Differences In Play Research Articles

Compreendendo as diferenças de gênero a partir de interações livres no contexto escolar

Para a Psicologia Evolucionista as diferenças de gênero existentes nas brincadeiras resultam de influências culturais que interagem com uma pré-disposição selecionada na espécie. Objetivou-se investigar se tais diferenças seriam compatíveis com dimorfismo sexual descrito na literatura da área. Setenta e três alunos entre seis e sete anos de uma escola particular foram filmados em quatro sessões de 30 minutos de recreio. Contabilizou-se a freqüência dos comportamentos e os pares com que ocorriam. Posteriormente, 21 crianças foram entrevistadas sobre suas brincadeiras prediletas e suas classificações de brincadeiras segundo o gênero. Pôde-se observar que ambos os sexos participam de atividades similares, mas em interações intra-sexuais. Além disso, observaram-se diferenças topográficas na forma de brincar, de acordo com o sexo. Nas entrevistas, como previa a literatura, foram registradas diferenças entre o relatado e o observado, indicando maior influência cultural sobre o conteúdo relatado.

Comparison of the play of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder by subtypes

Studies have found differences in the nature and severity of social problems experienced by children with different subtypes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Given that play is often the context for acquiring social skills, there is surprisingly limited research examining whether these differences distinguish the play of children within the groups. Using the Test of Playfulness (ToP), we examined the similarities and differences in play between children (aged 5-11 years) diagnosed with the three DSM-IV ADHD subtypes: inattentive (I-subtype; n=46), hyperactive-impulsive (HI-subtype; n=28) and combined subtypes (C-subtype; n=31). Bias interaction, an item-by-item analysis, revealed that the hierarchy of ToP items was similar for children with the HI- and C-subtypes, but differed for children with the I-subtype. Specifically, children with the I-subtype found it more difficult to become intensely engaged in play and to take on playful mischief and clowning; however, they found social play items to be easier. Conversely, whereas mischief and clowning were relatively easier for children with the HI- and C-subtypes, many items reflecting social interaction were more difficult. These findings suggest that interventions can be tailored to these differing presentations. However, further research is needed to confirm the findings.

Playing The Sims2: an exploration of gender differences in players’ motivations and patterns of play

The Sims is the best selling PC game of all time. It has regularly been stated that its success is partly due to its attraction to a much wider audience than the proverbial male adolescent, yet academic research on its player base is lacking. This article reports on the first ever explorative survey ( N = 760) conducted among players of The Sims2. Our study combined social role theory with gender and games theorizing to enable us to understand gender differences in play. We focused on gender differences in motivation for playing The Sims2, employing uses and gratifications as our guiding theory. Our results revealed that most of our participants were indeed female. The significantly higher score of male players on the challenge motive was anticipated by social role theory, but their higher score on social interaction was unexpected. Accordingly, we discuss the implications of our results for uses and gratifications theory as well as the necessity to investigate actual practices of play in more detail.

Differences in Play for a Hospitalized Infant under Traction Therapy Suggested by Nursing and Childcare Students

Differences in Play for a Hospitalized Infant under Traction Therapy Suggested by Nursing and Childcare Students

The acquisition of gender labels in infancy: Implications for gender-typed play.

Two aspects of children's early gender development-the spontaneous production of gender labels and gender-typed play-were examined longitudinally in a sample of 82 children. Survival analysis, a statistical technique well suited to questions involving developmental transitions, was used to investigate the timing of the onset of children's gender labeling as based on mothers' biweekly telephone interviews regarding their children's language from 9 through 21 months. Videotapes of children's play both alone and with mother during home visits at 17 and 21 months were independently analyzed for play with gender-stereotyped and gender-neutral toys. Finally, the relation between gender labeling and gender-typed play was examined. Children transitioned to using gender labels at approximately 19 months, on average. Although girls and boys showed similar patterns in the development of gender labeling, girls began labeling significantly earlier than boys. Modest sex differences in play were present at 17 months and increased at 21 months. Gender labeling predicted increases in gender-typed play, suggesting that knowledge of gender categories might influence gender typing before the age of 2.

