westbly article notes need to study and know

for exam 2 lcd 216

Play as expression and interpretation

“Play serves both as a means of expression and a means of interpretation (Lifter & Bloom, 1998).”

Play shows mental representations

“As a means of expression, play provides a way for children to embody their mental representations of the world.”

Play as learning about the world

“As a means of interpretation, play provides a way for children to learn about objects, events, and relations in the world by interpreting the results of their own actions and revising what they know about the world.”

Observation = window on knowledge

“Play as expression provides a window on what children know, which allows for the use of play for assessment.”

Spontaneous play quote

“Cosaro and Tomlinson (1980) maintain that ‘spontaneous play can be viewed as the continual practice of reality production’ (p. 105).”

Interrelationships demonstrated in play

“In play, children demonstrate their knowledge of the complex spatial-temporal-causal interrelationships among objects, environments, persons, actions, and motives… and they experiment with these interrelationships.”

Rationale for play in intervention

“Play as interpretation provides a rationale for using play in intervention programs as a way for children to acquire knowledge.”

Research links

“Current research links play to the development of cognitive, social, emotional, language, and literacy abilities.”

Value beyond skills

“But play has a purpose and value beyond developing children's skills (Sawyer, 1997; Vandenberg, 1986).”

Symbolic play & culture

“Play can be symbolic, and through symbolic play, we humans create imagined worlds and the stories of our lives. Through symbolic systems, we share in human culture.”

Competence requires understanding people

“To exist successfully within the world also requires an understanding of people—how they think and feel, what motivates them, their roles, the relationships among people, and how they maintain these relationships through communication.”

Physical vs social rules

“The laws that govern the physical world are the same throughout the world, but the social and psychological rules that govern people vary from culture to culture.”

Different type of intelligence

“A number of investigators have suggested that a different type of intelligence is required for understanding the behavior of people compared to understanding physical events in the world (Bruner, 1986; Gardner, 1983; Wellman, Hickling, & Schult, 1997).”

Theory of mind definition

“Understanding people requires a developing theory of mind, which involves the recognition of mental states in oneself and others (Baron-’ Cohen, 1995).”

Pretend play as early ToM

“Pretend play represents an early manifestation of a child's theory of mind.”

Pretending requires real vs unreal

“The act of pretending requires that children acknowledge real versus unreal and that they recognize that others will make this same distinction.”

Special communication in play

“Play requires a special type of communication.”

Sharing play requires negotiation

“For play to be shared with others, children must communicate their intentions and orient themselves and others to their intended meaning, and they must negotiate roles, settings, and action sequences (Garvey & Kramer, 1989; Sawyer, 1997; Sutton-Smith, 1980).”

Metacommunication signal

“Play can occur only if the participants are capable of some degree of metacommunication that is, exchanging signals that convey the message ‘this is play’ (Bateson, 1955).”

Insight from observing play

“Observation of children's play provides insight into the social knowledge and communicative competence they possess and how they use this knowledge.”

Limits of standardized tests

“Children's performance on standardized cognitive and language tests provides knowledge of discrete pieces of information that a child possesses, but it does not tell how a child integrates and uses this information in realistic situations.”

Modern theories of play

“Modern theories of play view children's play as a means for mastering traumatic experiences; for practicing and consolidating learned skills; for promoting abstract thought, problem solving, and flexibility in thinking; and for promoting the ability to comprehend multiple levels of meaning (Ellis, 1973).”

Research foci in play

“Researchers have explored (1) the development of children's social interaction with other children in play, (2) the types of play (functional use of objects, constructional building, and symbolic pretend), (3) the types of play themes, (4) the negotiation of play themes, and (5) the ability to take the perspective of others in pretend play.”

Piaget stages

“Piaget suggested broad play stages

Parten social stages

“Parten (1932) focused on children's developing socialization within play activities… solitary… parallel… associative… cooperative.”

Modern note on solitary/interactive

“Toddlers are capable of some playful interactive exchanges and… solitary play does not disappear… may reflect personality and play orientation as much as developmental level (Rubin, 1982; Smith, 1978).”

Symbolic play linked to domains

“Within recent years, particular attention has been given to exploring the relationships between symbolic play and creativity, cognition, social skills (negotiating and role-taking), impulse control, language, and literacy.”

Detailed analyses exist

“A few detailed analyses documenting development of cognitive aspects of symbolic play development are available.”

Westby scale mention

“Westby (1980, 1991) presented a scale that documented aspects of symbolic play and development of several dimensions of pretend play in children between 18 months and 5 years of age.”

Play is sociocultural

“Pretend play is embedded within sociocultural contexts.”

Mainstream focus in studies

“The majority of studies… have used mainstream American children and have focused on use of objects as opposed to interaction with people (Haight & Miller, 1993).”

Adult roles in mainstream

“In mainstream contexts, mothers (or other adults) typically negotiate play particularly with children under 3 years of age. After age 3, the role of mothers as play partners continues but decreases and pretend play shifts to peers.”

