| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to investigate the increasing complexity in play during early childhood as a window into early cognitive processes. While past research has focused on what happens during play, the present study aimed to describe how play evolves through the emergence of play sequences. Specifically, the current study focused on the development of sequences in play and their relationship to mental representation through addressing three main research questions. The first question investigated whether children aged 18-, 24-, 30-, and 36-months differ in their use of specific sequences in their play with toys. Overall, results showed that Varied Action Sequences predominated across age groups. The second question focused on the relationship between toys and the development of sequences by looking at whether specific toys support sequences in play. Results found some differences across toy sets, suggesting children's preference for familiar toys. The third question explored correlational analyses between developmental scores and the frequency and variety of sequences. Results suggest that while there is evidence that frequency and variety of play sequences are both related to developmental scores, variety may be a better measure of development. In addition, while frequency correlated with most areas of development, variety correlated with all areas of development. Findings support the constructivist theory of development, which appreciates that children demonstrate ongoing cognitive processes during play. Implications for working with children with delays and disabilities are also presented--Author's abstract
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