ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Gangsters, Pranksters, and the Invention of Trick-or-Treating, 1930-1960
Author: Kawash, Samira
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play,Holidays,Cultural Influences,Newspapers,United States History,Misconceptions,Children,Social Influences,Safety,Social Attitudes

For most children in North America, Halloween is one of the most exciting holidays of the year. But some critics insist that its emphasis on ready-made costumes, store-bought candy, and trick-or-treating seduces children into cultural passivity and socializes them to mindless consumption. These critics argue that trick-or-treating was an inherited tradition, invented, initiated, or imposed by adults to control undesirable Halloween mischief. This article turns to newspaper accounts from the 1930s through the 1950s to suggest that these beliefs and conclusions about trick-or-treating are false and that, in fact, children originated trick-or-treating and shaped it to their own ends. In her view of trick-or-treating as part of the development of children's culture in twentieth-century America, the author presents the role of children in initiating their own forms of play and contesting and negotiating such play with adults, all of which suggests a more complex understanding of Halloween and trick-or-treating in the contemporary context. (Contains 68 notes.)
Bakhtin's Carnival and Pretend Role Play: A Comparison of Social Contexts
Author: Cohen, Lynn E.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Persuasive Discourse,Play,Preschool Teachers,Epistemology,Social Behavior,Context Effect,Social Environment,Parent Child Relationship,Young Children,Imagination,Drama,Child Development

Twentieth-century Russian literary critic and semiotician Mikhail Bakhtin developed an emology that linked carnival, authority, and laughter. Drawing on his work, the author investigates hidden parent-child interactions and children's discourse in early-childhood play. She argues that Bakhtin's ideas of carnival and its discourses apply to young children's pretend play. Early-childhood play, she holds, bridges the gap between authoritative and internally persuasive discourse, much as does the mockery of hierarchical order during the carnival festivals described by Bakhtin. The author uses examples from her study of culturally diverse three- and four-year-old preschoolers to illustrate the similarities between Bakhtin's carnival and pretend play. She discusses such play in the context of children exploring their identities and negotiating their relationships with the adult world. She suggests that early-childhood educators could benefit by viewing play from a child's perspective, as something not unlike carnival, rather than by forcing play always to fit more traditional developmental models. (Contains 2 figures.)
The Play-Literacy Nexus and the Importance of Evidence-Based Techniques in the Classroom
Author: Roskos, Kathleen
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play,Emergent Literacy,Young Children,Early Childhood Education,Evidence,Classroom Techniques,Dramatic Play,Child Development

A growing body of research has focused on the role of play in young children's literacy development and early-literacy learning. In reviewing this research, the authors define the play-literacy nexus as that space where play, language, and emerging literacy behaviors converge and interact. They describe findings about the play-literacy nexus (which they call knowledge "of" the nexus) and what these findings mean for children, their parents, and their teachers in literacy development and early-literacy learning (which they dub knowledge "in" the nexus). They define play and literacy in terms of this current knowledge; they review the major theoretical frameworks that give rise to play-literacy hypotheses and relationships; and they discuss topics that connect play and literacy, including literacy-enriched play environments, play's role in narrative development, and how play supports cognitive-linguistic abilities and skills that help children learn to read. They argue that knowledge of the play-literacy nexus, i.e. research, should determine the nature of the knowledge used in the play-literacy nexus within the larger context of early-childhood education, and they illustrate their argument with several evidence-based techniques for classroom practice, including literacy-enriched play environment design, topic- and theme-related dramatic play, and play planning. (Contains 3 figures.)
Play as a Pathway of Behavior
Author: Henricks, Thomas S.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play,Participation,Behavior,Interpersonal Relationship,Employment Level,Self Concept,Interaction,Social Influences,Power Structure,Psychological Patterns

