Article
The relation between pretence and emergent executive functioning in toddlers
Infant and Childhood Development
(2020)
Abstract
There has long been a hypothesized link between pretend play and self-regulation in childhood, and several recent studies have confirmed a positive relation between the two in children as young as preschool-age. However, no research to date has investigated whether this relation is present in toddlerhood. The purpose of the present study is to explore whether toddlers' pretence is correlated with emerging executive function skills. Age-appropriate measures of comprehension of pretence, working memory, and inhibitory control were administered to 86 toddlers. The results show that, after controlling for age, comprehension of pretence was positively correlated to delay of gratification, but not working memory or conflict inhibitory control. These data are the first to demonstrate a positive correlation between pretence and delay inhibitory control in children younger than 3 years old. Implications of these findings for the possible role of inhibitory control in the development of the ability to represent pretend actions are discussed.
Disciplines
Publication Date
August 20, 2020
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2200
Citation Information
Jennifer Van Reet. "The relation between pretence and emergent executive functioning in toddlers" Infant and Childhood Development Vol. 29 Iss. 6 (2020) ISSN: 1522-7219 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jennifer-vanreet/49/