Curiosity and Exploration

I: Introduction.- I.0 Preface: The Study of Exploration.- I.1 Fairy Tales and Curiosity. Exploratory Behavior in Literature for Children or the Futile Attempt to Keep Girls from the Spindle.- II: Function and Motivational Mechanics of Exploration.- II.2 An Ethological Conception of Exploratory Behavior.- II.3 The Neurobiological Foundation of Exploration.- II.4 Two Characteristics of Surprise: Action Delay and Attentional Focus.- II.5 Interest and Curiosity. The Role of Interest in a Theory of Exploratory Action.- II.6 Interest and Exploration: Exploratory Action in the Context of Interest Genesis.- III: Development and Interindividual Differences.- III.7 The Relationship Between Attachment, Temperament, and Exploration.- III.8 Interindividual Differences in the Development of Exploratory Behavior: Methodological Considerations.- III. 9 Preschoolers' Exploratory Behavior: The Influence of the Social and Physical Context.- III. 10 A Developmental Analysis of Exploration Styles.- III.11 Individual Differences in Experience-Producing Tendencies.- IV: The Interconnections of Exploratory Behavior and other Behavioral Systems.- IV. 12 The Active Exploratory Nature of Perceiving: Some Developmental Implications.- IV. 13 The Process and Consequences of Manipulative Exploration.- IV. 14 Motivational and Cognitive Determants of Exploration.- V: Applied Perspectives.- V. 15 Computer Systems as Exploratory Environments.- V. 16 Urban Development for Children Reexploring a New Research Area.- VI: Epilogue.- VI. 17 Applause for Aurora: Sociobiological Considerations on Exploration and Play.- Author Index.

Prof. Dr. Heidi Keller leitet die Abteilung Entwicklungspsychologie der Universität Osnabrück. Ihre Arbeitsschwerpunkte liegen in der Säuglingsforschung und der frühen Mutter-Kind-Beziehung.