Identifying Causal Elements in the Thematic-Fantasy Play Paradigm

Abstract

The intent of the study was to examine the effectiveness of elements of the thematic-fantasy play training paradigm in facilitating children’s immediate and maintained story recall. One-hundred and ninety-two children in kindergarten and first grade (balanced for sex) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: adult-directed play, peer-directed play, accommodation questions, or control. Children were read different books on three occasions and exposed to their appropriate treatments after each reading. After the third session, story recall was measured by a 10-item CRT, a story recall task, and a sequential memory task. Maintenance effects were measured 1 week later on the first two measures. Results generally indicated that adult tuition was not an important element for players. In terms of immediate recall, fantasy reenactment was generally more effective than were accommodation questions. For maintained recall, accommodation questions were generally as effective as the play conditions.