In early childhood, young children frequently engage in object-oriented play. According to cultural-historical activity theory, object-oriented play provides children with opportunities to learn about the characteristics and cultural applications of objects and materials. These characteristics are referred to as rules or affordances of objects and…

The authors review several case studies of children engaged in rule-governed play and conclude that the process of learning rules--and of breaking them and making new ones--promotes what they call gamesmanship. They link the development of gamesmanship to the theory of Machiavellian intelligence, which considers social interaction primary in the…

Imitation, vocabulary, pretend play, and socially insightful behavior were investigated in 5,206 same- and opposite-sex 2-year-old twin pairs in the United Kingdom. Individual differences in imitative ability were due to modest heritability (30%), while environmental factors shared between twins (42%) and unique to each twin (28%) also made…

Describes the structure of spontaneous episodes of dyadic play and suggests some of the basic abilities which underlie social play, based on observation of 36 15-20 minute videotaped play sessions involving groups of three children each, ages 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 years. (ED)

A review of play in nonhuman animals indicates that play increases with phylogenetic status, is important for mature social development in more advanced species, reflects intentional activity, and is essential for the development of tool-using strategies. (Author)

In this study of early peer interaction, 32 first born infants (16 boys, 16 girls) were videotaped in pairs at 6, 9 and 12 months. Each 15 minute session consisted of Toys Present (TP) and Toys Absent(TA) conditions counterbalanced across dyads. Three questions were addressed: (1) Are infants as young as 6 months capable of interacting with a…

The selection of play materials has long been of concern to parents and educators. Many play materials simply do not engage children. In this study toys were openly displayed for free selection and play within a children's recreation center. Data were collected on the subject population, toy selection and toy usage. The results indicated that…

The free play behavior of young children allows the opportunity to actively explore, investigate, and manipulate features of the adult world, and to assimilate the characteristics of novel aspects of the environment. (Author)

Observed rough-and-tumble play in young adolescent boys on the playground. Found that sociometrically defined average and rejected boys spent a greater portion of their time in rough play compared to popular boys and did so with children who were less dominant than they, suggesting that some children exploit play bouts for their own…

Children's ability to produce integrated sequences of discrete behaviors was examined as a function of age and task demands for several behavioral domains. Results are discussed in terms of possible age-related constraints on combinatorial skills that operate at a general, cross-domain level during toddlerhood. (RH)

The play behaviors of three groups of preschool children were compared. The physically abused children (N=11) were more antisocial, disruptive, and aggressive yet passive. The 15 sexually abused children were relatively quiet and engaged in more female-type activities, while 10 non-abused control group children exhibited more positive peer…

Aggressive and cooperative behaviors of 70 preschool children were measured during game conditions and subsequent free-play periods. Cooperative behavior increased and aggression decreased during cooperative games and free play; conversely, competitive games were followed by increases in aggressive behavior and decreases in cooperative behavior.…

This study investigated the duration, frequency, and trajectory of passive behavior in 14 children (developmental age 1-3) with Down syndrome and 14 controls over a 47-minute independent play session. Subjects exhibited more time in passive behavior and for some, passivity increased commensurate with time spent in the play session. (Contains…

Reports on an experiment that examined the independent effects of television content (violence) and television formal features (action) on preschool boys' attention to programs and their postviewing social behavior. Shows rapid character action facilitated visual attention to the programs and that television action level had no systematic effects…

Explored the simultaneous sequential transition patterns of preschoolers' social play within classroom settings. Found that the proportion of social-play states did not vary during play episodes even when accounting for type of activity center, gender, and SES. Found a reciprocal relationship between parallel-aware and other social-play states…