PEDAL Hub Library

Social learning has been a large focus of early developmental psychology for the past three decades. While it reveals how culture is transmitted to young children, questions about how young children come up with their own ideas and learn for themselves have been largely ignored. This talk, with Dr Elena Hoicka from the University of Bristol, will present research showing that toddlers can be creative and come up with their own ideas. Elena will focus on toddlers’ creation of their own novel jokes and pretending, and toddlers’ divergent thinking with novel objects.

Background Little is known about the extent to which embodied digital mediation may support social engagement between children with or without autism (ASD) in free play settings. This study draws on Affordance theory and Constructionism to investigate social play behaviours associated with use of a Tangible User Interface (TUI) during free play. Method The study used a detailed observational and descriptive design. Two groups of children with ASD and two groups of typically developing (TD) children were filmed during a 20-minute play session with either a passive toy, or a digital toy with a TUI. Behaviours were coded according to a scheme based on Parten’s Play States. Data were described in terms of duration, frequency and the likelihood of transition to another state, given the current state. Results For TD children, Parallel and Associative were the most frequently observed Play States across both conditions. For those with ASD, Parallel Play and Non-Play-Related Conversation were the most frequent states in the passive condition, while Parallel and Associative Play were the most common in the TUI condition. This group demonstrated a longer duration of co-operative play with the TUI toy compared to TD children. Both groups showed higher frequencies of social play in the TUI condition. Conclusions Social play states can be effectively mediated by TUIs for both TD and ASD groups. For the ASD group, repetitive behaviour with a TUI may not be inhibitory to social engagement. Practitioners may consider making TUI enabled toys available during free play opportunities.

Join PEDAL in the conversation about the changing nature of childhood…are we really heading from ‘free range’ to ‘hot house’? Is the Children’s Commissioner for England correct when she calls for play on prescription and claims that children lead a “battery hen existence” (more info in the report ‘Playing Out’)? Chaired by one of PEDAL’s lead researchers, Dr Jenny Gibson, the panel of speakers comprise of: Kathryn Lester (University of Sussex – an academic who researches anxiety in children); Nicola Butler (Chair of Play England’s Board of Trustees and Director of Hackney Play Association – managing Homerton Grove Adventure Playground); Tim Gill (a researcher, writer and consultant on childhood). Stephen Mitchell (Chair, Parkour UK & consultant) Come and join us for this lively and topical debate.

Defining play has plagued researchers and philosophers for years. From describing play as an inaccessible concept due to its complexity, to providing checklists of features, the field has struggled with how to conceptualize and operationalize “play.” This theoretical piece reviews the literature about both play and learning and suggests that by viewing play as a spectrum – that ranges from free play (no guidance or support) to guided play and games (including purposeful adult support while maintaining playful elements), we better capture the true essence of play and explain its relationship to learning. Insights from the Science of Learning allow us to better understand why play supports learning across social and academic domains. By changing the lens through which we conceptualize play, we account for previous findings in a cohesive way while also proposing new avenues of exploration for the field to study the role of learning through play across age and context.

Professor Greenfield is a Professor of Psychology and Pediatrics at the University of Miami. His work is positioned at the interface of research, policy and practice at the international, national and local level. His research examines school readiness with at-risk and dual language learners, with a specific focus on early science education. Science has the power to engage early childhood educators and young children in hands-on, minds-on, fun and engaging experiences that increase the quality of teaching as well as provide young children with critical problem-solving skills and improved learning in multiple school readiness areas. In this PEDAL research seminar, Professor Greenfield discusses the role of science in early education in relation to research, as well as current policy and practice. This lecture forms part of the PEDAL Research Seminar series http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/centres/pedal @PEDALCam

