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PubMed1989

Validation of a role-play measure of children's social skills.

A videotape-administered role-play test of children's social skills was developed and its psychometric properties tested. Performance criteria for the test were derived from popular children's ratings of the effectiveness of different role-play responses. The test was administered to 157 fourth- and fifth-grade boys and girls who had been classified as popular, average, neglected, or rejected, on the basis of sociometric testing. The test evidenced good interrater, test-retest, and internal consistency reliabilities. Children's role-play performance correlated significantly with teacher ratings of social competence and with peer-liking ratings. Neglected children performed more poorly on the role-play test than popular children. When differences in intelligence among social status groups were statistically controlled, social status groups did not differ on the role-play test. Results of the discriminant analyses support the conclusion that teacher ratings are better than role-play tests for identifying rejected children, whereas role-play tests and measures of intelligence appear more accurate than teacher ratings for identifying neglected children.

Child↗
PubMed1981

Symbolic play in autistic, Down's, and normal children of equivalent mental age.

The study assessed free play and response to modeled symbolic play with animate toys and realistic and substitute accessories in 10 autistic children and 10 Down's syndrome and 10 normal preschooler controls. Groups were matched on Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test mental age (PPVT MA) range and Mdn (2.5 years). Autistic children played less than controls, imitated less well, and, on structured baseline trials, showed lower level play. Symbolic fluency differentiated all groups in structured play. Symbolic fluency for free and structured play was positively correlated with PPVT MA in autistic children; level of play was most highly correlated with PPVT MA in normal children. Findings suggested impaired imitative capacity and symbolic functioning in autism.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed2002

The use of vocal signals in the social play of barbary macaques.

Field studies in various species of Macaca (Cercopithecidae) provided evidence for specific visual displays that typically accompany playful interactions. The aim of our study was to examine whether and when playing individuals would use auditory displays, i.e. vocalizations that often occur during social play as well. The study was conducted on a population of semi-free Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) with a special focus on the composition and dynamics of playful wrestling (synonymous term: 'rough-and-tumble play'). Analyses of dyadic encounters between subadult males allowed us to distinguish five types of playful behaviours and three types of vocalizations. The latter were clearly linked to encounters where effects of visual signals were impaired, e.g. during close body contact. During wrestling, vocalizations tended to increase in the beginning of an encounter, whereas the last seconds of wrestling often showed a decline in vocalization rate. Our results allowed us to conclude that these vocalizations may supplement or in many cases even substitute interactional effects of visual signals, e.g. the 'play face.'

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Social object play among young Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in Arashiyama, Japan.

Social object play (SOP), i.e., social play using portable object(s), among young Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata; 0-4 years old) in the Arashiyama E troop was studied using a modified sequence sampling method from July to October 2000. SOP was a relatively common activity for most of the young macaques and often continued for long periods. Participants used many kinds of object, including edible natural objects and artificial objects, such as plastic bottles, but they never used provisioned food or wild fruit in SOP bouts. An analysis of long bouts (>/=0.5 min) revealed the following interactive SOP features: (1) at any given time, participants used only one object, and only one participant held the object; (2) during SOP play-chasing, the object holder was likely to be chased by others; (3) during long bouts, the object changed hands frequently; and (4) agonistic competition for an object among young macaques was rare. Combinations of sexes, ages, relative ranks, or matrilines of the object holder and non-holder did not affect the tendency that the holder was chased by non-holder(s) during play-chasing. Even when there was a change in object holders, the repetitiveness of this interactive pattern, i.e., that the holder would be chased during SOP bouts, distinguished the SOP structure from that of other types of social play without object(s). General proximate social play mechanisms, such as self-handicapping or role taking, were associated with SOP. Other mechanisms that affected SOP included the following: (1) young macaques treated an object as a target in play competition, and (2) 'being the holder of a target object' was associated with the 'role of the chasee.'

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Effects of modulating neonatal progestins and androgens on the development of play and other social behavior in the rat.

