Gender segregation in childhood: a test of the interaction style theory.

The authors investigated the play/interaction-style theory of gender segregation with a sample of 39 children aged 2 to 5 years (primarily Caucasian). According to this theory, children prefer playmates with styles of play or interaction that are similar to their own. Because such styles are sex differentiated, same-sex playmate preference (i.e., gender segregation) results. The authors observed children during free play to determine preferred playmates and gender segregation level, and they used teacher ratings to derive play/interaction-style scores. The authors used a multiple regression approach to path analysis to analyze effects of sex of participant, participants' play/interaction-style scores, playmates' play/interaction-style scores, and degree of gender segregation to determine their effects on one another. The authors observed significant levels of gender segregation, with highly aggressive or active children displaying less segregation than their peers did. However, gender segregation was not associated with a preference for playmates with similar play or interaction styles.     

Mother-toddler play interaction: A contrast of substance-exposed and nonexposed children

Recent studies have raised concerns about whether the play of cocaine-exposed or polysubstance-exposed children is deficient or disturbed, presumably as a result of the prenatal exposure. In this study, the quality of toddler play did not differ between 13 low income polysubstance-exposed and 13 low income nonexposed toddlers when rated in a 16-minute play session in their own homes with their mothers. Specifically, there were no differences in either cognitive or affective dimensions of play, as rated by observers who were blind to exposure status. In addition, the quality of maternal support for the play, as rated using the Parent/Caregiver Interaction Scale, did not differ between the two groups. Positive aspects of the mothers' behavior in supporting her child's play were predictive of higher quality child play. Power analyses suggest that the sample size was sufficient to have detected group differences if they had in fact existed. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Gender Segregation in Childhood: A Test of the Interaction Style Theory

The authors investigated the play/interaction-style theory of gender segregation with a sample of 39 children aged 2 to 5 years (primarily Caucasian). According to this theory, children prefer playmates with styles of play or interaction that are similar to their own. Because such styles are sex differentiated, same-sex playmate preference (i.e., gender segregation) results. The authors observed children during free play to determine preferred playmates and gender segregation level, and they used teacher ratings to derive play/interaction-style scores. The authors used a multiple regression approach to path analysis to analyze effects of sex of participant, participants' play/interaction-style scores, playmates' play/interaction-style scores, and degree of gender segregation to determine their effects on one another. The authors observed significant levels of gender segregation, with highly aggressive or active children displaying less segregation than their peers did. However, gender segregation was not associated with a preference for playmates with similar play or interaction styles.     

The effects of magnitude and quality of reinforcement on choice responding during play activities

Three boys with autism participated in a study of the effects of magnitude and quality of reinforcement on choice responding. Two concurrent response alternatives were arranged: (a) to play in an area where a peer or sibling was located, or (b) to play in an area where there was no peer or sibling. During one condition, the magnitude (i.e., duration of access to toys) or quality (level of preference) of reinforcement provided for both responses was equal. During the other condition, the magnitude or quality of reinforcement was relatively greater for choosing the play area where the peer or sibling was located than the area where the peer or sibling was not located. Results showed that after repeated exposure to the unequal magnitude or quality condition, the participant increasingly allocated his responses to the play area where the peer or sibling was located. For 2 participants, this pattern of responding was maintained in the subsequent equal magnitude or quality condition. Overall, the analysis suggests that the dimensions of magnitude and quality of reinforcement can be arranged to influence choice responding in favor of playing near a peer or sibling rather than playing alone.     

Rough-and-Tumble Play and the Development of the Social Brain

ABSTRACT— Social play—that is, play directed toward others—is a readily recognizable feature of childhood. In nonhuman animals, social play, especially seemingly competitive rough-and-tumble play or play fighting, has been the most studied of all forms of play. After several decades of study, researchers of play fighting in laboratory rats have pieced together the rudiments of the neural mechanisms that regulate the expression of this behavior in the mammalian brain. Furthermore, the understanding of the organization, development, and neural control of play in rats has provided a model with which to examine how the experiences accrued during play fighting can lead to organizational changes in the brain, especially those areas involved in social behavior.     

The relationship of mother–child interaction and the child's development of symbolic play

The extent to which the mother–child interactive relationship either promotes or limits a child's ability to see options or choices in the environment was investigated. It was predicted that this quality of interaction provided primarily by the mother would relate to the child's cognitive development as reflected in his or her level of symbolic play. The level and frequency of symbolic and nonsymbolic play in 30 children, ages 12 to 47 months, were coded and mothers' options‐promoting and options‐limiting behaviors were identified. Children, across this range of ages, whose mothers created an options‐promoting social context were observed engaging in more symbolic play. Nonsymbolic play, however, was not found to be significantly influenced by the mother's interactive style. A child's symbolic play marks a dynamic developmental achievement for the child, and appears to be related to the social context created by the mother's interactive style. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Sexual and aggressive play fighting of sibling Richardson’s ground squirrels

