This study explores the use of a play assessment procedure for examining the development of cognition, language, and social behaviors. Subjects were 17 multihandicapped children (median age 4-6). Results from an experimental Play Assessment Scale (PAS) were compared to results from multiple measures of cognition, language, and social behavior. All results were highly significant and are discussed in terms of the construct validity of the PAS and of the possible advantage of using a play format to assess skills in difficult-to-test children.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bates, E. (1976). Language and context. New York: Academic Press.
2.
Belsky, J., & Most, R. K. (1981). From exploration to play: A cross-sectional study of infant free play behavior. Developmental Psychology, 17, 630-639.
3.
Bretherton, I. (1985). Pretense: Practicing and playing with social understanding. In C. C. Brown & A. W. Gottfried (Eds.), Play interactions: The role of toys and parental involvement in children's development (pp. 69-79). Skillman, NJ: Johnson &Johnson.
4.
Bricker, D., & Carlson, L. (1981). Issues in early language intervention. In R. Schiefelbusch & D. Bricker (Eds.). Early language: Acquisition and intervention. Baltimore: University Park Press.
5.
Bruner, J. S. (1972). The nature and uses of immaturity. American Psychologist, 27, 687-708.
6.
Cirrin, F., & Rowland, C. (1985). Communicative assessment of nonverbal youths with severe/profound mental retardation. Mental Retardation, 23, 52-62.
7.
Coggins, T. E., Carpenter, R. L., & Owings, N. O. (1983). Examining early intentional communication in Down's syndrome and nonretarded children. British Journal of Communication, 18, 98-106.
8.
Corrigan, R. (1982). The control of animate and inanimate components in pretend play and language. Child Development, 53, 1343-1353.
9.
Fenson, L. (1984). Developmental trends for action and speech in pretend play. In I. Bretherton (Ed.), Symbolic play: The development of social understanding (pp. 249-270). New York: Academic Press.
10.
Fenson, L. (1985). The developmental progression of exploration and play. In C. C. Brown & A. W. Gottfried (Eds.), Play interactions: The role of toys and parental involvement in children's development (pp. 31-45). Skillman, NJ: Johnson & Johnson.
11.
Fenson, L., & Ramsay, D. S. (1980). Decentration and integration of play in the second year of life. Child Development, 51, 171-178.
12.
Fewell, R. R. (1984). Play assessment scale. Unpublished manuscript, University of Washington, Seattle, Experimental Education Unit.
13.
Fewell, R. R. (1986). Some new directions in the assessment and education of young handicapped children. In J. M. Berg (Ed.), Science and service in mental retardation (pp. 179-188). London: Methuen.
14.
Fewell, R., & Langley, M. B. (1984). Developmental Activities Screening Inventory II. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
15.
Fewell, R., & Vadasy, P. (1983). Learning through play. Hingham, MA: Teaching Resources Corporation.
16.
Fraiberg, S., & Adelson, E. (1977). Self-representation in language and play. In S. Fraiberg (Ed.), Insights from the blind: Comparative studies of blind and sighted infants (pp. 248-270). New York: Basic Books.
17.
Garvey, C. (1977). Play. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
18.
Hill, P., & McCune-Nicolich, L. (1981). Pretend play and patterns of cognition in Down's syndrome children. Child Development, 52, 611-617.
19.
Jennings, K. D., Connors, R. E., Stegman, C. E., Sankaranarayan, P., & Mendelsohn, S. (1985). Mastery motivation in young preschoolers: Effect of a physical handicap and implications for educational programming. Journal of the Division of Early Childhood, 9, 162-169.
20.
Langley, M. B. (1976). Gestural approach to thought and expression (GATE). Unpublished test. Nashville, TN: George Peabody College for Teachers.
21.
Li, A. K. (1981). Play and the mentally retarded child. Mental Retardation, 19, 121-126.
22.
Lovell, K., Hoyle, H., & Siddall, M. (1968). A study of some aspects of the play and language of young children with delayed speech. Journal of Child Psychology and Child Psychiatry, 9, 41-50.
23.
Lowe, M. (1975). Trends in the development of representational play in infants from one to three years: An observational study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 16,. 33-47.
24.
Lowe, M., & Costello, A. J. (1976). The symbolic play test. Berkshire, England: NFER-Nelson.
25.
Lowenfeld, M. (1950). The nature and use of the Lewenfeld World Technique in work with children and adults. Journal of Psychotherapy, 18, 65.
26.
McCune, L. (1985). Play-language relationships and symbolic development. In C. C. Brown & A. W. Gottfried (Eds.), Play interactions. The role of toys and parental involvement and children's development (pp. 38-45). Skillman, NJ: Johnson & Johnson.
27.
McCune-Nicolich, L. (1981). Toward symbolic functioning: Structure of early pretend games and potential parallels with language. Child Development, 52, 785-797.
28.
Nicolich, L. (1977). Beyond sensorimotor intelligence: Assessment of symbolic maturity through analysis of pretend play. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 23, 89-99.
29.
Odom, S. L. (1981). The relationship of play to developmental level in mentally retarded preschool children. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 16, 136-141.
30.
Owings, N., & Workman, S. (1983). Assessing the representational behaviors of play, language, and drawing in normal and language-delayed children. Paper presented at the fourth annual Montana Symposium of Early Education and the Exceptional Child, Billings.
31.
Piaget, J. (1970). Piaget's theory. In P. A. Mussen (Ed.), Carmichael's manual of child psychology (pp. 703-732). New York: John Wiley.
32.
Rogers, S. J., & Puchalski, C. B. (1984). Social characteristics of visually impaired infants' play. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 3, 52-56.
33.
Rubin, K. H. (1985). Play, peer interaction, and social development. In C. C. Brown & A. W. Gottfried (Eds.), Play interactions. The role of toys and parental involvement and children's development (pp. 88-96). Skillman, NJ: Johnson & Johnson.
34.
Schaefer, D. S., & Moersch, M. S. (Eds.). (1981). Developmental programming for infants and young children. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
35.
Sisco, F. H., Kranz, P. L., Lund, N. L., & Schwarz, G. C. (1979). Development and compensatory play: A means of facilitating social, emotional, cognitive, and linguistic growth in deaf children. American Annals of the Deaf, 124, 850-857.
36.
Smilansky, S. (1968). The effects of sociodramatic play in disadvantaged preschool children. New York: John Wiley.
37.
Snyder, L. (1976). The early presuppositions and preformatives of normal and language disabled children. Papers and Reports of Child Language Development, 12, 221-229.
38.
Song, A., Jones, S., Lippert, J., Metzgen, K., Miller, J., & Borreca, C. (1980). Wisconsin Behavior Rating Scale. Madison: Central Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled.
39.
Sternberg, R. (1979). The nature of mental abilities. American Psychologist, 34, 214-230.
40.
Stillman, R. (1978). The Callier-Azusa Scale. Dallas: Callier Center for Communication Disorders.
41.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1967). Play and its role in the mental development of the child. Soviet Psychology, 12, 62-76.
42.
Watson, M. W., & Fischer, K. W. (1980). Development of social roles in elicited and spontaneous behavior during the preschool years. Child Development, 18, 483-494.
43.
Werner, H., & Kaplan, B. (1963). Symbolic formation. An organismic-developmental approach to language and the expression of thought. New York: John Wiley.
44.
Wing, L., Gould, J., Yeates, S., & Brierley, L. (1977). Symbolic play in severely mentally retraded and autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 18, 167-178.
45.
Yarrow, M. R., & Waxler, C. Z. (1976). Dimensions and correlates of prosocial behavior in young children. Child Development, 47, 118-125.
