Solitary and Collaborative Pretense Play in Early Childhood: Sources of Individual Variation in the Development of Representational Competence

This study evaluates sources of individual variation in child pretense play as an expression of emerging mental representation. Family sociodemographic characteristics, maternal personological characteristics, and maternal affective and cognitive play behaviors, as well as children's gender, language competence, and play, were examined simultaneously. Naturalistic child solitary play and child collaborative play with mother were videorecorded in 141 20–month-olds. Child solitary play, child-initiated and mother-initiated collaborative play with mother, and maternal demonstrations and solicitations of play were then coded into nonsymbolic and symbolic acts. Zero-order relations obtained between child play and, respectively, child gender and language, family SES, and maternal verbal intelligence, personality, physical affection, and play demonstrations and solicitations. Structural equation modeling supported the following unique predictive relations: Child language and mothers' symbolic play positively influenced child collaborative play, and child gender and mothers' verbal intelligence predicted child solitary play. Child gender and mothers' verbal intelligence and physical affection influenced mothers' play and so influenced child collaborative play indirectly. The cognitive advantages of child play and maternal influences on child play are placed in an adaptive parenting framework.     

Playful Relationships: A Contextual Analysis of Mother-Toddler Interaction and Symbolic Play

The relation between social interaction and complexity of toddler's symbolic play was investigated. 57 toddlers between 15 and 24 months of age were observed under 4 conditions: (1) child play alone, (2) child play with mother, (3) child modeling mother, and (4) child play with mother following the modeling condition. Each subject was rated on complexity of play, maternal attention directing, reciprocity, and maternal intrusiveness. Significant condition effects were found in which more complex forms of play were observed when the children were playing with their mothers than when playing by themselves. Maternal intrusions and questioning were negatively related to symbolic play. Turn-taking was negatively related to simple exploratory play. Results of a sequential analysis demonstrated that turn-taking was more likely to precede symbolic play, and maternal intrusiveness was more likely to precede simple exploratory play. The role of active partnership in symbolic play development is discussed.     

The relations among child negative interactive behavior,child temperament,and maternal behavior

Negative behavior toward the mother during toddlerhood might be a marker of increased risk for maladjustment. The aim of the present study was to examine the possible antecedents of toddler boys’ negative behavior observed in interaction with the mother: child temperament, and maternal behavior toward the child. We studied the moderating and mediating role of two dimensions of maternal behavior, sensitivity and intrusiveness, in the relationship between children's temperamental traits (frustration, soothability and activity level), on the one hand, and child negative behavior, on the other hand. The sample consisted of 112 mother–son dyads observed when the child was 17 months old. A temperament questionnaire was completed by the mothers. Child negative interactive behavior, maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed at home during a 13-min play session. Maternal sensitivity was negatively related to child negative interactive behavior regardless of child temperament. Maternal intrusiveness, however, moderated the relation between activity level and negative behavior, i.e., children with high activity level showed higher levels of negative behavior especially when the mother was highly intrusive. Furthermore, maternal intrusiveness acted as a mediator in the relation between soothability and negative behavior, i.e., low soothability was linked to higher maternal intrusiveness, which in turn was associated with higher negative behavior.     

A longitudinal study of maternal involvement and symbolic play during the toddler period

Social contexts may provide important clues to our understanding of early symbolic play development. In the present study, the effects of maternal involvement on symbolic play development during the toddler period were investigated. 16 mother-child dyads were observed at bimonthly intervals in a free-play setting during the period from 20 to 28 months of age. Mothers' availability as a play partner varied during the course of the half-hour play sessions, depending on the presence or absence of the experimenter. When differences in level and duration of symbolic play were examined in light of maternal availability, both the level of play and length of play episodes increased when the mother was available to play with the child. 3 maternal involvement conditions were then compared: mother actively interacting and suggesting during play, mother participating via verbal commentary, and child playing alone. Results indicate that both maternal involvement conditions raise the level and length of play episodes.     

Mother-Child Play: Sequential Interactions and the Relation between Maternal Beliefs and Behaviors

This investigation of mother and toddler play had 2 goals. The primary goal was to examine the types of play mothers introduce in direct response to their toddlers' play. A secondary and exploratory goal was to examine the relation between maternal knowledge about child play and actual maternal play behaviors. 50 mothers and their 21-month-old toddlers were observed at home during free play. Mother and child exploratory, nonsymbolic, and symbolic play were coded. Sequential analyses revealed that mothers adjusted their play to their children's play level by responding to their children with play that was either at the same level or at a higher level than their children's play. Furthermore, mothers who were more knowledgeable about early play development more often responded to their children's play by introducing higher level play. These findings suggest that mothers tend to play with their toddlers in ways that might promote their child's development, and that mothers with more knowledge about play development provide their children with appropriately challenging play interactions.     

