Pretense, Executive Functions, and Counterfactual Reasoning: Evaluating the Case for a ‘Unified Theory of Imaginative Processes’

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gill A Francis ◽  
Jenny Louise Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Observational Study ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Unified Theory ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Counterfactual Reasoning ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Hypothetical Model ◽  
Initial Support ◽  
Order Factor

This study investigated the relation between pretense, counterfactual reasoning (CFR), and executive functions (EFs) based on the ‘Unifying Theory of Imaginative Processes’ proposed by Weisberg & Gopnik (2013). An observational study tested a hypothetical model of the structural relation between pretense and CFR and whether a second-order factor explains their shared associations. 189 typically developing children (Mean age = 58 months, SD = 4 months; males = 101, females = 88) were recruited from Cambridgeshire, UK and completed pretend-play, CFR, EFs, and language tasks. Pretense and CFR constructs were significantly correlated (r = 0.57, p = .001) and the hypothetical model was a good fit of the data. The empirical evidence provides initial support to the unifying theory of imaginative processes.

scholarly journals Can children’s play themes be assessed to inform play therapy practice?

2020 ◽  
pp. 135910452096451
Author(s):  
Bridget Sarah ◽  
Judi Parson ◽  
Kate Renshaw ◽  
Karen Stagnitti
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Play Therapy ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Therapeutic Change ◽  
Standardized Assessment ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Baseline Measure ◽  
Child Play

In play therapy with children, identifying play themes is key to understanding the meaning within sessions, and allows therapists to systematically track therapeutic change. This study investigated if play themes could be identified using a time limited, standardized assessment, for children aged 5–7 years. A descriptive, observational mixed methods, non-experimental study with 30 typically developing children was conducted, with participants assessed individually on one occasion using the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (ChIPPA). Play themes were able to be identified for 26 of the 30 participants. Of these 26 children, a range of primary and subthemes were observed. These findings indicate that a baseline measure of both play ability and play themes can be integrated to prescribe and align the model of play therapy with the needs of the child. Play themes were not identified for four participants which may be due to limited pretend play ability, indicating that deficits in play ability may need to be addressed in the first instance.

scholarly journals Differences between children with Down syndrome and typically developing children in adaptive behaviour, executive functions and visual acuity

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine de Weger ◽  
F. Nienke Boonstra ◽  
Jeroen Goossens
Keyword(s):  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Adaptive Behaviour ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Children With Down Syndrome ◽  
Distant Visual Acuity ◽  
Near Visual Acuity

AbstractIn children with Down syndrome (DS) development of visual, motor and cognitive functions is atypical. It is unknown whether the visual impairments in children with DS aggravate their lag in cognitive development. Visual impairment and developmental lags in adaptive behaviour and executive functions were assessed in 104 children with DS, 2–16 years, by comparing their adaptive behaviour, executive functions and visual acuity (distant and near) scores against published age-matched norm scores of typically developing children. Associations between these lags were explored. Mean (± SEM) differences to age-matched norms indicated reduced performance in DS: Vineland Screener questionnaire, − 63 ± 3.8 months; task-based Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS), − 46.09 ± 2.07 points; BRIEF-P questionnaire, 25.29 ± 4.66 points; BRIEF parents’ and teachers’ questionnaire, 17.89 ± 3.92 points and 40.10 ± 3.81 points; distant and near visual acuity, 0.51 ± 0.03 LogMAR and 0.63 ± 0.03 LogMAR (near − 0.11 ± 0.04 LogMAR poorer than distant). Adaptive behaviour (Vineland-S) correlated with the severity of visual impairment (r = − 0.396). Children with DS are severely impaired in adaptive behaviour, executive functions and visual acuities (near visual acuity more severely impaired than distant visual acuity). Larger impairment in adaptive behaviour is found in children with larger visual impairment. This supports the idea that visual acuity plays a role in adaptive development.

Imagination

2013 ◽  
pp. 790-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjorie Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Time Travel ◽  
Mental Time Travel ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Understanding ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Social Imagination

Imagination refers to the capacity to mentally transcend time, place, and/or circumstance to think about what might have been, plan and anticipate the future, create fictional worlds, and consider remote and close alternatives to actual experiences. This multifaceted capacity emerges early in life and develops substantially during the preschool years. The first section of this chapter reviews the development of social imagination in pretend play, narrative, and mental time travel, suggesting that the simulation of imagined social scenarios involving self and/or others in all three domains contributes to the development of real-world social understanding. The final sections of the chapter discuss the relation between imagination and creativity, compare imagination in typically developing children and children on the autism spectrum, and suggest directions for future research.

