The development of pretend play in young children

Abstract

McConkey (1983) has suggested that there are 5 stages in learning to pretend. He claims that children do not progress smoothly from one stage to the next but instead during play display actions from a number of different stages and frequently change stage. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the pattern of development proposed by McConkey would emerge in the play of a sample of N.Z. Children. The play behaviour of 80 children in 5 different age groups, 8 females and 8 males at 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months, was compared. Subjects were observed individually whilst playing with a standard set of toys in a structured setting. The data was consistent with McConkey's model in terms of timescale and mode of development and so provides evidence of cross-cultural similarities in pretend play. Subjects of all ages performed actions from various stages and a comparison of performance at the 5 age levels showed that development occurred simultaneously within and across stages. An ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for age, (p<.001). Older subjects exhibited fewer actions from lower stages and a larger number from the higher stages whereas the reverse was true of the younger children. This research, like the work of McConkey, argues against the theory that cognitive development in general and the development of pretend play in particular proceeds in a series of discreet stages. A significant sex difference was also found (p<.01) with male subjects attaining lower mean play scores. Possible explanations for this difference are discussed. An account is given of the typical play behaviour at each age.