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Developmental Psychology 2 > Play > Flashcards

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1
Q

Why is play important?

A

High-level play has cognitive, social and emotional benefits.
Play is a significant contributor to the child’s development.

2
Q

What are two main definitions of play?

A

Functional definitions - if there is an external goal present - the behaviour is not play. Play has no clear immediate benefits or goals.
Structural definitions - describes behaviour that occurs only in play (e.g. play signals). Behaviours not indexed by play signals can be considered play if they are - fragmented, exaggerated, re-ordered.

3
Q

What is Smith & Pellegrini’s definition of play?

A

Intrinsic motivation, nonliterality, positive effect, flexible.

4
Q

What counts as physical activity play?

A

Running, throwing, wrestling.

5
Q

What is rough and tumble play?

A

Vigorous behaviours like wrestling. Playful context. Social.
Hard to tell R&T apart from real fighting (Smith, 2002).

6
Q

Name some key differences between R&T and real fighting.

A

R&T - no conflict over resources, smiling expression, can be more than two children, contact is not hard, stay together afterwards.
Real fighting - conflict over resources, frowning/crying expressions, usually only two children, little to no restraint, usually move away afterwards.

7
Q

Name some of the key aspects of play in the sensorimotor period.

A

Difficult to tell apart from exploration.
By 12 months - trial-and-error behaviour.
By 18-24 months - beginning of representation thought (planning behaviour).

8
Q

How does pretend play develop?

A

It is an intrinsically motivated activity. Transforms meaning of objects, people, situations and time.
Metacommunitactive messages + importance of emotionally significant experiences.
18-36mo - complex forms of play. Symbolic representation + social communicative skills.
Peaks during preschool (2-3yos) + declines during primary.
Sociodramatic play - 2+ children acting out definite roles.
2 years old and below - no script
3+ years - emergence of scripts. Mastered basic elements of social pretend play. Increase awareness of social roles with time (up to 5 years old).

9
Q

What difference does having an imaginary companion make (Taylor, 1993)?

A

25-65% of children have one.

Children with ICs are less likely to need a finger to pretend to brush teeth compared to children with no ICs.

10
Q

What are the gender differences in pretend play?

A

No consistent differences found.

Gender differences in roles taken in sociodramatic play.

11
Q

Name some key cultural differences in play.

A

Gossi (2010) - Parakana children pretend to do real tasks. Compared to other children in Brazil - less time for play + tend to be gender + age segregated.
Another study -
Culturally cultivated play - UK + US.
Culturally accepted play - Kpelle + Mayan.
Culturally curtailed play - Maya in Yukatan.
Farver & Shin (1997) - Anglo + Korean-American children - Korean-American culture is less assertive, more hierarchical. Play is more valued in US.
Morelli et al (2003) - Efe had very little play + scholastic play with an adult compared to industrialised areas (West Newton + Sugarhouse) that showed high levels of play, scholastic play and lesson with adult.

12
Q

What is Smith’s play ethos?

A

Play is vital and essential for development in industrial societies.

13
Q

What the three models for the importance of play in development (Smith)?

A

Epiphenomenon - no particular role in development. By-product of other abilities.
Equifinality - play is a way that children can learn + acquire skills. Useful but not essential.
Crucial - essential.

14
Q

What are some positive effects of break time (Blatchford, 1998)?

A

Peer relations, social skills, socialisation from peers.

Barros (2009) - teachers of students who had more than 15 mins per day rated the classroom as better behaved.

15
Q

Give some examples of hypotheses regarding the functions of exercise play.

A

Pellegrini & Smith (1998) - locomotor play improves physical strength + stamina.
Bjorklund & Green (1992) - physical play relieves memory overload and ultimately enhances learning (cognitive immaturity hypothesis).
R&T - practice hunting skills?

16
Q

Describe the role of play fighting in meerkats (Sharpe, 2005).

A

Play fighting did not lead to dominant wrestling position in real matches - not more likely to win.

17
Q

What did Pellegrini & Gustafson (2005) discover about play with objects?

A

That play was not related to any of the tasks. Lure retrieval one was predicted by construction and associative fluency was also predicted by construction.

18
Q

What did Vygotsky believe about pretend play?

A

That it allows children to separate referent from object. That it is separated from reality.

19
Q

What did Piaget believe about pretend play?

A

It is an index of cognitive development.

20
Q

Describe the results from Lillard (2013)’s study into pretend play.

A

Creativity was best in children in the free-play condition. However, inconsistent results.
Theory of mind - inconsistent results. Maybe supported within the equifinal or epiphenomenal theory.
Language - possible relationship.
Narrative - possible relationship.
- The study consisted of the same experimenter for all conditions - experimenter bias?

21
Q

Describe the results from Smith and Whitney (1987)’s study into pretend play.

A

There was no significant effect between fantasy-play, free-play, imitation or the control condition in creativity.

22
Q

What are the benefits of pretend play on theory of mind (Taylor & Carlston, 1997)?

A

Non-significant.

However, another finding was that children with an IC or that had high levels of pretend play had high fantasy levels.

23
Q

What is the relationship between fantasy talk + narrative ability 2 years later?

A

Non-significant.

However, children did have a better narrative score if they had ICs.

24
Q

What is EF?

A

The ability to override automatic thoughts. E.g. WM, inhibitory control + attentional shift.

25
Q

What were the effects of EF (Thibodeau, 2016)?

A

Working memory was higher for imaginative play condition (compared to play + control).
Inhibitory control had no effect.
Attentional shift was higher for imaginative play.

26
Q

What is play therapy?

A

Work with children who have experienced trauma. Encourage children to re-enact certain events - helps children by working with situations whilst being slightly removed from them.
Evaluations of play therapy generally report positive outcomes but not necessarily more positive than psychotherapy without play.

27
Q

What is the evidence of the cognitive benefits of play like?

A

Not very strong or convincing.

There is stronger evidence for the benefits of play on social competence.

28
Q

What is the conclusion of play regarding the 3 theories?

A

It is likely to have benefits but the benefits are unlikely to be essential.
The enjoyment of play itself gives an enduring value to play.

29
Q

What are two potential links between pretend play and its benefits?

A

Children can learn in other settings - children can learn better from guided tasks.
Maybe more social compliant/intelligent children pretend more?