Finds that (1) playfulness is a trait related to divergent, creative thinking; (2) allowing young children to play with objects can lead to increased performance on problem solving and divergent thinking tasks involving the same or similar objects; and (3) play training leads to short term gains in young children's cognitive performance.…

This paper reviews research on symbolic play gaps between children with and without language impairment (LI), arguing that these gaps should not be interpreted as demonstrative of marked deficits in general representational or specific symbolic play competence of children with LI. Frequent encroachment of language into testing procedures is cited…

Most children who are congenitally deafblind are severely delayed in their communication development and many will not achieve symbolic understanding and expression. This article discusses developmental markers cited in the research literature as predictive of or facilitative of the development of symbolism. These markers include the growth toward…

The biological and the cultural aspects of human play are inextricably linked and mutually influence each other. (LH)