This study assessed effects of teaching sociodramatic play skills to three children (ages five to nine) with autism. Positive changes were observed in play, language, and social skills. These changes generalized across toys and settings, although little generalization to other play partners occurred. (Author/DB)

Ways that molecular and molar semiotic analysis of children's sociodramatic play can lead to new insight into children's interpersonal relations and social development is demonstrated. The method is illustrated through analysis of play transcripts of 2 girls aged 4.5 and 5.5 years. (Author/LB)

Argues that the capacity for consciousness of self and others arises from developing representational and perceptual activities, especially during play. Examines young children's development of symbolic play, from sensorimotor exploration to representational play through five stages involving gestures of recognition, self-pretend and pretend play,…

This study investigated the play of 40 sexually abused, physically abused, physically and sexually abused, and nonabused children, ages 3-10. Results are analyzed in terms of structural differences (representational or fantasy worlds) and thematic differences (such as domestic life, need for protection, need for nurturance, conflict, chaos, and…

Focuses on the discourse skills used by some white, middle-class, advantaged preschool girls to manage their disagreements. The article shows how their management of opposition is a jointly constructed achievement requiring the coordination of high levels of sociolinguistic skill to arrive at cooperative as well as self-serving, competitive or…

The authors investigate the nearly ubiquitous cultural icon for girls' play, the princess. They survey historical instances of princess play from the beginning of the American republic to the New Millennium, look at the literature concerning princesses in various periods, and discuss the individual recollections about princess play of a number of…

The authors explore how children's play can support the development of the foundations of mathematics learning and how adults can support children's representation of--and thus the "mathematization" of--their play. The authors review research about the amount and nature of mathematics found in the free play of children. They briefly…

Background: Children with Down's syndrome seem to show a preference for the use of gestural rather than vocal productions during the first stages of language development. This "gestural advantage" could actually be due to a developmental strategy used to compensate the difficulties in verbal production that are typical of language…

Edward was one of 58 children studied by workers and parents as part of a study on Well-being and Resilience at the Pen Green Nursery. Within the larger study, eight children were studied in greater depth in order to explore connections between cognitive and emotional development. Schematic theory and attachment theory were used as frameworks for…

The concurrent improvement in average grades earned by college graduates would seem to indicate better quality students, although some observers attribute that to grade inflation. From the author's perspective derived from almost four decades of teaching at one institution, students are intellectually as good as ever; however, the author sees a…

Objective: This study set out to examine whether mothers' individual perceptions of their neighborhood social processes predict their risk for physical child abuse and neglect directly and/or indirectly via pathways involving parents' reported stress and sense of personal control in the parenting role. Methods: In-home and phone interview data…

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of television (TV) on preschoolers, their TV viewing patterns and the conditions under which they watch TV, taking into consideration their different socioeconomic and regional backgrounds. The survey instrument was a questionnaire with 23 closed-ended questions, given to parents whose children…

This study explored relationships between time spent playing video games in a typical week and general creativity, as measured by a common assessment. One hundred eighteen students in 4th and 5th grades answered questions about their video game play and completed the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Torrance, Orlow, & Safter, 1990). While…

Naturalistic teaching methods are often used to facilitate explicit child-directed instruction within early childhood environments. They are designed to promote opportunities for instruction within the context of daily routines. The teacher's role is to design the environment and select materials, activities, and routines that will promote…

Drawing upon theories that reconceptualize toys and artifacts as identity texts, this study employs mediated discourse analysis to examine children's videotaped writing and play interactions with princess dolls and stories in one kindergarten classroom. The study reported here is part of a three-year ethnographic study of literacy play in U.S.…