The development of preschool children's (Homo sapiens) uses of objects and their role in peer group centrality

The ways in which objects were used by preschool children (Homo sapiens) was examined by directly observing them across one school year. In the first objective we documented the relative occurrence of different forms of object use and their developmental growth curves. Second, we examined the role of different types of object use, as well as novel and varied uses of objects, in predicting peer group centrality. Results indicated that noninstrumental object play was the most frequently observed category, followed by tool use, exploration, and construction; sex moderated the growth curve of children's exploration. Noninstrumental object play, not other types of object use, was significantly related to novel and varied object uses and only the latter category predicted peer group centrality. Results are discussed in terms of the social transmission of novel object use.