The authors investigated the relation between affective and cognitive processes in fantasy play and emotional understanding of 50 Italian children (25 boys and 25 girls) enrolled in regular elementary school in Northern Italy. Children were administered a standardized play task, the Affect in Play Scale, and answered questions about their understanding of emotions. Consistent, yet modest, relationships were found between dimensions of fantasy play and emotional understanding.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CarrollJ. J.StewardM. S. (1984) The role of cognitive development in children's understandings of their own feelings. Child Development, 55, 1486–1492.
2.
GoldsteinA. B.RussS. W. (2001) Understanding children's literature and its relationship to fantasy ability and coping. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 20, 105–126.
3.
HollingsheadA. B. (1975) Four-Factor Index of Social Status. (Unpublished manuscript, Department of Sociology, Yale Univer., l)
4.
KuscheC. A.GreenbergM. T.BeilkeB. (1988) The Kusche Affective Interview. (Unpublished manuscript, Univer. of Washington, Seattle, WA)
5.
MazzeschiC.SalcuniS.ParolinL.LisA. (2003) A comparison between two instruments to measure affects and emotions in children aged 6–11. Presented at the 10th International Congress Earli 2003, Padova.
6.
NiecL. N.RussS. W. (2002) Children's internal representations, empathy and fantasy play: a validity study of the SCORS–Q. Psychological Assessment, 14, 331–338.
7.
RussS. W. (1988) Primary process thinking on the Rorschach divergent thinking, and coping in children. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52, 539–548.
8.
RussS. W. (1993) Affect and creativity: the role of affect and play in the creative process. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
9.
RussS. W.KaugarsA. S. (2001) Emotion in children's play and creative problem solving. Creativity Research Journal, 13, 211–219.
10.
RussS. W.NiecL. N.KaugarsA. S. (2000) Play assessment of affect: the Affect in Play Scale. In GitlinWeiner K.SandgrundA.SchaeferC. (Eds.), Play diagnosis and assessment. (2nd ed.) New York: Wiley. Pp. 722–749.
11.
RussS. W.RobinsA.ChristianoB. (1999) Pretend play: longitudinal prediction of creativity and affect in fantasy in children. Creativity Research Journal, 12, 129–139.
12.
SejaA. L.RussS. W. (1999) Children's fantasy play and emotional understanding. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28, 269–277.
13.
StrayerJ. (1989) What children know and feel in response to witnessing affective events. In SaarniC.HarrisP. L. (Eds.), Children's understanding of emotion. New York: Cambridge Univer. Press. Pp. 259–289.
14.
ThompsonR. A. (1989) Causal attribution and children's emotional understanding. In SaarniC.HarrisP. L. (Eds.), Children's understanding of emotion. New York: Cambridge Univer. Press. Pp. 117–150.
