The present study investigated whether the spontaneous play of young children reveals levels of precursory classificatory behavior that correspond with the range of chronological ages reported by Sugarman (1983). With the purpose of documenting the conditions and variables that may contribute to the identification of classificatory patterns as children play, the study also investigated whether play maturity (Hulme & Lunzer, 1966) correlated with a child's highest observed phase of classificatory behavior. / Twenty subjects (2 girls and 2 boys at 12, 18, 24, 30 & 36 months) individually were exposed to two settings: play and non-play. Children engaged in a minimum of 10 minutes of unstructured play in an indoor preschool play setting. They also were brought to a lab-like setting, devoid of toys, and exposed to four arrays of objects, each comprised of four items of one kind and four items of another kind. / Patterns of classificatory behavior used by the subjects as they arranged stimulus objects in the non-play setting and play materials in the play setting were identified. Ratings of each child's highest phase of classificatory behavior exhibited in each setting were derived by applying the Classificatory Behavior Inventory record form. Each child's highest level of play maturity then was correlated with his or her highest phase of classificatory behavior. / The study found that not only were the same classificatory patterns observed in the two settings, play and non-play, but these behaviors occurred at substantially the same age levels as indicated by Sugarman. A direct and positive correlation existed between highest phase of classificatory behavior and the child's level of play maturity. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-03, Section: A, page: 0555. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76054 |
| Contributors | ATKINSON, ANN HOLLINGSWORTH., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 228 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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