The Child’s Conceptions of Play, Pretending, and Toys: Sequences and Structural Parallels

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Abstract
Children’s conceptions of play, pretending, and toys, were investigated with a primary focus on age differences. Interview responses were obtained from 80 5-, 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old children, 20 from each age. Results indicate a decline with age in references to objects, attributes, and props in play and pretending. There is also an increase with age in references to the use of imagination. Results are interpreted as reflecting increased differentiation between the signifier and the signified, and as paralleling structural changes seen in other sequential developments such as language acquisition. Consistent variability in responses, however, indicates that responses depend to some extent on the characteristics of the item discussed. The results underscore the complex and important role of play in cognitive development.

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