Mastery Motivation and Intellectual Development From 1 to 3 1/2 Years

This study examines the longitudinal relationships between mastery motivation and differentiated measures of intellectual development assessed at 1 and 3 1/2 years of age in a sample of 35 children (21 boys and 14 girls). At one year three types of mastery motivation were assessed using structured tasks: (1) producing effects (engaging in behaviors that produced immediate perceptual feedback), (2) practicing emerging skills (putting blocks in a bottle), and (3) problem-solving (getting a toy from behind a transparent barrier). The mastery score was the percentage of time the infant engaged in task directed behaviors. The infant's intellectual functioning at one year was assessed by the Bayley scales of infant development. Four components were derived from the Bayley items: problem-solving, practicing spatial relation skills, perceptual discrimination, and language. At 3 1/2 years of age a similar approach was taken in that both overall and component measures of mastery motivation and intellectual functioning were obtained. However, because of the many developmental changes over this time span parallel measures were not possible. Therefore, the mastery motivation was assessed by using two measures: persistence at solving difficult problems, and curiosity motivation. The intellectual functioning at this age was assessed by the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. Results showed that the pattern of correlations differed considerably for boys and girls; for boys significant longitudinal correlations were found mainly for later mastery motivation, while for girls correlations were found only with later intellectual functioning. These findings indicate moderate continuity from infancy to early childhood. The theoretically important link between early mastery motivation and later intellectual development was found only for girls. (Author/MP)