Rsis Imagined Across Difference: Some Possibilities for the Study of Conceptual Metaphor in Early India

What do metaphor, simile, and analogy look like before the explicit tradition of Sanskrit poetics? How such formulations might be understood in the midst of the multiple contexts of early India, and how they might be relevant to a larger field of hermeneutics? The study of metaphor has been a staple of the broader pursuit of hermeneutics for some time now (see Dilthey and Jameson 1972; Ricoeur 1974, 1975; Calinescu 1979; Johnson Sheehan 1999, just to name a few works dealing with this topic). If Gadamer (1975: p. 430) is right that a fusion of horizons between text and interpreter is one of the primary acts of interpretation, then metaphors can be viewed as vehicles for that fusion, as well as verbal constructions that move between different points of view within the text that keep both similarity and difference in play.1 Thus, the roles of metaphor in early Indian texts, and the related topics of simile, analogy, and semantic extension, are highly relevant to larger issues in cross-cultural interpretation as well as to critical studies in Hinduism. This piece will be a general call for further study of such comparative constructions in the light of new theories of metaphor that have emerged in recent decades. Early Indian environments provide great possibilities for doing the work that metaphor, simile, and analogy do best – that is, reaching across difference. While my hope is that these thoughts will spark some new possibilities in many areas, I will use a specific case study from the Buddhacarita as my example – it being a virtuosic text of early kāvya which moves across the difference of Brahmanical and Buddhist realms, but is unadorned by the philosophical notions of later Sanskrit aesthetics.

The Development of Affect Specificity in Infants' Use of Emotion Cues

This study examined the emergence of affect specificity in infancy. In this study, infants received verbal and facial signals of 2 different, negatively valenced emotions (fear and sadness) as well as neutral affect via a television monitor to determine if they could make qualitative distinctions among emotions of the same valence. Twenty 12‐ to 14‐month‐olds and 20 16‐ to 18‐month‐olds were examined. Results suggested that younger infants showed no evidence of referential specificity, as they responded similarly to both the target and distracter toys, and showed no evidence of affect specificity, showing no difference in play between affect conditions. Older infants, in contrast, showed evidence both of referential and affect specificity. With respect to affect specificity, 16‐ to 18‐month‐olds touched the target toy less in the fear condition than in the sad condition and showed a larger proportion of negative facial expressions in the sad condition versus the fear condition. These findings suggest a developmental emergence after 15 months of age for affect specificity in relating emotional messages to objects.

Preferências de crianças no brinquedo de Miriti: a influência do gênero e composição da díade

Os dados de investigações sobre diferenças sexuais na brincadeira têm indicado que meninos e meninas preferem brincadeiras e brinquedos diferentes, grande parte desses estudos utilizaram brinquedos industrializados ou atividades de brincadeiras que não envolviam brinquedos. Considerando que tais preferências não se apresentam internacionalmente descontextualizadas, este estudo teve por objetivo verificar a preferência de crianças por determinados brinquedos confeccionados em Miriti (palmeira da região alagadiça - Maurita flexuosa L.) e a existência de variações nessa preferência em função de gênero e da composição da díade. Fizeram parte do estudo 116 crianças com idades entre 4 a 10 anos, provenientes de uma escola municipal. Na sala de coleta ficavam dispostos 52 brinquedos de miriti distribuídos em estantes. As crianças foram agrupadas, seguindo suas preferências, em díades (femininas, masculinas e mistas) e eram conduzidas a sala de observação onde as sessões foram filmadas. Para tratamento dos dados utilizou-se o programa Ethology 2.3, o qual possibilitou medir a freqüência e duração dos episódios de brincadeiras, com determinado brinquedo. No tocante a idade, não foi encontrada nenhuma diferença significativa. Com relação a diferença de gênero, os meninos tenderam a apresentar três brinquedos tipificados, enquanto as meninas em somente um. A despeito das diferenças de sexo identificadas, percebe-se que tais diferenças tendem a ser reforçadas quando as díades são compostas do mesmo sexo, reafirmando diferenças encontradas nas análises dos sujeitos individualizados. Todavia, a análise das díades compostas de dois sexos revela padrões mistos, ora brincando mais de determinados brinquedos preferidos por meninos, ora não apresentando diferenças significativas do grupo das meninas, aproximando-os mais do padrão feminino.