Cultural variation in scaffolding

“Farver (1993) reported that in a study of Mexican families, older siblings provided early play scaffolding for toddlers rather than mothers.”

Cultures with little pretend play

“In some cultures, such as the !Kung San (Konner, 1975) and the Maya (Gaskins & Goncu, 1992), relatively little pretend play is manifested.”

Socioeconomic comparisons

“Numerous studies have compared the play of children from middle and from lower socioeconomic levels… Many… suggested that the play of children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds is less developed and less imaginative, but other studies have criticized these interpretations…”

Affective social play note

“Blake (1994) noted that African-American mothers engaged children more in affective social play than in object play.”

Popularity of disability play study

“The study of play in infants and children with disabilities has become an increasingly popular area of investigation…”

Relational play negative relations

“the amount of relational play… at 22 months… is negatively related to language abilities at the same age and negatively associated with general intelligence at 5 years of age (Sigman & Sena, 1993).”

Groups with disabilities vs typicals

“children with disabilities… did differ significantly from typically developing children… engaged in more nonplay activities and fewer group interactions and had less cognitively sophisticated play (Mindes, 1982).”

General pattern in disabilities

“The data indicate that children with disabilities exhibit the same developmental play sequences as typically developing children, but with some qualitative and quantitative differences.”

Less combinatorial; autosymbolic later

“Less combinatorial play… and autosymbolic or self-directed pretend play appeared later than symbolic play actions on dolls.”

Initiation and social play differences

“Atypically developing children are less likely to initiate play… more frequently engage in isolated and toy-directed behaviors and less in social interactive play.”

Toy dependence and variety

“more dependent on concrete toys for play, yet they play with a small variety of toys (Johnson & Ershler, 1985).”

Heterochronous development

“they exhibit a greater heterochronous development… and there is greater variability in the skills present at any developmental level.”

Not explained by general cognitive level

“These qualitative differences cannot be completely explained by the children's general cognitive levels.”

Premature vs nonpremature example

“premature children relied on descriptions of the physical appearance… nonpremature children transcended the visual and created imaginary settings and character goals.”

Play–language relation (general)

“Pretend play and language development are closely related in most children, both typically and atypically developing.”

Language delays mixed findings

“the symbolic play of 2- through 4-year-old children with language delays was behind that of children the same age… When… compared to younger language matched children… findings are mixed.”

Older language-impaired symbolic play

“5- to 7-year-olds with language impairments had lower levels of symbolic play than language matches (Roth & Clark, 1987).”

Dimensions affected differently

“specific dimensions of pretend play may be affected differently among children with language impairments.”

Deaf children relation

“the pretend play of deaf children is closely related to their language development.”

Deaf of deaf vs hearing parents

“deaf children of deaf parents… were as likely to have advanced play and language… deaf children of hearing parents tended to be functioning at somewhat lower levels.”

Down syndrome play profile

“spend more time in visual exploration… less time in manual exploration… demonstrate symbolic competence at a level commensurate with their general cognitive level… tend to exhibit less variety in their play.”

Autism play profile

“The pretend play of autistic children is delayed compared to their other cognitive abilities… show qualitative differences such as less-frequent self-directed pretend and stereotyped unvarying play routines.”

Autism distinguishing characteristics

“abnormal development of social relationships, affect, and communication are distinguishing characteristics of autism… Deficiencies in symbolic play are seen as one manifestation of the difficulty… with theory of mind.”

Shift to confidence and competence

“In recent years, attention has shifted from a focus on children's IQ to a focus on their confidence and competence.”

Facilitating play helps

“Facilitating play skills has been found to increase children's social competence and language skills.”

Need to understand current abilities

“To use play therapy most effectively with children with disabilities, educators and therapists must understand a child's current play abilities and design therapeutic and educational programs to facilitate play systematically.”

Interactive assessment value

“In a play assessment, evaluators can actively interact… explore what supports or enables a child to perform optimally and what compromises a child's performance.”

Chapter presents scale and guidelines

“This chapter presents a developmental play scale, guidelines for assessing children's play and language levels using the play scale, and considerations in the interpretation of the children's performance on the play evaluation.” What does the play evaluation focus on in presymbolic children?

What is joint reference and when does it appear?

Around 8–9 months, infants establish joint reference—the ability to look at an object that someone else is interested in, with the awareness that they are looking at the same object; this shared attention mechanism is essential to communicate about a shared reality.

Mastery motivation—what four aspects predict later competence?

Latency to task involvement, persistence, positive affect, task completion.

Object permanence at Presymbolic Level I

Aware that objects exist when not seen; finds toy hidden under cloth/box; associates object with location.

Means–ends at Presymbolic Level I

Pulls cloth on which toy rests; pulls string to obtain toy; touches adult to continue activity.

Object use at Presymbolic Level I

Explores movable parts; does not mouth all toys; uses several different schemes (patting, banging, turning, throwing).

Typical play actions at 8–12 months

Separating actions (move/take apart), attends to one toy at a time, actions often not yet related to the object’s function.