Seeking to understand play as part of a more general theory of human relationships, the author defines play as one of four fundamental categories of behavior, the others being work, ritual, and communitas. He discusses how each of these behaviors is organized as a "pathway" that offers distinctive opportunities for experiencing life and for discovering "self-locations," specifically privilege, subordination, engagement, and marginality. These pathways and self-locations are understood to be key elements in the formation of experience. Associating play, ritual, work, and communitas with either ascending (self-directed) meaning or descending (other-directed) meaning, he describes their related "emotion sequences," essentially chains of emotions that lead from feelings of anticipation to those addressing occurrences in the present to remembrances. For example, work leads from self-confidence to pride; play, from curiosity to gratitude; communitas, from hope to blessedness; and ritual, from faith to reverence. Each of the four pathways is a profoundly important, but also a limited format for action and experience. (Contains 3 figures.)
Change Your Shoes, Change Your Life: On Object Play and Transformation in a Woman's Story
Author: Young, Kay
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play,Fairy Tales,Females,Adults,Thinking Skills,Identification (Psychology),Novels,Films,Case Studies,Personal Narratives,Aesthetics,Nouns,Imagination,Humor,Drama

This article asks why adults play dress-up and investigates the role of object play in the making of magical thinking and the reforming of adult identity. The author looks at a wide spectrum of narratives and their genres--the fairy tale "Cinderella," the film comedy "Some Like it Hot", the epistolary novel "Pamela", the film melodrama "Now, Voyager", the psychoanalytical case study of "Miss K.," and the memoir "My Judy Garland Life". She asserts that these narratives help define what constitutes "a woman's story" as a story of transformation by setting its representation in relation to objects or aesthetic worlds, into which the woman changes or immerses herself with the same intensity and single-mindedness as a child at play. The author draws on the works of psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas to explain the transformational object seeking and aesthetic moment of these narrative representations and argues they model a woman's longing for transformation and make it imaginable to the adult mind. (Contains 2 figures.)
A Jester's Guide to Creative See[k]ing across Disciplines
Author: Rosen, Diane
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Creativity,Play,Humor,Story Telling,Imagination,Individual Development,Political Issues,World History

For many centuries and in many cultures, jesters recited tales of heroic exploits, but they did more than simply recount past events--they amused, cajoled, and spun tales that transported listeners to the edge of mysterious, unmapped territories. Through the transformative power of play and the imagination, they reworked what was already understood and created from it new realities that transcended the established order. The author maintains that such imaginative play is vital to creativity in any medium and is fundamental for optimal human development. She explores possibilities for cultivating creativity through the playful, paradoxical stance of the jester--a serendipitous and purposeful, strange and familiar, disruptive and productive figure. Her discussion, grounded in a visual-arts practice that leverages uncertainty and randomness, considers the role of play in light of its wider implications for knowledge and creativity. (Contains 17 notes.)
The Outdoor Recess Activities of Children at an Urban School: Longitudinal and Intraperiod Patterns
Author: Holmes, Robyn M.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play,Urban Schools,Obesity,Parochial Schools,Recess Breaks,Age Differences,Gender Differences,Group Dynamics,African American Students,Hispanic American Students,Low Income Groups,Peer Relationship,Interpersonal Communication,Physical Activities,Competition,Games,Athletics,Teacher Student Relationship,At Risk Students,Cultural Influences,Longitudinal Studies

Based on a study of 149 parochial-school students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade, this article explores children's outdoor recess activities in an urban setting--with a focus on how age, gender, and size of play group influence their outdoor play preferences--and examines changes in children's activity preferences over a single recess period. The majority of the children in the study have African American and Hispanic ethnic heritages and lower-socioeconomic backgrounds. Both boys and girls spent most of recess socializing with their peers, though their play varied by gender and age. Most girls spent the majority of their recess talking and socializing. Older boys engaged in physical, competitive activities such as sports and in larger boy groups. Younger children spent more time chasing each other in boy-girl groupings and in informal activities. Girls interacted with their teachers more than boys. The author argues that these and other findings from the study have applied value, expanding our understanding of how cultural and historical factors have shaped the play of American children and indicating that urban school children of African American and Hispanic heritages are at a greater risk for obesity. Such findings would be useful in shaping school policy regarding the duration of recess breaks, the types of activities that should be encouraged, and the impact the policy might have on children's overall health. (Contains 1 table and 11 figures.)
The Play of Psychotherapy
Author: Marks-Tarlow, Terry
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play Therapy,Psychotherapy,Counseling Techniques,Play,Creativity,Resilience (Psychology),Emotional Development,Counselor Client Relationship,Case Studies,Counseling Effectiveness,Interpersonal Relationship

