It's the journey, not the destination: Locomotor exploration in infants

What incites infant locomotion? Recent research suggests that locomotor exploration is not primarily directed toward reaching distant people, places or things. We asked whether a room with toys designed to encourage movement (stroller, ball, etc.) elicits more locomotor exploration than a room with no toys. Surprisingly, 15-month-old infants produced the same quantity of locomotion in both rooms—even though most walking bouts involved toys when available. Our findings suggest that mere space to move is sufficient to elicit locomotion. However, the quality of locomotor exploration differed. Infants in the toy condition explored a larger percent of the room, and spent a smaller percent of the session within 100 cm of their caregiver. Thus, while not required to elicit locomotion, the presence of alluring destinations seem to encourage infants to travel to new and unexplored areas.