interests. In L. T. Winegar (Ed.), Social Interaction and the development of children’s understanding. (pp. 147 – 172 ). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Renninger, K. A., & Morgan, A. S. (1986, May). Other and play object as value in social understanding. Paper presented to the Jean Piaget Society. Philadelphia, PA.
Renninger, K. A., & Wozniak, R. H. (1985). Effect of interest on attentional shift, recognition, and recall in young children. Developmental Psychology, 21, 624 – 632.
Rothbart, M. K. (1984). Social development. In M. J. Hanson (Ed.), Atypical infant development. Baltimore, MD: University Paik Press.
Rothbart, M. K. (1987). A psychobiological approach to the study of temperament. In G. Kohnstamm (Ed.), Temperament discussed (pp. 63–72 ). Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger
Rothbart, M. K., & Derryberry, D. (1981). Development of individual differences in temperament. In M. E. Lamb & A. L. Brown (Eds.), Advances in Developmental Psychology (Vol. I, pp. 37 - 86 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rothschild, R., Schwartz, M., & Renninger, K. A. (1989). Interest and friendship in children’s sustained exchanges at 3- and 4-years of age. Paper presented at the Jean Piaget Society. Philadelphia, PA.
Rowe, D. C., & Plomin, R. (1977). Temperament in early childhood. Journal of Personality Assessment, 41, 150 – 156.
Schiefele, H. (1986). Interest: New answers to an old problem. Zeitschrift fur Padagogik, 32 (2), 153 – 162.
Schiefele, U. (1987). The importance of motivational factors for the acquisition and representation of knowledge. In P. R. J. Simons & G. Beukhof (Eds.), Regulation of learning (pp. 47 – 69 ). Den Haag, The Netherlands: SVOSelecta.
Schiefele, U. (1987). The importance of motivational factors for the acquisition and representation of knowledge. In P. R. J. Simons & G. Beukhof (Eds.), Regulation of learning (pp. 47 – 69 ). Den Haag, The Netherlands: SVOSelecta.
Siegler, R. S. (1989). Mechanisms of cognitive development. Annual Review of Psychology, 40, 353 – 379.
Sroufe, L. A., & Waters, E. (1977). Attachment as an organizational construct Child Development, 48, 1184 – 1199.
Strayer, F. F. (1980). Social ecology of the preschool peer group. In W. A. Collins (Ed.), Development of cognition, affect, and social relations (pp. 165 – 196 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Strong, E. K. (1943). Vocational interests of men and women. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Thomas, A., Chess, S., & Birch, H. G. (1968). Temperament and behavior disorders in children. New York: New York University Press.
Uzgiris, I. C. (1989). Transformations and continuities: Intellectual functioning in infancy and beyond. In M. H. Bornstein & N. A. Krasnegor (Eds.), Stability and continuity in mental development (pp. 123 – 143 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Werner, H. (1937/1978). Process and achievement: A basic problem of education and developmental psychology. In S. S. Barten and M. B. Franklin (Eds.), Developmental processes: Heinz Werner’s selected writings, Vol. I: General theory and perceptual experience (pp. 23 – 40 ). New York: International Universities Press, Inc. (Original work published 1937 ).
White, R. (1959). Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence. Psychological Review, 66, 297 – 333
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Renninger, K.A., Leckrone, T.G. (1991). Continuity in Young Children’s Actions: A Consideration of Interest and Temperament. In: Oppenheimer, L., Valsiner, J. (eds) The Origins of Action. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3132-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3132-5_8
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7807-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3132-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive