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Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
Just pretending can be really learning: children use pretend play as a source for acquiring generic knowledge
Shelbie L Sutherland1, Ori Friedman
1Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. ssuther2@illinois.edu
Developmental Psychology
|November 15, 2012
Summary
Children learn from pretend play by generalizing information about specific pretend scenarios. However, they selectively avoid learning from unrealistic pretense or information that contradicts their existing knowledge.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Development
- Child Psychology
- Learning Sciences
Background:
- Children acquire knowledge through various social interactions, including pretend play.
- Pretend play offers a unique context for children to learn and generalize information.
- Understanding the boundaries of learning from pretend scenarios is crucial for developmental psychology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how children generalize knowledge acquired during pretend play.
- To examine whether children resist learning from unrealistic pretend scenarios.
- To determine the selectivity of knowledge acquisition from pretend play in preschoolers.
Main Methods:
- Preschoolers (3-5 years old) observed pretend scenarios involving animals.
- Children were subsequently questioned about real animals related to the pretend scenarios.
- Three experiments were conducted to test generalization and resistance to unrealistic pretense.
Main Results:
- Children treated pretend scenarios as informative for the specific animal kind in the pretense.
- Children did not generalize information to other animal kinds not represented in the pretense.
- Older preschoolers (4-5 years old) resisted learning from pretend scenarios that contradicted their prior knowledge and expectations.
Conclusions:
- Children's learning from pretend play is specific to the kinds represented within the pretense.
- Children exhibit selective learning from pretend play, filtering information based on realism and consistency with existing knowledge.
- Pretend play facilitates targeted knowledge acquisition rather than indiscriminate learning in young children.
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