Awesome play - Awe increases preschooler's exploration and discovery.

Affective states, exploration, and learning are tightly inter- twined. For example, research has connected surprise to play and learning in early development (Stahl & Feigenson, 2015), but less is known about the potential impact of other affec- tive states and how they might influence exploration and sub- sequent discovery. Given that past research has suggested that awe may increase feelings of uncertainty and lead to pursuit of cognitive accommodation in adults (Valdesolo & Graham, 2014), we posit that awe-induced uncertainty may similarly lead children to think-outside-the-box and explore more during play. In Experiment 1, we modify emotion-inducing videos (Awe, Happy and Calm) and validate them on adult participants using the perceived self-size Circle Task (Bai et al., 2017). In Experiment 2, children were presented with one of the three videos and their exploratory play with a novel toy was recorded. Results revealed both a significant effect of the manipulation (children associated with smaller selves in the Awe condition) and also an influence of the videos on play. Children in the Awe condition played more and explored more variably than children in the control conditions. These results suggest that awe influences motivation that increases variability and discovery in exploration.