The purpose of this study was to describe the levels of sociodramatic play among three and four year old Mexican-American migrant children by determining the frequency of sociodramatic play behaviors of these children. In addition, this study was designed to ascertain whether children's sociodramatic play behavior differed according to the sex of the child and the age of the child. The statistical design of this study also allowed for the investigation of Mexican-American migrant children to determine if they differ in occurrences on sociodramatic play behavior when placed in different play group combinations: same age, different sex; different age, same sex; different age, different sex.Forty-eight three and four year old Mexican-American migrant children were observed to determine the amount of sociodramatic play displayed. Children, in groups of four, were observed in a structured play setting for a total of 30 minutes over six five-minute periods. During each of the five-minute sessions, two trained observers focused attention exclusively on one child and recorded specimen observations of his play behaviors.The two observers, trained during four in-field training sessions and who also participated in four field testing sessions, were employed in the study to observe Mexican-American migrant three and four year old children to determine if any of the six elements of sociodramatic play identified by Sara Smilansky, Ohio State University, 1968, were present. The six elements of sociodramatic play are: (1) imitative role play, (2) make-believe in regard to objects, (3) make-believe in regard to actions and situations, (4) persistence, (5) interaction, (6) verbal communication.An observation record designed for the study was employed by the two observers to record specimen records of the child's play behaviors. Following the recording of play behaviors, frequency of play behaviors for each of the six elements of sociodramatic play was determined for each child in the study. A total play score across the six sessions were ascertained for each subject.Frequencies of play behaviors were descriptively analyzed to describe levels of play and statistically analyzed to determine the significance of differences in sociodramatic play according to sex, age, play groupings, and interaction effects among these variables.The statistical technique used was an analysis of variance performed on transformed data.The frequency of sociodramatic play among three and four year old Mexican-American migrant children appeared to be low. The following percentages were computed by comparing frequencies of occurrences with total possible occurrences of behavior: three year old males engaged in some aspect of sociodramatic play 2.6 percent of the total possible time; three year old females, 7.4 percent; four year old males, 9.8 percent; four year old females, 9.8 percent. When comparing sociodramatic play between Mexican-American migrant males and females, females scored significantly higher (p <.02) than males. When comparing differences in sociodramatic play between three and four year old Mexican-American migrant children, four year olds scored significantly higher than three year olds (p <.02). Although some differences did occur when children were placed in different play group combinations: same age, different sex; different age, same sex; different age, different sex; the differences were not statistically significant.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/175530 |
| Date | January 1975 |
| Creators | Christman, Myrna Lee |
| Contributors | Schroeder, Thomas S. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | vii, 130 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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