Make-­‐Believe Play and Children’s Self-­‐Regula9on Laura E. Berk Illinois State University OUTLINE 1. Vygotsky’s theory: Make-­‐believe play as pivotal in self-­‐regulatory development 2. Research support: Two examples 3. Does make-­‐believe play promote early development? The status of research 4. Prac9cal Implica9ons Vygotsky’s Theory: Make-­‐Believe Play ! Self-­‐Regula9on 1. By crea9ng imaginary situa9ons, children learn to use mental symbols/ideas (especially through language) to guide and control their thinking and behavior. 2. By following rules in make-­‐believe, children come to understand and uphold social norms and expecta9ons. Research Support for the Contribu9on of Make-­‐Believe Play to Self-­‐Regula9on: Two Examples Example 1: Elias & Berk (2002) naturalis9c study Sample: 51 middle-­‐class 3-­‐ and 4-­‐year-­‐olds Prospec9ve design: Fall observa9ons of make-­‐believe play in preschool classrooms Fall and Spring observa9ons of self-­‐regula9on (clean-­‐up behavior) Results: Correla9ons between fall make-­‐believe play and spring self-­‐regula9on, controlling for fall verbal ability and fall self-­‐regula9on Total sample +.32* High-­‐impulsive children +.81** Low-­‐impulsive children: +.01 *p < .05. **p < .01. Research Support for the Contribu9on of Make-­‐Believe Play to Self-­‐Regula9on: Two Examples Example 2: Carlson, White, & Davis-­‐Unger (2014) laboratory study Index of self-­‐regula9on: execu9ve func9on (EF)—working memory, inhibi9on, flexible aben9on (set-­‐
switching) Hypothesized a bidirec9onal, mutually enhancing rela9onship between"
make-­‐believe play #! execu9ve func9on Sample: 104 middle-­‐class 3-­‐ and 4-­‐year-­‐olds Correla9onal design—concurrent assessments of: Pretense: (a) ability to differen9ate between actual and pretend iden99es of objects (b) level of representa9on in pretend ac9ons Execu9ve func9on: Babery of (a) conflict tasks (b) delay (inhibi9on) tasks Research Support for the Contribu9on of Make-­‐Believe Play to Self-­‐Regula9on: Two Examples Example 2: Carlson, White, & Davis-­‐Unger (2014) laboratory study Findings: Children’s pretend/reality performance was strongly associated with conflict EF: R2 = .50** Children’s pretend-­‐ac9ons performance was associated with delay EF: R2 = .26* *p < .05. **p < .01. Does Make-­‐Believe Play Promote Cogni9ve and Social Development? Status of Research Lillard, Lerner, Hopkins, Dore, Smith, & Palmquist (2013) Weak research, largely correla9onal, lacking rigorous controls Self-­‐regula9on/execu9ve func9on: Pretend play likely has lible impact. If any, “it is limited to subsets of children.” Respondents: Berk & Meyers (2013) Bergen (2013) and many others Improvements and Refinements in Research 1.  Pretense ! private speech ! self-­‐regula9on 2.  Research on the quality and content of make-­‐believe: Dunn & Hughes (2001) 3.  Child factors are important 4.  Play interven9on studies are needed 5.  High-­‐quality longitudinal research 6.  Capitalizing on opportuni9es for quasi-­‐experimental studies and field experiments Prac9cal Implica9ons Preserving play in children’s lives—in homes, schools, and community selngs Op9mis9c messaging to parents, educators, and policy makers about extant research on contribu9ons of play to development © Laura Dwight Thank you! References Bergen, D. (2013). Does pretend play maber? Searching for evidence: Comment on Lillard et al. (2013). Psychological Bulle/n, 139, 45–48. Berk, L. E., & Meyers, A. B. (2013). The role of make-­‐believe play in execu9ve func9on: Status of research and future direc9ons. American Journal of Play, 6, 95–107. Carlson, S. M., White, R. E., & Davis-­‐Unger, A. C. (2014). Evidence for a rela9on between execu9ve func9on and pretense representa9on in preschool children. Cogni/ve Development, 29, 1–16. Dunn, J, & Hughes, C. (2013). ‘I got some swords and you’re dead!’: Violent fantasy, an9social behavior, friendship, and moral sensibility in young children. Child Development, 72, 491–505. Elias, C. L., & Berk, L. E. (2002). Self-­‐regula9on in young children: Is there a role for sociodrama9c play? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 17, 216–238. Lillard, A. S., Lerner, M. D., Hopkins, E. J., Dore, R. A., Smith, E. D., & Palmquist, C. M. (2013). The impact of pretend play on children’s development: A review of the evidence. Psychological Bulle/n, 139, 1–34.