Effects of modelling on children''s pretend play

The effects of modelling on pretend play were studied in children between 2.6 and 3.6 years of age by examining changes both in the action and language-based expressions of pretending. Three modelled scenes were demonstrated with the same realistic toys used by the child in the pre-modelling phase. The results gave support to the idea of the effectiveness of modelling. The effects of the modelled scenes were clearest among children whose pre-modelling play consisted of object-centred actions including few of pretending. The post-modelling play of this subgroup showed better quality of action and language categories and integration measures. Among the decentred players no significant action benefit could be achieved. This might have been an outcome of the contextual limits of the toy material and of the drop of play motivation caused by the model interruption. However, these children expressed verbal pretending revealing significant pre-post effects for inventive utterances.     

Childhood fantasy play relates to adult socio-emotional competence

Childhood fantasy play and creation of imaginary companions are thought to confer socio-emotional benefits in children, but little is known about how they relate to socio-emotional competence in adulthood. A total of 341 adults (81 males) aged 18 and above (M = 31.47, SD = 12.62) completed an online survey examining their fantasy play as a child, their childhood imaginary companion status, and their adult socio-emotional competence. Adults who reported higher levels of childhood fantasy play were found to be significantly more prosocial, empathetic, and emotionally intelligent than their counterparts after controlling for demographic factors. Recall of a childhood imaginary companion, however, was significantly related only to higher scores for perspective-taking and did not explain unique variance in any adult competence measure. Findings suggest that engagement in fantasy play during childhood may be a precursor to later socio-emotional competence, while benefits previously associated with imaginary companions specifically may not extend into adulthood.     

Internal consistency and reliability of alternate short forms of the college women's assertion sample: Clinical and research implications

Assertive behavior is most often assessed with self-report or role-play measures. The latter modality is preferred because it provides for the sampling of the structure of behavior and for the consideration of the situational context. MacDonald (1978) has developed such an assessment device but it is limited by the length of time for administration and scoring. Two studies were conducted to reconstruct reliable alternate short forms. The first study describes the selection of items and demonstrates the internal consistency of the alternate forms. The second study demonstrates the alternate form and retest reliability and provides normative statistics. We conclude that reliable alternate short forms have been constructed to be used in research in clinical applications.This research was supported by the Marie Wilson Howells Fund.Alternate short forms of the CWAS may be obtained from the first author.     

The creative potential of play and regression in analytical training: a personal reflection

The seminar group can serve as a framework in which to meet the fear generated during training. The group can become a maddening environment, but on occasions when it is experienced by the trainee as good enough, it can act like a playgroup which facilitates development. Experiences in the group can be viewed from the perspectives of group dynamics or of transference phenomena which embody regression. When this regression enables scope for play it can serve in the interests of ego development in the process of discovering the sort of analyst the trainee is becoming as the training unfolds. During play aspects of oneself can merge, then differentiate again. They can have different meanings at the same time. The rational and emotional, the adult and the childlike are all given a place in play.     

The effects of situational variations in role-play scenes on assertive behavior

The study was conducted to determine the extent to which variations in the situational parameters of role-play scenes affect subjects' levels of assertiveness. Thirty-six psychology undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of three role-play conditions that differed in the situation-setting characteristics presented in the scenes: a Difficult condition, designed to inhibit assertive responding; an Easy condition, designed to facilitate assertive responding; and a Neutral condition. Subjects also completed a self-report assertion inventory. Videotapes of the role-played interactions were rated for a variety of component responses. Results indicate that subjects responded differently in the three conditions. Subjects in the Difficult and Neutral conditions were more compliant, and those in the Easy and Difficult conditions were more fluent. It is suggested that failure to specify the situational parameters of role-play scenes may affect the validity of this assessment procedure.This research was supported in part by NIMH Grant, MH28279 to the third author.     