Rough-and-tumble play is sexually dimorphic in many species of mammals. Effects of androgen exposure on this behavior have been well documented, although the possible role of other hormones is less well known. This paper reports experiments in a series designed to investigate effects of neonatal exposure to progestins on the development of juvenile play behavior in rats. Specifically, the effects of altering levels of progestins and androgens in combination on the subsequent development of play behavior was studied, in order to investigate further the mechanism of progestogenic effects. We have previously [L. I. A. Birke and D. Sadler (1984). Physiol. Behav. 33, 217-219] reported an apparently anomalous effect of lowering endogenous progesterone using the antiserum given postnatally; this was predicted to raise levels of juvenile play. The prediction was, however, supported only for males; treated females showed lower levels of play than controls. The present study was designed to investigate these effects further, and to test hypotheses about the mode of action of neonatal progestins. Using various combinations of neonatal progestins (progesterone or medroxy-progesterone acetate, MPA), and testosterone or the antiserum to testosterone, we analyzed the amounts of play and other social behavior shown by juvenile rats. The data support a hypothesis that the previously reported effects of progestin exposure on play result from weakly androgenic actions of the progestins, which presumably compete with other androgens in males. The cellular mechanisms involved are, however, unknown.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1985

Symbolic play and early communication development in hearing-impaired children.

This study investigated the relationship between symbolic play and language performance for young hearing-impaired children. Subjects included 20 hearing-impaired youngsters ranging in age from 38 months to 69 months. The children were placed in two ordinal communication groups. Placement in one of the communication levels was dependent upon information concerning the number of spontaneous expressive communication units the child produced. The experimental task consisted of three predetermined play themes in which the child previously displayed functional play. A nonconventional item was then included, and the play behaviors were observed for the occurrence of symbolic play under a spontaneous or modeled condition. The results indicate a significant difference in symbolic play between the two ordinal communication levels. Additionally, there was a strong positive relationship observed between the variables of symbolic play and early communication development.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1984

Social play in juvenile rats during scopolamine withdrawal.

Scopolamine induced blockade of play fighting in juvenile rats and the rapid induction of behavioral tolerance to an initially effective dosage suggested a rebound in social play following chronic scopolamine exposure. Juvenile rats received daily intraperitoneal scopolamine or saline injections for one week. Play soliciting and play fighting behavior were then measured at 24 and 168 hr after drug withdrawal. Scopolamine treated juveniles engaged in markedly greater play soliciting and play fighting behavior than did controls. Drug-induced increase in muscarinic receptors and supersensitivity to endogenous acetylcholine following scopolamine withdrawal is suggested as the basis for observed differences in social play.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1985

Energy balance and play in juvenile rats.

These experiments systematically analyzed the relationship between energy balance and play in the juvenile rat. As expected, depriving pups of food for 24 hours or more resulted in a reliable reduction in levels of play, with a single meal being sufficient to return play to baseline levels. Consumption of saccharin did not reverse deprivation-induced reductions of play. It is proposed that the food-induced restoration of play in food-deprived pups is perhaps reflective of normal satiety and may be useful in screening putative "satiety agents." Naloxone, cholecystokinin and bombesin, all putative satiety agents, were tested for their ability to reverse deprivation-induced reduction of play. Only bombesin was marginally effective in increasing play of food deprived rats.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1995

Effects of MK-801 on rough-and-tumble play in juvenile rats.

Effects of the noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) channel blocker, MK-801, on play behavior and activity were assessed in juvenile rats. A low dose (0.025 mg/kg) of MK-801 significantly increased both pinning and dorsal contacts, two indices of play behavior in the rat. Higher doses (> or = 0.1 mg/kg) significantly reduced both measures of play, with play being virtually abolished at 0.2 mg/kg. Simultaneous measurements of activity indicated that the reductions of play at the higher doses were accompanied by significant increases in horizontal activity. There was also a dose-related reduction in rearing, which was significant at all doses. When juvenile rats were tested individually for activity in an open field, MK-801 increased horizontal activity at 0.2 mg/kg and decreased rearing at all doses. So while the effects of MK-801 on play are biphasic, the effects of this compound on locomotor activity, per se, are linear. These data suggest that the effects of NMDA channel blockade on overall activity and play are mediated through independent neural systems.

Aggression↗
PubMed1994

Differential effects of amphetamine on the attack and defense components of play fighting in rats.

