Proposal view
Proposal Type: Individual Paper 
Domain: Learning and Cognitive Science 
SIG: Conceptual Change 
Type Submitted Paper 
Equipment PC and projector
Paper Details
Title Do babies play make-believe? An examination of symbolic ability in infancy according to level of complexity of the action
Abstract
Performance of full action schemata served until the past decade as the exclusive measure for examining symbolic ability, and based on this measure it was concluded that symbolic ability appeared towards the middle of the child's second year. During the past decade, the improvement of research tools and their adaptation to the abilities of babies led to new insights regarding infants' cognitive and mental abilities. The present study examined symbolic ability in infancy according to the developing physiological abilities of babies aged 6-18 months, using a research instrument that was constructed for this purpose. In order to discern the physiological developmental components that are essential for play, the full action schema was divided into four sub-categories: simple actions on two levels (1 and 2) and complex actions on two levels (1 and 2). The examination of symbolic ability according to these levels led us to identify symbolic play from the age of six months, expressed mainly in simple level 1 actions, and towards the age of 18 months we detected simple level 2 actions. Complex actions at levels 1 and 2 are infrequent during this period. A statistically significant relationship was found between holding ability and the different levels of action. The theoretical and research implications of these findings are discussed, and it is recommended to follow up this study, adding further components to the research tool in order to identify intention to perform symbolic action and thus enhance the ability to identify symbolic abilities independently of motor performance.
Summary
Summary

The present decade has seen a dramatic change in the understanding of babies' abilities. The use of advanced technologies adapted to babies' abilities, as well as new knowledge in brain research, have revealed that:


  1. Babies are aware of the physical characteristics of objects and the nature of their movement in space. They acquire this knowledge through an innate capacity for representation, which is operated and improved by the object recognition system (Bertenthal, 1996; Goodale & Milner, 1992). This system is separate from the perception of action system, which supervises the motor abilities and improves them on the basis of motor information received in the present. Thus, knowledge is acquired prior to actual performance.

  2. Babies receive, process, and organise information from infancy, and perceive the world in a connected and organised manner. This is expressed in patterns of action driven by cognition and intentionality, and in their ability to understand the intentions of others at the early age of nine months.


Despite these insights of the past ten years, the classic view that symbolic ability appears between 18 and 24 months still prevails, although some scholars (Bosco, Friedman & Leslie, 2006) have recently begun to examine the ability to perform and understand pretend situations by dividing research tasks into simple and complex. They discovered that one-year old babies successfully perform simple symbolic tasks. However, for a comprehensive examination of the stages of development of symbolic play, a methodical research instrument suited to the abilities of babies is still lacking.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the development of symbolic ability in infancy, using a research instrument that relates mainly to the functioning of the hands, which play a major part in receiving knowledge and expressing it, their functioning reflects the level of neurological, symbolic and cognitive maturity, and their movement undergoes a developmental process. For this purpose, the full action schema was divided into four sub-categories and levels of action were defined according to the stages of development of grasping and holding ability, while maintaining symbolic criteria as a condition for defining symbolic action (Fein, 1981; Leslie, 2002; Piaget, 1962; Woolley, 1995). Below are the levels of action that were defined for examining symbolic ability in infancy.

Simple symbolic action, level 1 – the infant is observed holding one object correctly in his fingers, enabling him to perform a small, simple, intentional and controlled action, connecting the object to a part of his body or to other objects in the surroundings. For example, an infant puts a bowl on his head, places a building block next to his/her ear.

Simple symbolic action, level 2 – performance of a simple sequence of actions during which the infant relates a number of ideas or mental representations to one object; for example, dragging it, knocking on it, pushing it, showing it to the mother.

Complex symbolic action, level 1 – the infant is observed holding two objects, one in each hand, and performing actions with them. The grasp is exact and adapted to the size of the object. Sometimes the infant uses his body to help him support the object, thus allowing himself full and controlled action; for example, mixing something in a bowl with a hairbrush.

Complex symbolic action, level 2 – performance of complex sequences of actions by joining objects with both hands, testifying to the existence of a mental representation regarding the logical connection between the actions and expressed in their performance in a sequence. An example of a sequence of actions: mixing, pouring, drinking.


Using this instrument, we examined the age at which children begin to show the first signs of symbolic play, as well as the nature of the development of symbolic actions and their connection with the development of grasping and holding ability.


For the purpose of the research, 14 babies aged 6 to 18 months were filmed on video once every two and a half weeks on average. They were filmed in their homes, for an hour each time, and they were offered dolls and a variety of objects, some familiar, some ambiguous and from different semantic fields.

The video films were analysed with the help of a research instrument that included detailed tables denoting forms of grasping and holding, and tables classifying the level of action according to the appropriate symbolic criterion. The findings on the frequency of the various research variables were processed statistically by analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings show that the seeds of symbolic play are present from the age of six months, and are manifested mainly through simple level 1 actions, which are the most common actions until the age of 18 months. Until that age the infant is capable of holding one object in one hand, and there is a statistically significant relationship between holding ability and symbolic actions. Simple level 1 actions decrease in frequency as the infant starts to hold two objects, one in each hand. These findings are supported by neurological studies (Ryou & Wilson, 2004; Swinnen & Wenderoth, 2004) that describe the considerable effort involved in performing a sequence of actions.

Theoretical implications: The findings call for a discussion on the classical pattern of development of symbolic play, since our findings indicate a circular rather than a linear model of development of the core of symbolic ability existing as early as the age of six months. Furthermore, symbolic ability should be examined even earlier, in light of Panskepp's (1998) argument that play is inherent and structured in the brain of mammals. New findings (Galloway & Thelen, 2004)indicating the use of feet in exploration may provide a key to this.

Research implications: The research findings indicate that a change occurs at the age of 18 months, both in the range of simple level 1 actions, which decreases considerably at this age, and in holding ability, which is found to be related significantly to complex actions. This merits further research in order to discover what other developmental discoveries are related to these changes.
Keywords Child development
Qualitative research
Research methodology
Appendices
Authors
Name Surname Institution Country e-mail EARLI Number Presenting
Edna Orr Bar Ilan University Israel orr_fam@netvision.net.il   *  
Rivka Glaubman Bar Ilan University Israel glaubmr@bezeqint.net    
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