Just pretend: Participation in symbolic talk by children with histories of early corrective heart surgery

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
REBECCA OVADIA ◽  
LOWRY HEMPHILL ◽  
KENDRA WINNER ◽  
DAVID BELLINGER
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Heart Surgery ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Child Play ◽  
Basic Language ◽  
Language Measures ◽  
Parent Child

Children with histories of early corrective heart surgery (ECHS) are at risk for language, cognitive, and motor delays. This study examined parent–child play in 30 4-year-old children with ECHS and 30 typically developing children. Children were compared on basic language measures and on proportions of symbolic and nonsymbolic talk. Children with ECHS focused on concrete “here-and-now” talk and produced less symbolic talk than normative children. Only a third of the children with ECHS were able to produce story episodes. These findings reflect the ECHS children's relatively immature participation in joint pretense and their overreliance on earlier acquired strategies for pretend play. This style of participation may result from difficulty coordinating more complex social intentions with appropriate language forms.

scholarly journals Empowering Executive Functions in 5- and 6-Year-Old Typically Developing Children Through Educational Robotics: An RCT Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Chiara Di Lieto ◽  
Chiara Pecini ◽  
Emanuela Castro ◽  
Emanuela Inguaggiato ◽  
Francesca Cecchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children

scholarly journals Executive functions in early childhood: interrelations and structural development of inhibition, set-shifting and working memory

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Stievano ◽  
Giovanni Valeri
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Task Analysis ◽  
Structural Development ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Linguistic Level ◽  
Insight Into

The aim of the present study is to examine the interrelations of executive function (EF) tasks with general cognitive ability and linguistic level in preschool children. The analyses of the correlation between EF sub-domains, particularly inhibition and setshifting, have been studied to comprehend the ontogenesis of EFs. Task analysis has allowed us to identify which EF sub-domains are prevalent in each task, with particular attention to inhibition and set-shifting definitions. The sample was composed of 40 typically developing children from 48 to 69 months old (M = 58 months, SD = 5.02); 28 boys and 12 girls. The results give some insight into the development of executive functions, their utility in clinical assessment and indication.

scholarly journals Bilingualism effects on the cognitive flexibility of autistic children: Evidence from verbal dual-task paradigms

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-73
Author(s):  
Eleni Peristeri ◽  
Margreet Vogelzang ◽  
Ianthi Maria Tsimpli
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Target Information ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Dual Tasks

Abstract The deficit in cognitive flexibility, i.e. the ability to adapt cognitive behavior to changing contexts, is one of the most prominent characteristics of autistic individuals. Inflexibility may manifest in restricted interests and increased susceptibility to the effects of misinformation either through inefficient inhibition of non-target information or deficient recall of correct information. Bilingualism has been shown to enhance executive functions in both typically-developing children and autistic children, yet, the effect of bilingualism on cognitive flexibility in autism remains underexplored. In this study, we used verbal dual-tasks to compare cognitive flexibility across 50 monolingual autistic and 50 bilingual autistic children, and 50 monolingual and 50 bilingual typically-developing children. The children were also administered language ability tests and a nonverbal global-local cognitive flexibility task, in order to investigate whether performance in the dual-tasks would be modulated by the children’s language and executive function skills. The bilingual autistic children outperformed their monolingual autistic peers in the dual tasks. The strength of the bilingualism effect, however, was modulated by the type of language processing that interfered with the target information in each dual-task, which suggests that the bilingual autistic children calibrated their processing resources and efficiently adapted them to the changing demands of the dual-task only to the extent that the task did not exceed their language abilities. Bilingual autistic children relied on their executive functions rather than on their language abilities while performing in the dual-tasks. The overall results show that bilingualism compensates for the reduced cognitive flexibility in autism.

Relationship Between Sensory Processing and Pretend Play in Typically Developing Children

2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 7201195050p1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Roberts ◽  
Karen Stagnitti ◽  
Ted Brown ◽  
Anoo Bhopti
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children
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