Abstract
References to internal states (e.g., thoughts, feelings, and desires) indicate children's appreciation of people's inner worlds. Many children spend time playing video games; however, the nature of children's speech when doing so has received little attention. We investigated the use of internal state language (ISL) as 251 seven‐year‐olds played with toy figures and a video game designed for the study. Although children used ISL more when playing with toy figures, children used ISL in both contexts, highlighting video game play as a context where children demonstrate their appreciation of inner worlds. Children's speech in the two contexts differed in how ISL was used: references to children's own internal states were more common when playing the video game, and the characters' internal states more common when playing with the toy figures. These findings are discussed with reference to the format of the play activities affording different opportunities to discuss internal states.Highlights In traditional play children refer to internal states, however, it is unclear whether this occurs when they play video games.Children referred to internal states when playing with toy figures and a video game, but did so more with the toys.Children's video game play can be used as a new context for the study of children's social understanding.
Highlights
Playing video games is a popular way in which children spend their free time (Ofcom, 2019), and is considered as a new way of playing that can complement traditional types of play (Lillard, 2014; Singer & Singer, 2005)
The present analyses focus on 251 children (92% of those seen in the home; M = 6.95 years, SD = 0.38) who had completed a free play activity with Playmobil figures and played a novel video game designed for the study; 111 girls (44%) and 140 boys (56%) did so
We have demonstrated that children's video game play can be used as a new context for the study of children's references to internal states
Summary
Playing video games is a popular way in which children spend their free time (Ofcom, 2019), and is considered as a new way of playing that can complement traditional types of play (Lillard, 2014; Singer & Singer, 2005). Differences in play materials and task structure are known to affect children's play (Trawick-Smith, Russell, & Swaminathan, 2010), including elements of their speech (Paine et al, 2019b; Krafft & Berk, 1998) Props such as toys and dress-up clothes prompt social interaction and imagination more so than more structured toys and activities, such as maths games and puzzles (Trawick-Smith et al, 2010). We hypothesized that these inherent differences in the two types of play may influence the amount of ISL, the category of internal state that is referred to (e.g., cognitions, emotions, desires, etc.), and/or the referent (e.g., the child, the character, etc.) of the internal state being mentioned (Longobardi et al, 2014). We tested whether these characteristics of the child and family were associated with the use of ISL in virtual environments and traditional toy play, and asked whether these other factors explained any individual differences in the use of ISL across the two contexts
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