Doll Play Prompts Social Thinking and Social Talking: Representations of Internal State Language in the Brain

Autor/inn/en	Hashmi, Salim; Vanderwert, Ross E.; Paine, Amy L.; Gerson, Sarah A.
Titel	Doll Play Prompts Social Thinking and Social Talking: Representations of Internal State Language in the Brain
Quelle	In: Developmental Science, 25 (2022) 2, (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Vanderwert, Ross E.) ORCID (Paine, Amy L.) ORCID (Gerson, Sarah A.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1467-7687
DOI	10.1111/desc.13163
Schlagwörter	Toys; Play; Social Cognition; Interpersonal Competence; Skill Development; Child Development; Imagination; Brain; Cognitive Processes; Children; Child Language; Handheld Devices; Perspective Taking + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Toy; Spielzeug; Spiel; Soziale Kognition; Interpersonale Kompetenz; Kompetenzentwicklung; Qualifikationsentwicklung; Kindesentwicklung; Gehirn; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Child; Kind; Kinder; 'Children''s language'; Kindersprache; Zukunftsperspektive
Abstract	Doll play provides opportunities for children to practice social skills by creating imaginary worlds, taking others' perspectives, and talking about others' internal states. Previous research using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) found a region over the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) was more active during solo doll play than solo tablet play, implying that doll play might present opportunities for rehearsing theory of mind and empathy skills, even when playing alone. In this research, we addressed this more directly by investigating 4-8-year-old children's (N = 33) use of internal state language (ISL; i.e., references to emotions, desires, and cognitions) when playing with dolls and on tablets, both by themselves and with a social partner, and their associated brain activity in the pSTS using fNIRS. We found that children used more ISL about others when playing with dolls than when playing on tablets, particularly when they were playing alone. This mirrored the patterns seen in pSTS activity in previous research. When individual variability in ISL about others was considered, more ISL about others was linked to stronger pSTS activation. Thus, variability in pSTS activity during play is not about the perceptual or physical differences between toys (e.g., dolls are more human-like) but about what children think about when they engage in different kinds of play. This is the first research to investigate brain activity during spontaneously occurring ISL and indicates that children have a tendency to take and discuss others' perspectives during doll play, with implications for social processing in the brain. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2022/4/11