Pleasure Derived from Mastery in Three-Year Olds: Its Function for Persistence and the Influence of Maternal Behavior

The study, conducted in two independent replications, run approximately one year apart, explored the possibility that (a) the actions of three year old children are guided and accompanied by self-evaluations and withdrawal, (b) that self-evaluations and withdrawal have a motivational function for persistence, indicating the beginnings of a self-reward system, and (c) are influenced by the mother's behavior when interacting with her child....