Although exploratory play is considered a hallmark of cognitive development and learning, relatively few studies have been able to quantitatively characterize the shifts that may occur in children's approach to exploration. One reason for this gap is due to challenges coding and analyzing children's exploratory play behavior. In our paper, we…

Introduction: Computers and the applications of today's high technology can simulate reality so realistically that virtuality has become part of both children's and adults' lifestyles (Nagy & Kölcsey, 2017; Szécsi, 2012). However, it did not emerge with the computer applications, but with human thinking and part of that, the virtual conception…

Vygotsky's seminal text on play was originally given as a lecture at the Herzen Pedagogical Institute in Leningrad in 1933, and is consequently a relatively late work. It is thanks to a stenographic record of the lecture that this text, a key influence on psychological research on play, has survived. This was Vygotsky's major work on play and…

The present study investigated children's internal state language during play with their sibling and friend across early and middle childhood. Specifically, the category type of internal state language (e.g., cognitions and goals), referent (e.g., own and other), and associations with children's birth order were examined. A total of 65 (T1: Time…

It is difficult to get a good grasp of the topic of kindergarten entry assessment because there are such great differences in the purpose for the instruments, how they are constructed, and how the data is used. Even so, in many states and communities, there is cause for concern. Until the paradigm of education moves from a preoccupation with…

Head Start enhances school readiness during preschool, but effects diminish after children transition into kindergarten. Designed to promote sustained gains, the Research-based Developmentally Informed (REDI) Parent program (REDI-P) provided home visits before and after the kindergarten transition, giving parents evidence-based learning games,…

Past research has focused on pretend play in infants with autism because it is considered an early manifestation of symbolic or imaginative thinking. Contradictory research findings have challenged the meta-representational model. The intent of this paper is to propose that pretend play is the behavioral manifestation of developing imaginative…

The relationship between cognitive functioning and play behaviors of children residing in an orphanage was examined. Twenty-six young children (15 boys) between 10 and 38 months of age participated. More developmentally competent play behaviors were highly related to better performance on cognitive functioning as measured by the Bayley Scales of…

When adults make a joint commitment to act together, they feel an obligation to their partner. In 2 studies, the authors investigated whether young children also understand joint commitments to act together. In the first study, when an adult orchestrated with the child a joint commitment to play a game together and then broke off from their joint…

Research on the cognitive development of play skills in young handicapped children is reviewed, focusing on two Piagetian styles of play--sensorimotor (exploratory) and symbolic (pretend and dramatic). The review emphasizes developmental patterns, areas of deficit, and implications for intervention in various handicapped groups. (Author/JDD)

Explores age differences in children's conceptions of play, pretending, and toys. Examines parallel structural changes in other areas of development, such as language acquisition. Subjects for the study were 5-, 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old children. (BD)

We investigated longitudinally the development of attention in two free-play tasks and the relation between attention in those tasks and language ability in toddlerhood. We observed developmental differences in attention from 9 and 31 months both as children investigated a single object and as they investigated multiple objects. Attention in these…

This article discusses traditional and contemporary definitions of middle childhood play, the value of such play for children's development and learning, the implications of home, school, and societal practices that have resulted in changing the play scenario of middle childhood, and suggestions for assuring that play's value will be maintained…

The value and function of play behavior in young children, and the process and conditions by which play contributes to learning, cognition and problem solving, are explored in this literature review. The first section examines early theories of play, the psychoanalytic theory of play, and the developmental stages of play. Common elements of play…

This paper examines the interrelationship between children's acquisition and use of symbols and the development of imaginative play. The paper focuses on the use of pretend play as an expression of the child's capacity for symbolic functioning and as an index of intellectual development. The first section of the paper reviews developmental changes…