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure,Child Externalizing Behavior,and Maternal Stress

Objective. This study examined linkages between prenatal exposure to alcohol, current maternal alcohol use, child externalizing behavior, and maternal stress in a sample of 4- to 6-year-old children and their mothers. Design. Questionnaires, interviews, and behavioral observations were used to assess study variables in 42 mother - child dyads. Results. Current maternal alcohol use did not relate to children's behavior problems. However, children with higher levels of prenatal exposure to alcohol exhibited more externalizing behavior. In turn, higher levels of child externalizing behavior were associated with increased maternal stress. An alternative model, in which maternal stress was assumed to relate to less supportive mother - child interactions and higher levels of current maternal alcohol consumption, which in turn were expected to relate to higher rates of child externalizing behavior, did not fit the data. Conclusions. The impact of prenatal alcohol exposure likely extends to caregivers. Interventions must focus not only on affected individuals but also on their families, who may experience significant stress in trying to care for such individuals.     

The Relation between Attachment and Knowledge of Self and Mother in One-to Three-Year-Old Infants

The relation between attachment to mother and knowledge of self and mother in 2 domains was assessed in 1- to 3-year-old infants. Infants' featural knowledge was measured by featural recognition, name, possession, and gender. In this domain, no difference between the 2 attachment classifications was obtained at 1 year of age, but significant and increasingly large differences between securely and insecurely attached infants were found at 2 and 3 years of age. The second domain measured infants' actions on self and mother in the context of symbolic play. Regardless of age, infants who were securely attached to mother acted on self and mother with greater complexity than did infants who were insecurely attached. Attachment was related equally to the complexity of infants' knowledge of self and mother. These data were discussed in the context of the development of infants' internal working models of attachment and the onset of representational ability.     

儿童假扮游戏中的认知技能发展

假扮游戏的出现、发展到成熟伴随儿童的认知发展．儿童需要具备必要的认知技能才能参与假扮游戏,与假扮游戏有关的认知技能主要包括:社会参照、解读意图、分离、符号化假扮、角色扮演等．假扮游戏与儿童认知发展是一个交互作用的过程,作用的起点是假扮行为的出现．     

Representational Abilities and the Hearing Status of Child/Mother Dyads

Two representational abilities, expressive and receptive language and symbolic play, were assessed in multiple formats in hearing and deaf 2-year-old children of hearing and deaf mothers. Based on maternal report, hearing children of hearing and deaf mothers produced more words than deaf children of hearing mothers, hearing children of hearing mothers more words than deaf children of deaf mothers, and deaf children of deaf mothers more words than deaf children of hearing mothers. Based on experimenter assessments, hearing children in both groups produced and comprehended more words than deaf children in both groups. By contrast, no differences emerged among these groups in child solitary symbolic play or in child-initiated or mother-initiated child collaborative symbolic play; all groups also increased equivalently in symbolic play between solitary and collaborative play. Representational language and symbolic play were unrelated in hearing children of hearing mothers and in deaf children of deaf mothers, but the 2 abilities were associated in children in the 2 child/mother mismatched hearing status groups. These findings are placed in the context of a proposed developing modularity of verbal and nonverbal symbol systems, and the implications of hearing status in communicative exchanges between children and their mothers in diverse hearing and deaf dyads are explored.     

Children's play: the differential effects of intrafamilial physical and sexual abuse

This study investigated the play of sexually abused, physically abused, physically and sexually abused, and nonabused children between the ages of 3.5 years and 10 years. Using a modified form of the Lowenfeld World Technique, we observed each child in four individual sessions in which the child was asked to create a world picture in the sandtray. Their worlds were drawn up, photographed, and analyzed according to three differing criteria. The results indicated both structural and thematic differences across the four groups. The controls made representational and phantasy worlds whose themes were domestic and phantasy wish fulfillment. The sexually abused children's worlds were representational and mixed, and themes focused on sexuality and the need for protection and nurturance. The physically abused created representational and phantasy worlds in which were displayed considerable aggression and disorganization; and their themes were concerned with conflict, chaos, and phantasy wish fulfillment. The physically and sexually abused were the most diverse; and although their worlds were representational and phantasy ones displaying considerable aggression, thematic content was conflictual in a quarter of cases but also ranged over all categories except domestic.     

Teaching children while they play: Cultivating emergent writing and reading

Effective teachers of young children include symbolic play in their early education curricula. They design and prepare play environments, knowing that children learn through play. Piaget's (1962) research contributed greatly to teachers' understanding of how such play functions as a medium for learning, as a vehicle for understanding and constructing knowledge. For example, the child who has experienced meal preparation and child care at home will use those experiences in the housekeeping center with available props and adultlike behavior and language. According to Piaget (1962), this symbolic representation is a way of abstracting elements from life experiences and manipulating them so the learner can facilitate his or her construction of knowledge.Carol Taylor Schrader is an assistant professor at The University of Maryland at College Park.     

Pretend play and patterns of cognition in Down's syndrome children

This study was designed to examine the relationship between cognitive functioning of Down's syndrome subjects as measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and their symbolic play level. Subjects ranged in chronological age from 20 to 53 months and in mental age from 12 to 26 months. Each child was seen at home with the mother or primary caretaker present. A 1/2-hour play session was videotaped, followed by administration of the Bayley Mental Scale and Infant Behavior Record. Analysis of play behavior supported a 4-level scale. Symbolic play level was more highly correlated with mental age than with chronological age. Performance on the Infant Behavior Record was also highly correlated with symbolic play level.     