Play fighting in many species of squirrels can involve sexual play and aggressive play, both of which can lead to wrestling which appears superficially similar. Such convergence can make scoring of the relative frequencies of these two types of play difficult and can lead to the mistaken conclusion that they grade into one another. In this study, both staged laboratory encounters between sibling pairs and spontaneous encounters between siblings in free‐living litters of Richardson’s ground squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii) were videotaped. Frame‐by‐frame analyses using the Eshkol‐Wachman Movement Notation were employed to record the correlated movements of attack and defense by the partners and to reveal the body areas targeted during each play bout. Whereas sexual play was organized around access to the rump, aggressive play was organized around the shoulders. Although in most cases the defender’s tactics blocked access to the respective target, when contact did occur, it involved mounting in sexual play and nosing or biting in aggressive play. Eighty‐six percent of play fights could be unambiguously categorized as either sexual or aggressive play. Of these, the majority (?80%) involved sexual play. The sex of the participants did not affect the frequency of aggressive play, but in sexual play, males initiated more attacks than females. Once initiated, each form of play fighting remained distinct—if a bout began as sexual play, it would end as sexual play. Furthermore, a counterattack following sexual play was significantly more likely to be sexual than aggressive, and vice versa for counterattacks following aggressive play. Therefore, all the evidence suggested that the two forms of play fighting were not intermixed in Richardson’s ground squirrels. Aggr. Behav. 27:323–337, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Follow-up of a Pretend Play Intervention: Effects on Play,Creativity, and Emotional Processes in Children

This study investigated the effects of a pretend play intervention on 45 first and second grade children 2–8 months post-intervention. It was hypothesized that pretend play would be improved in the intervention groups and that they would score higher than controls on measures of play, creativity, and emotional processes. Subjects were randomly assigned to an affect, imagination, or control group. The imagination group significantly increased on multiple play scores from baseline to follow up and compared with controls, scores on frequency of positive affect expression were significantly higher. Differences on other scores were not found. Results indicate that play skills can be improved and cognitive play skills may have a stronger impact on affective processes than anticipated.     

Peers' Perceptions of Negro and White Occupational Preferences

The hypothesis that elementary school children would cast their peers in occupational roles in a class play that would be congruent with the peers' previously expressed vocational preferences was supported for boys (N = 106), but not for girls (N = 97). Boys expressing a preference for either professional or masculine, aggressively oriented occupations were nominated for similar occupational roles in a class play by a significant number of their male and female peers. However, girls who expressed a preference for nursing or teaching were not cast in these roles by a significant number of either their male or female peers. Negro boys expressing a preference for professional occupations were cast in these roles by their peers with significantly greater frequency than were white boys. There were no significant race differences in the other occupational categories of the class play.     

Effect of playing violent video games cooperatively or competitively on subsequent cooperative behavior

Research on video games has yielded consistent findings that violent video games increase aggression and decrease prosocial behavior. However, these studies typically examined single-player games. Of interest is the effect of cooperative play in a violent video game on subsequent cooperative or competitive behavior. Participants played Halo II (a first-person shooter game) cooperatively or competitively and then completed a modified prisoner's dilemma task to assess competitive and cooperative behavior. Compared with the competitive play conditions, players in the cooperative condition engaged in more tit-for-tat behaviors-a pattern of behavior that typically precedes cooperative behavior. The social context of game play influenced subsequent behavior more than the content of the game that was played.     

Sex typing in play and popularity in middle childhood

Sex differences in play behavior across the early elementary school years as well as the relation between sex-typed play and peer acceptance were examined. It was hypothesized that children who were more sex-typed in their play behaviors would be more accepted by their peers. The participants included 86 grade two children and 81 grade four children. Popularity was assessed using a rating scale sociometric measure. Sex-typed behaviors were measured by observing the children at free play. Results indicated significant age and gender differences in children's play behavior. Specifically, boys engaged in more aggressive and rough and tumble play as well as more functional, solitary-dramatic and exploratory play and tended to be involved more in group play, whereas girls produced more parallel and constructive play as well as more peer conversations. In grade 4, these differences were maximized such that boys produced more games-with-rules and girls exhibited more parallel-constructive activity. Second, results indicated that sociometric ratings and observed degree of sex-typing were not significantly related except in the case of fourth grade males. At the fourth grade level, a positive relation was observed between boys' acceptance by male peers and “masculine” or male-preferred play behavior as well as between boys' acceptance by female peers and “feminine” or female-preferred play.     

Immersive Virtual Environments Versus Traditional Platforms: Effects of Violent and Nonviolent Video Game Play

An experiment focused on the effects of platform (desktop computer, immersive virtual environment; IVE), content (violent, nonviolent), and player gender on video game play outcomes. Results revealed an interaction such that participants reported higher levels of aggressive feelings when playing a violent video game in an IVE compared to violent game play on a desktop platform or nonviolent game play on either platform. Physiological results supported these findings. No gender effects were found, nor did platform intensify any effects for nonviolent game play. The findings suggest that the intensifying effects of IVEs for game play and aggression are content specific and provide further evidence that attention to playing platform is crucial in understanding violent video game effects.     

