Pretend play with mothers and siblings: relations between early performance and partners

Although the role of the mother in assisting early pretend play has been established in other studies, little is known about the sibling's contribution. Using naturalistic observational methodology, this study investigates whether 2-year-old infants' co-operative pretend play varies when playing with their mother and 4-5-year-old sibling. The results suggest marked differences in frequency of production of various transformational types in each social setting, and one type of play only appears in games with the sibling. Possible "facilitation" by the play partner is discussed. The classificatory limitation of existing normative developmental schedules of early pretending is noted.