The present study investigated developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on children's memory and suggestibility. Three- and 5-year-olds were singly or repeatedly interviewed about a play event by a highly biased or control interviewer. Children interviewed once by the biased interviewer after a long…

This paper explores possible tactics for academics working within a context of increasing regulation and constraint. One suggested tactic is to move outside of a creativity-conformity binary. Rather than understanding creativity and conformity as separable, where one is seen as excluding the other, the authors consider the potential of examining…

This article presents the author's response to Joseph Reimer's article titled, "Beyond More Jews Doing Jewish: Clarifying the Goals of Informal Jewish Education." In his article, Reimer laudably seeks to concretize the often ambiguous goals of informal Jewish education. To build his case, he points to the work of Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi to…

This article examines the level of empowerment and autonomy children can create in their play experiences. It examines the play discourses that children build and maintain and considers the importance of play contexts in supporting children's emotional and social development. These aspects of play are often unseen or misunderstood by the adult…

This paper critically engages with the theme of "process over product"--a theme that is argued to be increasingly problematised as an influential narrative in the construction and transmission of a philosophy of early education. The importance of producing children of "competence" through appropriate educational processes is associated with…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of enhanced milieu teaching when combined with a voice output communication aid on the requesting skills of three children with autism. The research design was a multiple probe across participants. All sessions were conducted during 5-min play sessions in the child's classroom. All three…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a social skills intervention plan for a preschool child who is blind and has no additional disabilities. After the plan was implemented, the child demonstrated an increased frequency and range of play behaviors and social interactions. (Contains 3 figures.)

There are currently no measures of restricted object use in young children with autism. In this study the object play of 27 young children with autism was measured in a semi-structured context to quantify restricted object use. It was hypothesized that children who engaged in less restricted object use would show better responding, joint…

This study surveyed 169 freshman students at Wheelock College to identify generational shifts in play experiences, students' play histories, later college and placement site experiences, and the extent to which play was a part of students' professional identities. Subjects in the study were primarily Caucasian females between 17 and 19 years of…

A week-long exploratory observational case study of two white middle class girls (4 years, 9 months of age) investigated how children incorporate reading and writing literacy skills and knowledge of literacy artifacts into their play activities. Also examined was the role these play activities have in the development of literacy. Data were…

The process by which preschoolers generate cohesive oral text was investigated in two fields of discourse: social dramatic and constructive play. Four preschoolers, 2 boys and 2 girls, ranging in age from 51 to 60 months were observed and videotaped in their regular preschool classroom on 2 successive days during free play periods. Each child was…

This study recorded the pretend play behavior of a total of 22 boys and girls aged 20 and 26 months to determine the effects of age, sex, toy type, and order of toy presentation on the amount of pretending observed during two home visits. Each visit consisted of three segments: two play episodes of 10 minutes each and an intervening segment of…

The primitive elements from which drama evolved--group participation with no audience, a strong relationship between drama and other arts, and a sense of emotional release associated with physical expression--are also the bases for creative drama. Creative drama in the secondary school should (1) avoid a formal stage, the intrusion of an audience,…

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)

After a brief overview of the research on social comparison in young children, a depiction is provided of how young children exhibit social comparisons during two types of play activity--physical object and social fantasy play. Research and pedagogical implications are discussed. (PCB)