The Turkey Maiden Educational Computer Game

An educational computer game project underway in the Digital Media department of the University of Central Florida is the subject of this article. It is based on a folktale called “The Turkey Maiden,” collected in Ybor City, Florida, in the 1930s. A game mod (user-created addition and modification to an existing commercial off-the-shelf computer game) has been created that integrates specific tasks the heroine must successfully complete in order to advance in the game. These tasks are based on lessons to be learned by the player about Ybor City history and culture. Adapting an oral folktale with an active female protagonist into a heritage-based computer game involved experimenting with feminist game design principle (gender differences in play), and understanding how features of digital environments, like spatiality and interactivity, affect storytelling and game play.

Are Inflatable Nails an Alternative to Interlocked Nails in Tibial Fractures?

Recently developed inflatable nails avoid reaming and interlocking screws in tibial fractures and reflect a new principle for stabilization of long bone fractures. We asked if the bending stiffness, rotational rigidity, or play (looseness of rotation) differed between an inflatable versus large-diameter reamed interlocked nails, and whether the maximal torque to failure of the two bone-implant constructs differed. In a cadaveric model, we compared the biomechanical properties with those of an interlocked nail in eight pairs of fractured tibial bones. Bending stiffness, rotational rigidity, play (looseness in rotation), and torsional strength within 20 degrees rotation were investigated using a biaxial servohydraulic testing system. For all biomechanical variables, we found a large interindividual variance between the pairs attributable to bone quality (osteoporosis) for both fixation methods. The inflatable nail had a higher bending stiffness, with a mean difference of 58 N/mm, and a lower torsional strength, with a mean difference of 13.5 Nm, compared with the locked nail. During torsional testing we noted slippage between the inflatable nail and bone. We observed no differences in play or rotational rigidity. Given the lower torsional strength we recommend caution with weightbearing until there are signs of fracture consolidation.

Several Perspectives on Children's Play: Scientific Reflections for Practitioners

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 18 No. 2 (2008) ISSN: 1546-2250 Several Perspectives on Children’s Play: Scientific Reflections for Practitioners Jambor, Tom and Van Gils, Jan (2007). Antwerp, Belgium: Garant Publishers; 255 pages. ISBN 9789044121834. Several Perspectives on Children’s Play represents a collaboration between two international organizations that promote children’s play: IPA (International Play Association) and ICCP (International Council for Children’s Play). It begins with two overviews of play research and theory that provide a valuable background for readers interested in any aspect of play, including play environments. In “Play in Retro- and Perspective,” Rimmert van der Kooij reviews major play bibliographies compiled between 1967 and 2000, summarizes theories of play from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and discusses different categories of play. Johan Meire’s chapter on “Qualitative Research on Children’s Play: A Review of Recent Literature” covers research published from 20012006 , with a focus on the place of play in children’s experience and processes of giving sense to the world. After covering different approaches to conceptualizing play, qualitative methods for play research, forms of play, and age and gender differences in play, the chapter closes with nine pages focused on play settings. The 12 chapters that follow are evenly divided between a focus on learning through play in the contexts of preschool and kindergarten programs and a focus on the physical contexts of play. The latter chapters cover hut building in Norwegian schools by Arne Trageton, environments that promote challenging sensorimotor play or “real play” in Norway by Asbjorn Flemmen, modifications in adventure playground equipment in England by Bob Hughes, barriers to play and opportunities for play provision in Hong Kong by Kathy Wong Kin-ho, an evaluation of videogame play by James Johnson of 288 the United States, and the perspectives of children and experts on quality criteria for toys by Waltraut Hartmann of Austria. Together, the chapters update readers on recent play research from North America, Europe and Asia. Reviewer Information Chawla, Louise Louise Chawla is a professor in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado. ...