Cyber sexy: electronic game play and perceptions of attractiveness among college-aged men

The current study was conducted to determine if electronic gaming among males is related to body image, formation of body ideals, and appraisals of female attractiveness. A sample of 219 college-aged men (age 18-32) completed a variety of measures that assessed their game play habits, their perceptions of their own attractiveness, and perceptions of women's attractiveness. Results indicated that participants' ratings of women's attractiveness varied across the genres of game most frequently played but was not related to age of commencement or frequency of electronic game play. Additionally, frequency of play and age of commencement of game play were not related to self-perceptions of physical attractiveness, the association of positive attributes with muscularity, or the drive to become more muscular. Men's appearance satisfaction and valuation of muscularity was related to the extent to which they compare their own appearance to that of the characters featured in their electronic games. The results indicate that, unlike other forms of media, electronic gaming may have a weaker relationship to decreased appearance satisfaction or the formation of unrealistic standards of attractiveness.     

Video Games and Aggression in Children1

This study examined the effect of playing an aggressive or nonaggressive video game on fifth-graders' free play. Twenty-two pairs of boys and 20 pairs of girls were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. One of the children in each pair played a video game rated by peers as aggressive, a video game with little aggression, or a non-video maze-solving game for 8 minutes. The other child watched. Each child was then left individually to engage in free play in a separate room for 8 minutes, and also given the opportunity to deliver rewards and punishments to another child. The results were similar for both players and observers. Girls evidenced significantly more general activity and aggressive free play after playing the aggressive video game. Girls' activity decreased and their quiet play slightly increased after playing the low aggressive game compared to the control group. Neither video game had any significant effect on boys' free play. Neither girls nor boys gave significantly more punishments or rewards after playing any of the games.     

Parity of match play: an LPGA replication

This study investigated whether the slight advantage of higher seeded players to win in match play on the men's Professional Golfers' Association Tour generalizes to the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour. Analysis showed no significant advantage for the higher seeded player in match play. The highly restricted range of skill of tour players makes it mainly a matter of chance who will win any match-play event or who will have the better or worse scores on any given day.     

Behavioral orientations and peer-contact patterns of relationally aggressive girls

The present study was designed to assess the behavioral orientations and peer-contact patterns of relationally aggressive girls. Based on teachers' assessments of relational aggression, 16 preschool girls were assigned to either a relationally aggressive group or a nonaggressive group and then observed in a free play setting. Several aspects of their interactive behaviors, e.g., cooperative play and social conversation, and noninteractive behaviors, e.g., solitary play and transition, were observed. Analysis indicated the relationally aggressive group spent more time engaged in social conversation and transition and less time in cooperative play than did the nonaggressive group. Further, findings indicated that the relationally aggressive group spent more time with one particular peer than did the nonaggressive group.     

Intentional and unintentional memory in young children: remembering vs. playing

In an exploration of Istomina's (1975) paradigm contrasting children's recall from an involuntary or game-like context with recall from an intentional or lesson-like context, this study investigated the relative efficacy of asking 4- and 5-year-olds "to remember" or "to play with" a set of 16 pictures or toys in a naturalistic or laboratory setting. The children's behavior and language were measured during two 2-min study phases, after which recall was assessed. Toys promoted different study phase activities and better retention than pictures, asking a child "to remember" a set of toys led to less recall than asking the child "to play" with the toys, and, across all conditions, instructions "to play" and "to remember" elicited differentiated study phase responses but similar levels of retention.     

Differences or deficits? The significance of pretend and sociodramatic play

The developmental significance of pretend and sociodramatic play remains unresolved. Quite possibly, such play experiences facilitate a range of developmental competences which other experiences (including focused training) can facilitate equally effectively. If this were so, individual differences in such forms of play need not be a matter of direct concern in themselves. Such differences could be related to proximate variables which would be of greater scientific significance than broader or vaguer social class labels, although the political and economic realities of socioeconomic status should not be forgotten.     

Young children's understanding of pretend crying: The effect of context

Reasoning about another's pretend and real crying is related to ma'ny important social cognitive abilities (e.g., emotional understanding, appearance–reality, and theory of mind). This study investigated whether children aged 6 years and younger could distinguish between instances of pretend crying and real crying as presented in stories. Sixty‐five Japanese children aged 4–6 years were given stories within two contexts (Play and Non‐play). In the Play context, the protagonist of the story was pretending to cry or really crying during a pretend play activity. In the Non‐play context, the protagonist was also pretending to cry or really crying after his/her toy had been hidden by another child. The children answered questions about these crying events. The results showed that the 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds showed significantly better understanding of pretend crying in the Play context compared to the Non‐play context. In the Non‐play context, they were significantly less likely to understand the cause of pretend crying compared to the 6‐year‐olds. The results suggest that the context of pretend play facilitates the children's understanding of pretend crying.