Structural play-language relationships and diversity of symbolic play skills were compared with five language impaired and five nonimpaired children (ages 27-39 months). Findings indicated differences in mean length of utterance, mean length of sequence, and quantitative and qualitative aspects of symbolic play. (Author/DB)

Children's conflicts with one another during free play were observed to determine the relation between the child's rate of conflict participation and his or her rate of aggressive behavior during conflict episodes and between these variables and the degree to which the child was liked or disliked by peers. (Author/SO)

Reports a study of interactions of middle-class parents from 27 Swedish families, designated as shared child care or traditional families, with their first-born infants, aged 8 to 12 months. Suggests that differential involvement in child care has significant effects on fathers' behavior. (DR)

Presents different types of imaginary play for the elementary classroom. Covers areas such as play acting, puppets, music, and art as outlets for children's imagination. Outlines the teacher's role in facilitating imaginative play. (DR)

Observes early social interactions in free play settings of Israeli kibbutz and urban preschool children. Kibbutz preschoolers displayed some aspects of more advanced group functioning (e.g., coordinated play) but also more behaviors reflecting affective distancing (e.g., solitary play, reduced affective expression, verbal aggression). (Author/NH)

Based on observation of children in three cultures, the author concludes that the wild primate model is a fit vehicle for interpreting the play of human children. She then examines the effects and functions of play in order to build a species-specific human theory of play. The implications for education are indicated. (CT)

Investigates the developmental sequence of learning to transform objects into agents and recipients of action in early symbolic play. Each of 48 children (from 14 to 25 months old) demonstrated initiative pretending after an adult modeled agent and recipient substitutions in pretending to talk on the telephone. (Author/CB)

Documents rate, mean duration, and mode of infants' affective displays. Using cross-sequential design, observes infants in their homes from 6 to 18 months playing with their mothers, with peers, and alone. With increasing age, affect rates and vocal modes increased, and mean durations and facial and motoric modes decreased. (Author/BE)

Presents a case study of a four-year-old girl who had pulled out all her hair. The child's responsiveness to play therapy is described, and implications for the use of play therapy in school counseling situations are described. (JAC)

Two studies were conducted to (1) develop measure of infants' executive capacity, defined as difference between infants' most sophisticated level of functioning displayed first in free and then in elicited play and (2) to test several hypotheses regarding relationship between these performance and competence measures of child functioning and home…

A behavior education program for teaching mothers to develop toy play in their developmentally delayed children was evaluated. After training, mothers displayed target skills and children showed increased rates of appropriate play. Mothers and infants were generally more responsive to each other's behavior and children self-initiated more…

Contrasts effects of three modes of mother/child interaction on children's subsequent compliance with maternal directives. Subjects were 39 children from lower-middle-class families, ranging in age from approximately three to four-and-a-half. Responsive play and noninteractive conditions produced higher levels of compliance than the untrained free…

The social and play behaviors of toddlers enrolled in two early childhood programs were videotaped and then analyzed with regard to categories of child interaction, play behavior, and adult interaction. (RH)

Examines various situations in which young children use social comparison to elicit understanding from a peer. Data are drawn from naturalistic observations of three- , four- , and five-year-olds. Children used social comparison to seek information, agreement, permission, compliance, verbal responsiveness, and attention. (Author/RH)

This article discusses metalinguistic awareness (the ability to make language forms opaque and attend to them in and for themselves) its relation to literacy, its development in children from their play with language; and educational implications. (MS)