Faculty Lecture Series- Play and the Opportunistic Infant: Lessons from Learning to Reach

“Play” has been a term that has served as a catch-all category for many behaviors across the lifespan of both human and non-human animals, especially with behaviors exhibited by young children. In this lecture, a specific definition of “play” will be discussed and key aspects of the definition will be highlighted by reviewing the author’s empirical research, which is aimed at discovering the processes by which 3-month-old infants learn to reach for objects. Two specific studies will be covered to highlight the importance of repeated opportunities for “play,” which permit infants to discover a solution to the problem of reaching.

Joshua L. Williams
Psychology