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"This is a bad dog, you know...": constructing shared meanings during sibling pretend play
Nina Howe1, Hariclia Petrakos, Christina M Rinaldi
1Department of Education, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. nina.howe@education.concordia.ca
Child Development
|July 20, 2005
Summary
Kindergarteners build shared meanings during pretend play, influencing social understanding. Sibling dynamics, like age differences and birth order, shape these interactions and play development.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Sibling relationships are crucial contexts for social development.
- Pretend play facilitates the construction of shared meanings and social understanding.
- Internal state language and relationship quality are key components of early social cognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how kindergarteners construct shared meanings in play with siblings.
- To examine the association between dyadic strategies and pretend play/internal state language.
- To explore developmental and birth order differences in shared meaning construction during sibling play.
Main Methods:
- Studied 40 kindergarteners with older or younger siblings.
- Analyzed dyadic strategies for constructing shared meanings (e.g., extensions, building on).
- Assessed frequency of pretense, internal state language, and non-maintenance behaviors.
Main Results:
- Dyadic strategies positively correlated with pretense and internal state language frequency.
- Older sibling dyads used more shared meaning strategies than younger dyads.
- Firstborns exhibited more play disruptions; second-borns extended ideas more.
Conclusions:
- Sibling relationships provide a vital context for developing social understanding during pretend play.
- Developmental and birth order factors significantly influence how children negotiate shared meanings in play.
- Understanding these dynamics offers insights into early social cognition and relationship development.
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