Understanding sensory regulation in typical and atypical development: The case of sensory seeking

•Individual differences in sensory seeking are ubiquitous during development.•Variation in the tools used to study sensory seeking manifestations in typical and atypical development has clouded our understanding of the underlying mechanisms.•We evaluate theoretical models proposed to clarify mechanisms underlying individual differences in sensory seeking.•We conclude that the information prioritization hypothesis offers the greatest insight into sensory seeking manifestations in typical and atypical development.