Poster #8 - Pretend Play in Toddlerhood: Associations with Self-Regulation and Language

• In Event: Poster Session 11

Abstract

Children naturally engage in and enjoy play, and there has been significant interest in the role of play in children’s development. Research has paid particular attention to the contributions of pretend play – the “use of objects and actions in pretense, to enact imagined events “as if” they were real” (Fletcher et al., 2020, p. 541) – on children’s cognition and learning. Pretend play is hypothesized to be a context through which children can practice and develop skills such as self-regulation and language (e.g., Lillard et al., 2012). For example, children might use their self-regulation skills to take turns during role-play and flexibly use an object as something other than itself. Previous research has shown there is a positive relation between pretend play and self-regulation skills, with children with higher self-regulation skills engaging in higher quality pretend play (e.g., Slot et al., 2017; Thibodeau-Nielsen et al., 2020; White et al., 2021). However, this work has focused mainly on younger toddlers (2 years or younger) and preschoolers and the concurrent associations between these variables. Less work examines longer-term associations, especially for children between the ages of 2.5 and 3.5 years. Therefore, the current study aimed to (1) characterize pretend play in this understudied age range and (2) examine the associations between children’s pretend play and self-regulation above and beyond their language abilities.

Toddlers (N=120) visited the lab at 30, 36, and 42 months. During each session, children and their caregivers participated in a 5-minute free play task that is being coded for quality of pretend play, child interest in play, and adult support of play. Children also completed a battery of self-regulation tasks (e.g., Bird/Alligator, Grass/Snow, and Fruit Stroop) and a standardized language measure (Differential Ability Scales) at each age. Data collection is complete. The self-regulation and language measures have been scored, but the coding of the free play task is underway. Coding and data analyses will be completed before the biennial meeting.

We plan to use descriptive statistics to accurately characterize the quality of pretend play, child interest in play, and adult support at 30, 36, and 42 months. Overall, we expect the quality of pretend play to increase with age. Additionally, we will analyze bivariate correlations between pretend play, self-regulation, and language at each age and across age groups. We predict these variables will significantly correlate with each other within and across ages. Lastly, we plan to use cross-lagged panel models to test bidirectional links across time between pretend play and self-regulation, controlling for children’s language abilities.

The findings will characterize the quality of pretend play in an understudied developmental period (2.5-3.5 years) and offer insights into longer-term relations between pretend play and self-regulation using a rich longitudinal dataset with multiple observational and behavioral measures. Overall, these findings can help clarify the role of pretend play in early cognitive development.

Authors

• Amanda Grenell, Indiana University - Bloomington
  Presenting Author

• Joules Emerson

• Kayla Empson, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Aniya Harris

• Ellie Hine

• Susan Kolawole

• John E Bates, Indiana University - Bloomington