Play, Language, and Maternal Responsiveness: A Longitudinal Study of Deaf and Hearing Infants

Language, maternal responsiveness, and developmental play levels were investigated in 43 middle-class dyads at 9, 12, and 18 months: hearing child/hearing mother (hH), deaf child/deaf mother (dD), deaf child/hearing mother (dH). Group dH provides information about play when language is delayed and maternal responsiveness decreased. Group dD provides information on developmental effects of diminished audition. There were no 9-month group play differences. At 12 months, hH infants displayed more representational play than infants in either deaf group ( p < .001). At 18 months, hH and dD children displayed more preplanned play than dH children ( p = .01). At 12 and 18 months, language was associated only marginally with play levels. Maternal responsiveness was significantly associated with 18-month-olds' preplanned play ( p = .01).     

A Vygotskian perspective on parent–child talk during iPad story sharing

This study explores the themes in the talk of two mothers and daughters as they share a self‐created story with an iPad app. Vygotsky's theory of learning is applied to inform a thematic analysis and help interpret the learning potential within the observed parent–child exchanges. A deductive–inductive thematic analysis identified three recurring themes in the parent–child talk: realistic fiction, scaffolding variations, and engaged players and objects of ‘play’. The themes suggested that Vygotsky's theory has particular relevance in exploring the learning processes facilitated by the iPad app. In addition, however, post‐Vygotskian theoretical frameworks were helpful in capturing the dynamic co‐construction of the authentic and multimedia stories parents and children shared.     

Play in two societies: pervasiveness of process, specificity of structure

The present study compared Argentine (N = 39) and U.S. (N = 43) children and their mothers on exploratory, symbolic, and social play and interaction when children were 20 months of age. Patterns of cultural similarity and difference emerged. In both cultures, boys engaged in more exploratory play than girls, and girls engaged in more symbolic play than boys; mothers of boys engaged in more exploratory play than mothers of girls, and mothers of girls engaged in more symbolic play than mothers of boys. Moreover, in both cultures, individual variation in children's exploratory and symbolic play was specifically associated with individual variation in mothers' exploratory and symbolic play, respectively. Between cultures, U.S. children and their mothers engaged in more exploratory play, whereas Argentine children and their mothers engaged in more symbolic play. Moreover, Argentine mothers exceeded U.S. mothers in social play and verbal praise of their children. During an early period of mental and social growth, general developmental processes in play may be pervasive, but dyadic and cultural structures are apparently specific. Overall, Argentine and U.S. dyads utilized different modes of exploration, representation, and interaction--emphasizing "other-directed" acts of pretense versus "functional" and "combinatorial" exploration, for example--and these individual and dyadic allocentric versus idiocentric stresses accord with larger cultural concerns of collectivism versus individualism in the two societies.     

Individual Differences in Young Children's Pretend Play with Mother and Sibling: Links to Relationships and Understanding of Other People's Feelings and Beliefs

50 33-month-old children were observed at home with their siblings and mothers. Observational measures of pretend play, observer ratings of the child's, mother's, and sibling's behavior, and measures of family discourse about feelings were collected. At 40 months each child was assessed on Bartsch and Wellman's false beliefs task and Denham's affective perspective taking task. Results revealed individual differences in the amount and sophistication of young children's social pretend play and suggested that these individual differences are related to experiences in the relationships that young children have with their mothers and siblings. Results also indicated that early social pretend play was significantly related to the child's developing understanding of other people's feelings and beliefs. The data are interpreted as providing support for the notion that early experience in social pretense is associated with children's mastery of the relation between mental life and real life. The importance of considering the relationship context of social pretense is also discussed.     

儿童假扮游戏中的认知技能发展

假扮游戏伴随着儿童认知技能的发展而发展,儿童只有具备必要的认知技能才能参与假扮游戏.与假扮游戏有关的认知技能主要包括社会参照、解读意图、现实与假扮世界分离、符号化假扮、角色扮演等.假扮游戏的发展与儿童认知技能的发展是一个交互作用的过程.     

Social Pretend Play in Korean- and Anglo-American Preschoolers

Ninety-two preschoolers (46 Anglo- and 46 Korean-American) were observed during free play activities and videotaped in an experimental toy play setting. Cultural differences were examined in the frequency of social pretend play, communicative strategies, and pretend play themes. Anglo-American children engaged in more pretend play during free play activities than Korean-American children. In the experimental setting, there were no cultural differences in the frequency of pretend play; however, there were significant differences in children's communicative strategies and in their play themes. Korean-American children's play included everyday activity and family role themes, whereas Anglo-American children enacted danger in the environment and fantastic themes. Anglo-American children described their own actions, rejected their partners' suggestions, and used directives, whereas Korean-American children described their partners' actions and used tag questions, semantic ties, statements of agreement, and polite requests. The findings suggest that play is a common activity for most children. However, the thematic content and the communicative strategies used to structure and maintain pretend play are influenced by culture.