Mastery Motivation: A Framework for Considering the 'How' of Infant and Toddler Learning

Mastery motivation is an internal drive to master a skill, behavior, outcome, or goal. It has been called persistence, "stick-to-it-iveness" (McCall, 1995), goal-directedness, determination, and tenacity. Mastery motivation is expected to foster development as the child is motivated to learn something new. Parents and other caregivers play an important role in promoting mastery motivation. In this article, the authors discuss how interventionists promote mastery motivation among children. The authors also describe the components that are involved in promoting mastery motivation and provide specific intervention recommendations. These components include: (1) Moderately challenging goals; (2) Goal-direction; (3) Persistence; (4) Attention; (5) Imitation; (6) Initiation; (7) Choice Making; (8) Use of multiple strategies; (9) Enjoyment of trying; and (10) Enjoyment of partial success. (Contains 1 table.)