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Signs of Pretense Across Age and Scenario
Angeline Lillard1, Tracy Nishida, Davide Massaro
1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia.
Summary
Mothers
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Early Childhood Studies
Background:
- Pretense and imagination are key human traits.
- Understanding the early emergence of pretend play is crucial.
- Previous research explored maternal snack-related pretense.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate maternal pretend play with infants aged 15-24 months.
- To examine pretend play in snack and personal grooming scenarios.
- To identify maternal behaviors associated with infant pretense.
Main Methods:
- Replication and extension of Lillard and Witherington's (2004) study.
- Observation of mother-infant interactions across two scenarios.
- Analysis of maternal pretend behaviors and infant responses.
Main Results:
- Maternal pretend behaviors showed little change with infant age.
- Scenario differences were observed in maternal pretend play.
- Specific maternal actions consistently correlated with infant pretense and smiling.
Conclusions:
- Maternal pretense plays a role in fostering infant pretend play.
- Findings align with developing infant skills in joint attention and social referencing.
- Early pretend play emerges through social interaction and scaffolding.
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