Treatment with d-amphetamine has been shown to cause a decrease in play fighting by juvenile rats. Previous studies, however, did not determine if all behavioral components of play were equally diminished. In this study, the effects of amphetamine on both the attack and defense patterns of play fighting were analyzed. Experiment 1 shows that a 0.5 mg/kg dose, injected subcutaneously in the nape, decreases both attack and defense. In contrast, Experiment 2 shows that the same dose, injected subcutaneously in the hip, decreases the level of attack to a similar level, but does not significantly affect defense. This suggests that while the 0.5 mg/kg dose of amphetamine is primarily affecting the attack components of play, via its action on the central nervous systems, the reduced likelihood of defense for those rats injected in the nape probably results from a local anesthetic effect, which numbs the area of the body defended during play fighting. Further doses (0.15 & 1.0 mg/kg), injected in the hip, were also tested. The highest dose decreased both components of play. The lowest dose had no effect on either attack or defense. It is suggested that the attack and defensive components of play fighting may be mediated by different neural systems.

Aggression↗
PubMed1984

The psychobiology of play: theoretical and methodological perspectives.

The social play of pairs of juvenile rats can be brought under tight experimental control using social deprivation, and it can be objectively quantified by measurement of pinning behavior. Research and conceptual issues concerning this paired-encounter procedure are summarized, including issues related to measurement, gender differences (and the absence thereof), relations between play and aggression, the regulatory processes interacting with and underlying play, the neurochemical and neuroanatomical substrates of play, the functions of play in dominance and other adult behaviors. Existing results suggest the operation of a harmoniously operating brain process which generates a unique emotive brain process that is appropriately referred to as social play. Although the concept of play remains to be adequately defined, the position is advocated that rigorous psychobiological analysis will ultimately provide an empirical definition based upon neural circuit characteristics. Analysis of the underlying circuits may help reveal the manner in which more complex levels of behavioral competence arise ontogenically, and work in the area may yield clues to the genesis of several psychopathologies.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1993

Reducing the threat: an experiential exercise to introduce role play to student nurses.

Role play is regarded as being a useful learning method for assisting student nurses to improve their interpersonal skills. It can provoke strong feelings in students both for and against its use, and the participation rate in role play exercises tends to be low. This paper describes an experiential exercise designed to introduce the concept of role play to students in a way that is hopefully less threatening than role play 'proper', with the aims of encouraging students to discuss the issues around the use of role play, and to reach a decision as to whether they will participate in role play in the future, and on what terms. It is hoped that the opt-out rate from role playing will be reduced, through students becoming more familiar with the method.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship between role-play measures of coping skills and alcoholism treatment outcome.

Alcoholic clients were given role-play tests, involving various social and drinking-related scenarios, before and after two types of aftercare treatment. The assessments were used both to evaluate the effects of treatment and to determine whether any dimensions of pretreatment role-play performance interact with treatment type to predict treatment outcome. Eighty-nine patients were randomly assigned to aftercare group treatment involving either interactional therapy or coping skills training. Clients in both treatments experienced declines in their urge to drink during the role-play scenes from pre- to posttreatment, and these declines were related to reductions in heavy drinking. Three pretreatment role-play variables interacted with type of treatment to predict outcome: observer-rated skill, observer-rated anxiety, and self-reported urge to drink. In general, those patients who did better in the role plays had better drinking outcomes following interactional therapy. Those who experienced more difficulty in the role plays fared best with coping skills training. The results suggest that role-play measures could be used for patient-treatment matching, although it remains to be determined whether they will be superior to more easily assessed patient characteristics.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2003

An environmental antiandrogen, vinclozolin, alters the organization of play behavior.

During mammalian sexual differentiation, the androgens, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone are critical for the organization of the male phenotype. In rats, play behavior is sexually dimorphic. Administration of exogenous androgens during the perinatal period results in masculine-like play behavior of juveniles. Recently, there has been increasing concern about the potential for environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) to alter sexual differentiation in mammals. One such EDC is the fungicide and androgen receptor (AR) antagonist, vinclozolin. We tested whether developmental exposure to an EDC could alter androgen-dependent behaviors such as play. To examine this possibility, neonatal male rats were injected from Postnatal Days (PND) 2 to 3 with corn oil, pharmacological antiandrogen flutamide (50 mg/kg/day) or vinclozolin (200 mg/kg/day); whereas neonatal females were treated either with corn oil or testosterone propionate (TP, 250 microg/kg/day). At PNDs 36-37, animals were observed for social play. Behaviors associated with general social activity, such as sniffing and dorsal contact, were unaffected by treatment or sex. However, play behavior in males treated with flutamide or vinclozolin was significantly reduced to near-female levels when compared to control males. Play behavior in females exposed to TP during the neonatal period was significantly increased when compared with control females. Hence, this study suggests that perinatal exposure to vinclozolin, an environmental antiandrogen, can alter androgen-dependent behavior, such as play, in the male rat.

