Article

The relationship between 2-year-olds\' ability to comprehend the pretense and their mothers\' symbol use

Author

민미희, 이순형

Information

pp. 93~106 / 2003 Vol.10 No.2

Abstract

This study investigated 2-year-olds\' ability to comprehend the pretense depending on type and stipulation of transformation, their mothers\' symbol(verbal, behavior) use in pretend play, and the relationship between mothers\' symbol use and 2-year-olds\' ability to comprehend the pretense. Twenty 2-year-olds(M=30.3 month) and their mothers were contacted via introductory letters describing purpose of this study. Children\'s playing with their mothers in pretend play was videotaped for 10 minutes and transcribed. The transcripts were analyzed to classify mothers\' symbol use. Each child participated in the task for comprehension of pretense which was enacted by an experimenter. 2-year-olds\' ability to comprehend the pretense depending on type and stipulation of transformation was different. Mothers\' use of \'assisting the child\' was positively related to 2-year-olds\' ability to comprehend the pretense. Mothers\' use of \'explanation about how to\', \'assisting the child\' was positively related to 2-year-olds\' ability to comprehend the pretense on \'wet/dry\' type of transformation. The findings suggest that mothers\' interaction pattern concerning symbol contribute their children\'s cognitive development.

Keywords