This study used longitudinal data from five Irish American families and nine Chinese families in Taiwan, in conjunction with cultural psychology research evidence, to propose universal, culturally variable, and developmental dimensions of children's pretend play. Findings raise the theoretical issue of how universal and variable dimensions of…

A case study of a young boy (age 2) with autism illustrates the use of the developmental, individual-difference, relationship based model. During spontaneous "floor time" play sessions, adults follow the child's lead, utilizing affectively toned interactions through gestures and words to move the child up the symbolic ladder. (Contains…

This article provides an overview of the integrated play groups (IPGs) model designed to support children with autism in play with typical children. A pilot investigation involving 2 Taiwanese children (ages 6-7) found each child made notable gains in reciprocal social interactions and symbolic/pretend play with participating in IPGs. (Contains…

Vivian Gussin Paley's "storytelling curriculum" consists of two interdependent activities, dictation and dramatization. It has long been recognized for its impact on young children's psychosocial, language, and narrative development. As a result of the Bush administration's educational policies, holistic, play-based curricula like storytelling are…

Children with autism and related disabilities frequently fail to develop echoic repertoires. Among the ways in which treatment approaches vary is the extent to which automatic reinforcement is utilized. The present experiment was designed to test the efficacy of a procedure that incorporates automatic reinforcement and socially mediated…

McCrary's work in the late 1990s suggested that superheroes influence children's development of moral values. Similarly, Bauer and Dettore advocated adults' and educators' monitoring of children's superhero play to help children foster cooperation and conflict resolution skills. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between…

Developmental regression is a complex phenomenon which occurs in 20-49% of the autistic population. Aim of the study was to assess possible differences in the development of regressed and non-regressed autistic preschoolers. We longitudinally studied 40 autistic children (18 regressed, 22 non-regressed) aged 2-6 years. The following developmental…

This study comprised of two experiments was designed to teach complex social sequences to children with autism. Experimental control was achieved by collecting data using means of within-system design methodology. Across a number of conditions children were taken to a room to view one of the four short videos of two people engaging in a simple…

The Test of Playfulness (ToP) was used in this pilot study to examine the stability of playfulness of 16 children with cerebral palsy (CP), aged 4-8 years, across three environmental settings: home, community, and school. Each videotaped play segment was scored using the ToP. The ANOVA statistic demonstrated a significant variance (p less than…

This study examines the relationship between disorganized attachment representations, defensive dysregulation in preschool children's doll play story narratives and child externalizing behaviour. Preschool children (n = 53) participated in the George and Solomon (1990, 1996, 2000) "Six-Year Attachment Doll Play Procedure" and their mothers…

Twenty mothers' provision of responsive, supportive behavioural directive, and intrusive behavioural and attentional directive speech was investigated during interactions with their children at ages 0 ; 10, 1 ; 1, 1 ; 5 and 1 ; 9 in two natural contexts, free play and bathtime. Issues examined included developmental change, contextual differences,…

This paper tells the story of an encounter between two early years teachers and two Forest School workers, the growing tensions in their relationships and how these tensions were resolved. When analysed through a Foucauldian (poststructuralist) lens, the story can be read as a battle between dominant discourses--a battle exacerbated by the outdoor…

We designed a series of analyses to develop a measurement system capable of simultaneously recording the free-play patterns of 20 children in a preschool classroom. Study 1 determined the intermittency with which the location and engagement of each child could be momentarily observed before the accuracy of the measurement was compromised. Results…

The playground is part of many students' school day, and sometimes the learning environment on the playground can be just as important as that in the classroom. Studies have shown that playtime can provide not only physical benefits, but also emotional, social and cognitive benefits to students. This article describes how to make playgrounds safe.…

Background: Studies suggest that expert performance in sport is the result of long-term engagement in a highly specialized form of training termed deliberate practice. The relationship between accumulated deliberate practice and performance predicts that those who begin deliberate practice at a young age accumulate more practice hours over time…