An analysis of the generalization of pretend play from real objects to toys

Researchers have reported that children engage in pretend play that reflects the conventional activities of their environment (i.e., learned-combinations play). In contrast, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display fewer and less varied play behaviors. Research on teaching pretend play to children with ASD often involves prompting and reinforcing scripted responses. Although effective, these procedures may be limited because they can produce rigid, rote play rather than pretend play reenacting real-life events. This study evaluated the effects of teaching actions with real objects on the emergence of generalized learned-combinations play with three children with ASD. Overall, teaching children actions using real objects facilitated generalization of those actions with toys. We provide future directions for research when limited generalization is observed with some toys. Additionally, we discuss the implications of automatic reinforcement and the motivating operation in relation to our findings.