Aging↗
PubMed1997

The postpubertal change in the playful defense of male rats depends upon neonatal exposure to gonadal hormones.

The pattern of playful defense used during play fighting by male rats (Rattus norvegicus) castrated at birth was compared to that of sham-operated and untreated controls during the juvenile phase and after puberty. The neonatal castrates failed to exhibit the age-related changes in playful defense present in intact male rats of the same age. Following puberty, control rats, but not neonatal castrates, switched from juvenile to more adult-typical defensive tactics. That the neonatal castrations were effective was independently shown by the animals' failure to exhibit the asymmetries in weight and play behavior indicative of dominance-subordinance relationships present in normal adult males. A previous study found that castration following weaning did not prevent the pubertal change in playful defense, but did block the formation of dominance-subordinance relationships. Therefore, it appears that the age-related shift in playful defense is a feature of the development of play fighting in males that is likely preprogrammed by gonadal hormone exposure in the perinatal period.

Aggression↗
PubMed2001

Play and social skills in maltreated and non-maltreated preschoolers during peer interactions.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the study was to investigate whether maltreated children differ from nonmaltreated children with regard to their social skills and play behaviors. METHOD: The social skills and free-play behaviors of 30 3- to 5-year-old maltreated and nonmaltreated children were compared. Fifteen children with a range of maltreatment experiences drawn from a hospital-based therapeutic nursery treatment program and 15 demographically similar children drawn from a home-based Head Start program participated in the study. All children were of low socioeconomic status. Children's free-play peer interactions were videotaped during the first 3 months of attendance in either program and analyzed along social and cognitive dimensions. Teachers and therapists rated children's social skills in peer interactions. RESULTS: Maltreated children were found to have significantly poorer skill in initiating interactions with peers and maintaining self-control, as well as a greater number of problem behaviors. Significant differences were not found between groups with regard to social participation or cognitive level of play. Significant correlations of moderate strength were found between social participation in play and social skills for the sample as a whole: total social skills score was positively related to interactive play, and negatively related to solitary play. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the experience of maltreatment has a negative impact on children's developing interpersonal skills above and beyond the influence of factors associated with low socioeconomic status and other environmental stressors.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed2002

Expression of c-fos gene activation during rough and tumble play in juvenile rats.

Rough and tumble (R&T) play is an intrinsic behavior in most mammals. However, unlike sex and aggression, play has not been well characterized in terms of neuronal circuitry. We employed in situ hybridization to explore the differences of c-fos mRNA activation in juvenile rats that had been allowed R&T play for a total of 30 min before sacrifice contrasted to animals with comparable histories that had received no play. Densitometric estimates of c-fos gene activation revealed that the deep and dorsolateral tectum, inferior colliculus, dorsal periaquaductal gray, ventromedial hypothalamus, dorsal and ventral striatum, and somatosensory cortex were significantly more activated in animals that had played than those that had not. Prior play dominance and amount of social experience had no clear effects on the levels of c-fos gene expression. This provides a variety of new hypotheses concerning the role of various brain areas in the elaboration of R&T play behavior, but the important role of other types of motor arousal in the differential effects were not evaluated in this study.

Aging↗
PubMed1996

Maternal pitch height in ordinary and play situations.

Ten children at mean ages of 0; 11.3 and 0;15.3 and their monolingual German-speaking mothers were audio- and videotaped in their homes while having a meal with a spoon (ordinary situation) and while feeding a doll with a spoon (play situation). Sentences spoken by the mothers that were comparable in length and sentence type across situations were analysed acoustically. In both data-collection sessions, it was found that the mothers spoke with the same mean amplitude in the two situations but they used higher mean fundamental frequency when speaking during the play situation than during the ordinary situation. In the first data-collection session, when the infants did not yet use meaningful words or engage in pretend play, the mothers also used a wider pitch range in the play situation than in the ordinary situation. It is concluded that mothers use both pitch height and pitch range to introduce the preverbal infant to the difference between non-play and play situations, and they continue to use variations in pitch height to mark the same distinction after the children have become active participants in pretend play activities. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of possible longitudinal patterns associated with mothers' use of intonational key and register.

Female↗