Loose parts play (LPP) interventions introduce moveable materials and equipment to children’s play spaces to facilitate unstructured, child-led play. Meta-analysis of previous school-based research has shown significant benefits of LPP for physical activity. In the current paper, we review the scope and quality of the quantitative evidence relating to cognitive, social and emotional outcomes. We conducted a systematic search of the literature on LPP interventions for primary school-aged children which used quantitative outcome indicators for cognitive, social and/or emotional development. Studies were screened for inclusion by two independent researchers and reviewed for content, relevant outcomes and quality indicators. Five studies met the review inclusion criteria. Two studies used a randomised controlled trial design, two studies used quasi-experimental design, and one used an observational design. Outcomes measured focused mainly on social development. With the exception of enjoyment, school satisfaction and self-esteem, emotional outcomes were almost entirely absent. No measures of cognitive or academic outcomes were found. For the studies using control groups, few differences between groups were reported, although one study found increased happiness at school and increased odds of reporting being pushed/shoved at playtime associated with intervention. Null results were found for peer acceptance, relational bullying, social competence, social skills, peer group size and psychosocial quality of life. In the non-controlled study, there were observed increases in co-operative play. There is insufficient high-quality, quantitative, empirical evidence available to determine whether or not LPP interventions have an impact on children’s cognitive, social and emotional development. We conclude our review with some recommendations which we hope will assist future research in this promising field.

Background Research on the relationships between parental factors and children’s executive function (EF) has been conducted mainly in Western cultures. Aim This study provides the first empirical test, in a non-Western context, of how maternal EF and parenting behaviours relate to child EF. Sample South Korean mothers and their preschool children (N = 95 dyads) completed EF tasks. Method Two aspects of parental scaffolding were observed during a puzzle task: contingency (i.e., adjusting among levels of scaffolding according to the child’s ongoing evidence of understanding) and intrusiveness (i.e., directive, mother-centred interactions). Results and Conclusions Maternal EF and maternal contingency each accounted for unique variance in child EF, above and beyond child age, child language and maternal education. Maternal intrusiveness, however, was not significantly related to child EF. Additionally, no mediating role of parenting was found in the maternal and child EF link. However, child language was found to partially mediate the link between maternal contingency and child EF. These results complement prior findings by revealing distinctive patterns in the link between maternal EF, parenting behaviours, and child EF in the Korean context.

The purpose of this study was to examine Ghanaian stakeholders’ beliefs about the role and importance of play in early years (3 to 5 years) children’s learning, referred to as play-learning beliefs. A survey design was adopted in order to gather data necessary to examine the differences among stakeholders’ play-learning beliefs. A total of 292 participants completed the survey. Data were collected using a self-developed scale. A preliminary comparison of the mean differences among the stakeholders using ANOVA indicated that the head teachers and teachers perceived play as a form of learning more favourably than the parents. This difference was further explored using cluster analysis to test the hypothesis that stakeholders’ education status is a factor in explaining the group mean differences. Using a two-step cluster analysis in SPSS 24.0, participants were grouped into five distinct clusters, which were most distinguishable by participant status (parent, teacher or head teacher) and their education status – high-educated head teachers, teachers and parents, moderate-educated teachers and low-educated parents. Consistent differences emerged between cluster groups when compared on the scale score. Consistent with the hypothesis, the results suggest education status is associated with stakeholders’ beliefs about the role of play in children’s learning.

This brief relates to the second seminar in a series of three around the theme of ‘The Educated Brain’. Each research seminar includes talks from leading researchers and roundtable discussions about the links between research and policy and practice. Presentations at the second seminar built on discussions from seminar 1 by focusing on school years from age 8. Academic presentations covered: inequalities in educational outcomes, researching the adolescent brain, the role of rhythm in cognitive development, transition to secondary school and bilingualism. The keynote lecture delivered by Professor Charles Nelson reported on a body of work investigating the impact of early neglect on children and institutional care.

This brief relates to the first seminar in a series of three around the theme of ‘The Educated Brain’. Each research seminar includes talks from leading researchers and roundtable discussions about the links between research, policy and practice. Presentations at the first seminar on infancy and early childhood focused on where interdisciplinary research can make progress in our understanding, with a focus on the developing brain of young children including: scanning young brains; examining the concept of ‘school readiness’; learning through play; and learning in a stressful environment. Research shows innovative methodologies and data collection being applied in studies such as tracking children’s movements through play and research-informed practitioner tools such as the ‘school readiness questionnaire’. We focused on some areas for policy and practice that may be informed by developing research in education and neuroscience.