城市儿童超级英雄游戏的尴尬处境及其指导

超级英雄游戏是儿童最喜爱的游戏之一，城市儿童的超级英雄游戏由于游戏中的暴力成分、狭窄的游戏场地等原因遭到成人的反对。而成人合理管理和指导儿童的超级英雄游戏能促进儿童积极发展，完全禁止儿童的超级英雄游戏可能会对儿童的发展产生消极的影响。     

A comparison of 8- and 11-year-old girls' and boys' participation in specific types of rough-and-tumble play and aggressive fighting: Implications for functional hypotheses

Study 1 compared the extent to which 8- and 11-year-old girls and boys (N = 86) participated in specific types of rough-and-tumble play. It used an observational methodology. The data were used to test two prominent hypotheses about the evolutionary function of this general category of play behaviour that have been applied to children, especially boys, of this age. One is that rough-and-tumble play provides practice for the development of real fighting skills and the other that it serves as a safe way to establish/display social dominance. Both hypotheses predict that boys will engage in more rough-and-tumble play than girls, especially those types that are used in fighting/dominance contests. Boys were found to engage in significantly more chase initiation activities, more bouts of brief rough-and-tumble play, more bouts of restraining and more bouts of boxing/hitting than girls. These data provide some support for the two hypotheses, although significant sex differences were not found for all types of rough-and-tumble play observed. No significant age differences were obtained, suggesting that the two hypotheses may be applicable throughout the 8- to 11-year-old period and not just at the end of it as previous research had suggested. Study 2 presented observational data concerning the motor patterns used in aggressive fighting. In all but one case, there were no significant differences in the extent to which 8/9- and 10/11-year-old girls and boys employed wrestling, hitting and restraining, supporting the view that the practice fighting hypothesis is relevant throughout the 8-11-year-old period. It was argued that age and sex differences provide a useful means of scrutinising functional hypotheses, and that splitting behavioural categories that contain disparate action patterns facilitates more refined tests of those hypotheses. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Influence of timing of post-weaning isolation on play fighting and serious aggression in the male golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus)

Effects of timing of social isolation on play fighting and serious fighting were studied at different ages in male golden hamsters. Litters were isolated at 21, 35, and 65 days of age, and tested in a resident-intruder paradigm. Behaviors were compared within grous and with a fourth group of socially reared conspecifics. The earlier the pups were isolated, the more they engaged in play activities. Later, in adulthood, the aggression level of the same animals was retested using the same paradigm. The three isolated groups showed a high level of aggression, with significant differences among them. When compared with socially reared subjects, a reliable difference in the level of aggression was also found. These results support the view that early social experience is important, suggesting that isolation during early critical periods of socialization has a significant impact on play fighting, whereas short periods of isolation may be enough to trigger adult agonistic behavior. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The development and predictive relations of play and language across the second year.

The play and language development of 171 toddlers was examined at 14 and 18 months by observing their activities on the Symbolic Play Test and by assessing their language skills using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (MCDI) and the Reynell Developmental Language Scales. Additionally, data from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the MCDI were obtained at 24 months, in order to investigate how play and language measures taken at 14 and 18 months predict children's development at the age of 2 years. The results showed that the vocabulary production and symbolic play of the 14-month-old toddlers made a unique contribution to their language and cognitive skills at the age of 2 years, while at 18 months only language variables made a similar contribution. Other-directed pretense discriminated between the children's subsequent language and cognitive skills best, whereas nonsymbolic play had no independent predictive contribution. Significant gender differences were found in the use of nonsymbolic and symbolic play acts already at 14 months. Gender did not, however, contribute to the prediction of the children's subsequent skills, whereas maternal education significantly added to the prediction of the 2-year-olds' maximum sentence length and that of their cognitive development.     

Quadriceps Torque,Peak Variability and Strength Endurance in Patients after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Impact of Local Muscle Fatigue

Abstract

We tested if ACL-reconstructed participants show a decreased quadriceps torque, a lower muscle endurance capacity and a higher peak torque variability compared to unimpaired control participants prior to and following local muscle fatigue. Participants (n?=?19, 10 women; 25?±?5yrs.) with unilateral hamstrings autograft ACL-reconstruction and a matched unimpaired control group were recruited. Participants performed two maximal isometric voluntary force (MIVF) contractions of the knee extensors. In between, standardized local muscle fatigue was induced. ACL-reconstructed knees display a lower peak torque of the knee extensors in comparison to the contralateral limb (3.2?±?.3Nm/kg vs. 3.5?±?.3 Nm/kg). Peak torque variability and fatigue resistance were not affected by local muscle fatigue (p > .05). Participants with ACL-reconstructed knees show a persistent quadriceps muscle dysfunction. This dysfunction and lower limb side asymmetries might be risk factors for ACL re-ruptures.