Communication at Presymbolic Level I

Joint attention on toy and person; no true language; may have performative words tied to the total situation; shows and gives objects; intents include request (instrumental) and command (regulatory).

Object permanence at Presymbolic Level II

Aware that objects exist separate from location; finds hidden objects in a second or third location.

Means–ends/problem solving at Presymbolic Level II

Understands "in-ness" (dumps objects out of bottle); turns bottles to get contents; points with index finger to desired object; hands toy to adult if unable to operate (protoimperative); hands to adult to get attention (protodeclarative).

Object use at Presymbolic Level II

Recognizes operating parts (knobs, levers, buttons); discovers operations through trial and error; constructs toy relationships (figure in car, nests boxes); uses familiar objects appropriately.

Communication at Presymbolic Level II

Context-dependent single words that come and go; functions include protest, interactional, response, greeting, request, command, label; spoken language occurs most when affect is neutral.

What changes mark the transition to symbolic thought?

A reorganization of thought; symbolic abilities involve allowing one object to stand for another and transforming/transcending immediate reality.

The four symbolic play dimensions

Decontextualization & object substitution; Thematic content; Organization; Self–other relationships/decentration.

Core cognitive indicators at Symbolic Level I

Internal mental representation; tool-use; finds toy invisibly hidden; recognizes solid ring cannot be stacked.

Decontextualization & props at 17–19 months

Pretends using lifelike props; willing to pretend to drink when cup is empty.

Thematic content & organization at 17–19 months

Familiar, everyday activities (eating, sleeping); short isolated schemas (single pretend actions).

Self–other relations at 17–19 months

Self as agent (autosymbolic/self-representational).

Peer interaction at 17–19 months

Limited and not sustained; most approaches not reciprocated or last one exchange.

Language at 17–19 months (functions/content)

Beginning of true verbal communication; functions include directing, self-maintaining, commenting/labeling; semantic relations include recurrence, existence, nonexistence, rejection/denial, agent, object, action/state, associations.

Props & themes at 19–22 months

Dependent on realistic props; represents own activities and activities of familiar others (cooking, reading, cleaning, shaving).

Organization at 19–22 months

Short, isolated schema combinations (rocking doll → putting to bed, pouring pitcher → cup, feeding doll with spoon).

Self–other relations at 19–22 months

Child acts on doll (doll passive); performs pretend actions on more than one object/person.

Language at 19–22 months

Refers to objects/persons not present; requests information; beginning of word combinations (agent–action, action–object, attributive, dative, action-locative, possessive).

Themes at 2 years

Highly familiar participatory themes; may reverse roles with adults ("I’ll play you and you play me").

Organization at 2 years

Isolated scripts but elaborated single schemas (sets table correctly, highchair/bib for baby).

Language at 2 years

Comments on self and doll; phrases and short sentences; present progressive -ing, plurals, possessives appear.

Thematic content at 2½ years

Represents less frequently experienced events that are memorable (store shopping, doctor–nurse–sick child).

Self–other relations at 2½ years

Reverses dyadic roles ("I’ll play x and you play y"); talks to doll; does not project feelings/desires onto doll.

Organization at 2½ years

Same as age 2; scripts emerge early but need many repetitions to become flexible.

Emerging abilities around 3–3½ years

Role taking tied to theory of mind; metalinguistic language ("he said," "I think"); adjusts speech for listener; begins negotiating play with differentiated roles; growth in descriptive vocabulary.

Key markers at Symbolic Level VI

Uses language to invent props and set scene; builds 3D structures; uses modals (can, could, may, might, would) and conjunctions (and, but, so, because, if); some appropriate why/how responses; relational terms (then, when, first, next, while, before, after).

Scene-setting and planning at 3½–4 years

Uses gestures/language to set the scene; sequences are planned; improvisations; hypothesize "what would happen if…".

Self–other relations at 3½–4 years

Landscape of action/consciousness; multiple roles for one person; dolls/figures act out scripts; uses multiple voices; shifts among character, stage-manager, author.

Language demands at 3½–4 years

Coordinates scenarios with modals, conjunctions, relational terms, elaborated noun phrases; full competence develops near 12 years.

Decontextualization at 5 years

Language alone can set the scene, actions, roles, and invented objects.

Themes & organization at 5 years

Themes include unexperienced events; integrate experiences in novel ways; plan and monitor others’ roles; full cooperative play; increased metacommunication.

Language profile at 5 years

Literate-style language with temporal/causal conjunctions and elaborated noun phrases; directs what others say/do.

Why use the play scale instead of discrete tests?

Evaluates play development itself and how language is used to instantiate and negotiate play, assessing both knowledge and its real-world use.

Typical vs. disabilities profiles on the scale

Typical- items cluster in two adjacent levels, overall level assignable- Disabilities

Presymbolic vs. Symbolic measurement focus

Presymbolic- object permanence, means–ends, object use, communicative intentions; Symbolic- decontextualization, thematic content, organization, self–other relations; language by functions and form/content.PLAY SCALE age range and use