The CEE Generics Pharmaceutical Sector: Ways to Minimise Cultural Heritage Barriers to Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As), which became extremely common in the branded industry in the 1990s, have recently seen a parallel development in the generics medicines industry. However, generics M&As are more susceptible to impact from cultural barriers. These may become apparent post merger, but can also dramatically affect the success of the negotiations. The reasons for this are discussed and several proposals are made for risk reduction through recognising the importance of the culture differences in play and taking adequate measures to reduce their impact.

Playfulness in Children with Autistic Disorder and their Typically Developing Peers

This study investigated the playfulness of 24 children with autistic disorder (AD) and 34 typically developing children aged 3–7 years, in free (unstructured) and adult-facilitated (structured) play conditions within a clinical play environment. Video recordings of play were rated using the Test of Playfulness (Bundy 2003). The data were analysed using repeated measures ANOVA and ANCOVA and qualitative observations. The children with AD were less playful compared with the typically developing children (F = 49.64, p<0.001), even when developmental age was accounted for (F = 28.20, p<0.001). Both groups of children were slightly more playful in a structured environment with adult facilitation (F = 7.72, p = 0.007). Despite statistically significant differences in playfulness between play conditions, considerable overlap in observations for both groups suggests that this may not be as clinically meaningful. When developmental age was accounted for, the play conditions no longer had a significant effect on playfulness (F = 1.54, p = 0.220). The implications of the findings and the limitations of the study are discussed.

Maternal care patterns and behavioral development of rhesus macaque abused infants in the first 6 months of life

We investigated the maternal care patterns of rhesus macaque mothers who physically abuse their infants, and compared their infants' behavior to that of nonabused infants. Parametric and multidimensional scaling analyses indicated that abusive mothers have a distinct parenting style characterized by high rates of rejection and contact-breaking from their infants. Compared to control infants, abused infants exhibited signs of delayed independence from their mothers including higher rates of distress calls and anxiety, lower rates of contact-breaking, and differences in play. Several aspects of the abused infants' behavior were correlated with rates of abuse received during the first month, or with other maternal behaviors. These findings provide a more comprehensive characterization of the parenting styles of abusive mothers and the early behavioral development of their infants than previously available. Detailed knowledge of the early experience of abused infants is crucial for understanding possible pathological alterations in behavior and neuroendocrine function later in life.

Imaginary Companions and Impersonated Characters: Sex Differences in Children's Fantasy Play

We compared the incidence of imaginary companions and impersonated characters in 152 three- and four-year-old children (75 males and 77 females). Children and their parents were interviewed about role play in two sessions. Although there were no sex differences in verbal ability or fantasy predisposition, there was a significant difference in the form of children’s imaginary characters: girls were more likely to create imaginary companions, whereas boys were more likely than girls to actively impersonate their characters. There were no significant sex differences in the competence ratings of imaginary companions or impersonated characters. These results suggest that it is important to examine the form and function of children’s pretense to understand sex differences in fantasy play. Sex differences in the play of young children are apparent by 13 months of age (Goldberg & Lewis, 1969). Around the world there are fairly consistent differences in the proportion of rough-and-tumble activity, aggression, and use of large spaces, all higher in boys, as well as cooperation, dyadic versus group play, and preference for finemotor toys, all higher in girls (e.g., Borman, Laine, & Lowe, 1993; Cunningham, Jones, & Taylor, 1994; DiPietro, 1981; Lever, 1978; Mac

Gender-Typed Play and Amniotic Testosterone.

Sex differences in play are apparent in a number of mammalian species, including humans. Prenatal testosterone may contribute to these differences. The authors report the first attempt to correlate gender-typed play in a normative sample of humans with measurements of amniotic testosterone (aT). Testosterone was measured in the amniotic fluid of 53 children (31 boys and 22 girls). A strong sex difference was observed in aT and, at ages 4.75 to 5.8 years, on a modified version of the Child Game Participation Questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analyses on the entire group and within-sex correlations suggested that variations in aT did not contribute to individual differences in game participation as reported by the mother. A critique of explanations for this finding is presented.

