Repetition is a salient strategy used by human and non-human cohorts for learning and controlling behavior. It this research project, a case study was conducted to explore deliberate voluntary repetition in younger cohorts during their spontaneous solitary play with single or multiple objects. Two main types of repetition -- blocked and random --…

Background: Fathers are increasingly acknowledged as active participants in rearing young children, yet few observational measures recognize gender-differentiated parenting and can be used by practitioners and researchers to assess and improve fathers' parenting capacity in playful settings, in order to inform program effectiveness. Two potential…

This study illustrates the use of the Griffiths III Scales to further clarify a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder and possible Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder following a test battery of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Conners 3-Parent and Teacher Surveys, and the Goodenough-Harris Draw-a-Person test in a child aged 6 years. The…

Research Findings: This research examines preschoolers' use of mental state terms in naturally occurring peer conflicts in the classroom to determine how children use mental state terms for organizing their social interactions. Analyses focus on the types, frequencies, and social interactive functions of mental state terms. Utterances (N = 166)…

In an experimental design, we examined the effects of middle-term training in social information processing (SIP) and in Theory of Mind (ToM) on preschoolers' social cognition and social adjustment. 48 preschoolers took part in a pre-test and post-test session involving cognitive, socio-cognitive and social adjustment (direct and indirect)…

Until now children's attention to the beliefs of people they wish to persuade has been examined experimentally via tasks that were artificial in important respects. To determine whether such research has underestimated children's psychological perspective taking, two studies that manipulated task elements pertinent to ecological validity were…

Through six video clips and accompanying commentary, the author argues that by carefully observing how very young children play, adults can gain insight into their high-level thinking and their knowledge, as well as the implications that their strategies hold for their assumptions, theories, and expectations. Adults can then become more protective…

The purpose of this study was to develop the "observational scheme of child's free play in kindergarten" (OFP) and examine the associations between "child's attachment to his/her kindergarten teacher" (CAKT) and: (1) cognitive and social play behaviour, (2) child's contacts with his/her peers and teacher during free play…

Mother-child play of maltreating and nonmaltreating families was analyzed when infants were 12 months old (Time 1), and 2 years old (Time 2), as a context to examine children's developing cognitive and social skills. At Time 1, infants from abusing families demonstrated less independent and more imitative behavior during play than did infants from…

Going beyond traditional play therapy, this innovative book presents a range of evidence-based assessment and intervention approaches that incorporate play as a key element. It is grounded in the latest knowledge about the importance of play in child development. Leading experts describe effective strategies for addressing a wide variety of…

Studying short-term dynamic processes and change mechanisms in interaction yields important knowledge that contributes to understanding long-term social development of children. In order to get a grip on this short-term dynamics of interaction processes, the authors made a dynamic systems model of dyadic interaction of children during one play…

The author offers the thesis that hunter-gatherers promoted, through cultural means, the playful side of their human nature and this made possible their egalitarian, nonautocratic, intensely cooperative ways of living. Hunter-gatherer bands, with their fluid membership, are likened to social-play groups, which people could freely join or leave.…

The present study included observational and self-report measures to examine associations among parental stress, parental behaviour, child behaviour, and children's theory of mind and emotion understanding. Eighty-three parents and their 3- to 5-year-old children participated. Parents completed measures of parental stress, parenting (laxness,…

Theoretical correspondences between the language and play development of young children and developmental aspects of play and speech are discussed prior to a report of a study comparing categories of cognitive complexity nested within social categories of solitary play and self speech. Participants were 36 preschool boys and girls approximately…

This study investigates the interaction of three cognitive (functional, constructive, dramatic) and three social (solitary, parallel, group) dimensions of free play activities and their stability over time among boys and girls in a preschool setting. Subjects were 18 children attending a university preschool in Southwestern Ontario. Data for each…