PSYC2002 Study Guide - Final Guide: Crib Talk, Playtime, Simon Baron-Cohen
Play and Child Development
What is Play?
• Non-serious activities in which children structure their behaviour in idiosyncratic ways that are not
necessarily related to reality.
• Smith (2010): Different ways of categorising play:
1. Functional approach: what is the purpose of play
o Play has no obvious goal.
o This distinguishes it from goal-orientated behaviour, eg: work.
o But play has benefits in childhood, suggesting a function.
2. Structural approach: examines play behaviour and how they are sequenced
o Play is often signalled by behavioural cues: "play face", smiles, laughter, exaggerated
movements (often repeated, fragmented or re-ordered).
o But this approach is probably too descriptive to test.
3. Criteria-based approach: 5 key criteria
1. Intrinsically-motivated - not constrained by external rules or social demands.
2. Non-literal - behaviours do not have normal or literal meaning.
3. Positive affect - enjoyable.
4. Flexible - variation in form and content.
5. Means/ends - performance more important than outcome.
Types of Play
1. Social contingency play - simple games like 'peek-a-boo', where there is enjoyment in response to
others.
2. Sensorimotor play - activities based on sensorimotor properties of body or objects, eg: banging or
dropping blocks.
3. Object play - Lego, moulding clay, house of cards.
4. Language play - play with noises, syllables, words, and phrases, eg: babbling, crib talk, rhyming couplets.
5. Physical activity play - exercise play (eg: running, jumping), and rough-and-tumble play, eg: chasing,
wrestling).
6. Fantasy or pretend play - nonliteral use of objects, actions, or vocalisations (pretending a banana is a
telephone.
Pretend Play: Background
• Any instance of play that contravenes the reality of a situation.
• Piaget (1945/1962) observed his daughter Jacquelyn, at 15 months, put a rolled up blanket under her
head, blinking her eyes, laughed and said "Nono" (goodnight).
• Pretend play is symbolic - a representational behaviour where the child must suspend her knowledge of
reality.
• Children begin to engage in pretend play during their 2nd year of life.
• At this time, children spend 5-20% of their play time engaging in pretence.
• Pretend play seems to require a capacity for meta-representation
o Objects represent other objects; missing elements are filled in.
o Child's actions suggest "in this context X stands for Y".
o i.e. they can reflect upon and manipulate symbolic representations.
Cross-Cultural Effects in Pretend Play
• Observed in all cultures but differs in content and degree of participation.
• Content: differences depend on values and practices of adult community and ecology.
o Haight et al. (1999): US children → more fantasy themes, eg: superheroes; Taiwanese children
→ social routines and proper conduct themes.
o Farver (1999): Anglo-US → fantasy, danger; Korean-US -> family roles.
o Gosso et al. (2007): high SES Brazilian children play includes fantasy themes (eg: witches,
mermaids) but not low SES and native hunter-gatherers -> availability of fantasy-based themes
and props.
• Frequency of pretend play varies with parental attitudes and engagement.
• Mayan parents admonish children for pretending.
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Document Summary
What is play: non-serious activities in which children structure their behaviour in idiosyncratic ways that are not necessarily related to reality. Intrinsically-motivated - not constrained by external rules or social demands: non-literal - behaviours do not have normal or literal meaning, positive affect - enjoyable, flexible - variation in form and content, means/ends - performance more important than outcome. Pretend play: background: any instance of play that contravenes the reality of a situation. Piaget (1945/1962) observed his daughter jacquelyn, at 15 months, put a rolled up blanket under her head, blinking her eyes, laughed and said nono (goodnight). Pretend play is symbolic - a representational behaviour where the child must suspend her knowledge of reality. Children begin to engage in pretend play during their 2nd year of life: at this time, children spend 5-20% of their play time engaging in pretence.