The singularity and the unity of transcendental consciousness in Kant

Transcendental consciousness is described by Kant as “the one single thing” in which “as in the transcendental subject, our perceptions must be encountered.” The unity of that subject depends on intellectual functions. I argue that its singularity is just the same as that of Kant's pre-intellectual “form” of spatiotemporal “intuition.” This may seem excluded by Kant's claim that it is through intellect that “space or time are first given as intuitions.” But while pre-intellectual form is insufficient for space and time as distinct “things,” it is sufficient for the constitution of a “single thing” indifferently construable as both. Contrary to what are typically seen as the main differences between Kant and Hume on identity of “self,” there is thus already a difference in play below the level of either's concern with the sorts of connections available for the combining, or illusion of combining, of manifolds of “impressions” or “ideas.”

An exploratory study of early childhood educators' views on culture and play

This study explored early childhood teachers’ views relating to culture and play by collecting information from them on cultural differences and parental perceptions of play, culturally appropriate play (CAP) practices and barriers in its implementation. The participants of the study were 14 early childhood educators working in long day care (LDC) or out, of, school, hours care (OOSH) settings located in Sydney, Australia. Children in the selected centers represented various cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Teachers in the present study reported noticeable differences in the play of children of diverse cultural backgrounds. However, they believed that the differences in children's play were attributable to the children's proficiency in English language and gender rather than to their culture. The teachers reported they had limited or no information on the children's cultural patterns of play at home. The lack of information on cultural patterns of play, perhaps, has led to difficulties in understanding the cultural origins of play or in accommodating cultural differences into programming. The results highlight the need for educators to have greater knowledge of the cultural bases of play to enable them to provide, in partnership with parents, culturally appropriate play experiences for children.

Sex differences in play among western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) infants: implications for adult behavior and social structure.

Mammalian play is believed to improve motor skills as well as facilitate the development of social relationships. Given the marked sexual dimorphism in gorilla body size and the role assumed by the male in protecting the group from conspecifics and predators, the motor-training hypothesis of play predicts that male infants should exhibit higher frequencies of social play than female infants, and that males should prefer to play with other males. Given that adult female gorillas are strongly attracted to adult breeding males and form only weak social bonds with unrelated adult females, the social-relationship hypothesis of play predicts that female infants should prefer to play with males. These hypotheses were tested in a 22-month study of 12 gorilla infants, aged between 0-5 years, living in three zoological parks in Chicago and Atlanta. Consistent with the hypotheses, male infants played more than female infants did, and both male and female infants preferred to play with males rather than with females. These findings suggest that sex differences in play in the great apes and other primates can be predicted by the characteristics of adult behavior and social structure above and beyond the patterns of sex-biased dispersal or coalition formation with same-sex kin.

Sex differences in play fighting revisited: traditional and nontraditional mechanisms of sexual differentiation in rats.

In the traditional model for sexual differentiation in mammals, the female phenotype is the default condition. That is, the female-typical pattern will persist unless acted upon by hormones early in development. The frequency of play fighting in rats, as in most other mammals, is sexually differentiated, and conforms to the traditional model. Males engage in more play fighting than females, and this can be reduced to female-typical levels by neonatal castration. Furthermore, females can be induced to play fight at male-typical levels if treated with testosterone neonatally. Fractionation of play fighting into its constituent components, attack and defense, reveals that it is the frequency of attack that is sexually differentiated, not the likelihood of defense. However, in males, defensive behavior changes at puberty so that the play becomes "rougher." For males to switch to this rougher form of play fighting, they have to be androgenized perinatally. Hence, for males, this second aspect of play fighting that is sexually differentiated also follows the traditional model. In marked contrast, development of the female-typical pattern does not. Neonatal treatment of females with testosterone has no effect; at puberty, they still show the female-typical pattern. On the the other hand, ovariectomy, either at birth or at weaning, leads to females exhibiting the male-typical transition to rougher play fighting at puberty. That is, ovarian hormones appear to actively inhibit the expression of a male-typical trait in females. Play fighting, then, is a mixture of traits, with some features conforming to the traditional model and some not. For some phenotypic features, ovarian hormones appear to exert an active role in their development.