The author reviews the role of play within psychotherapy. She does not discuss the formal play therapy especially popular for young children, nor play from the Jungian perspective that encourages the use of the sand tray with adults. Instead, she focuses on the informal use of play during psychotherapy as it is orchestrated intuitively. Because play--whether we use it consciously or not--is a major source for implicit learning within the social domain, the author considers it a nonspecific factor in therapeutic effectiveness that cuts across all modalities. She also suggests that play bears an important relationship to creativity, especially as it exists in the intersubjective space between therapist and patient, i.e., the fertile zone between two subjectivities in which shared making of meaning arises.
Play and Mate Preference: Testing the Signal Theory of Adult Playfulness
Author: Chick, Garry
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Females,Play,Males,Children,Peer Relationship,Social Theories,Gender Differences,Adults,Hypothesis Testing,Sexuality,Evolution,Social Sciences,Animals

The overwhelming majority of play research concerns juveniles. However, a full understanding of the phenomenon requires knowledge of play and playfulness across the life spans of those animals, including humans, who play in adulthood. The authors investigate a theory of play based on Darwin's concept of sexual selection that may account for the existence of play among adult humans. The authors hypothesize that playfulness becomes a highly desired characteristic in potential long-term mates but also that the reasons for desiring playful mates differ for males and females. The authors suggest that for males, playfulness in females signals youth and, hence, fecundity; for females, playfulness in males signals nonaggressiveness. They test these hypotheses using mate-preference data. (Contains 3 figures.)
Indo Caribbean Immigrant Beliefs about Play and Its Impact on Early Academic Performance
Author: Roopnarine, Jaipaul L.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Achievement,Acculturation,Language Skills,Play,Foreign Countries,Models,Cultural Differences,Ethnic Groups,Parents,Parent Attitudes,Immigrants,Interviews,Mothers,Fathers,Correlation,Early Childhood Education

In this study, the authors use psycho-cultural models of ethnic parental theories and acculturation to look at Indo Caribbean immigrant beliefs concerning the relationship between the amount of time children play and their early academic performance. During home interviews, fifty-seven Indo Caribbean couples offered their opinions about the importance of play for childhood development and estimated the amount of time their children both played and studied at home. The authors then tested each child for early academic performance using the Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills. Mothers and fathers held discrepant beliefs about the value of play, and maternal beliefs about the cognitive benefit of play affected the relationship between the amount of time children play and their cognitive performance. The authors discuss the data in the context of immigrant acculturation and the impact the roles of parent and child have on determining the associations between play and childhood achievement. (Contains 5 figures.)
Active Gaming: The Future of Play?
Author: Witherspoon, Lisa
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play,Educational Games,Computer Games,Video Games,Creative Activities,Criticism,Trend Analysis,Games,Program Descriptions,Performance Factors,Program Effectiveness,Technology Uses in Education,Influence of Technology,Game Theory

The authors examine technology-driven games--especially active gaming--as an evolving form of children's play. They offer an overview of play and its developmental benefits, describe the literature on the emergence of technology-driven play, and reflect on the diminishment of physical play in contemporary culture. They suggest that active gaming, which they describe in detail, not only meets the research-based definition of play, but also may fill the role of traditional play whose growing absence has left behind a vacuum.
Interpretive Reproduction in Children's Play
Author: Corsaro, William A.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play,Preschool Children,Peer Influence,Cultural Influences,Peer Relationship,Role Playing,Imagination,Social Development,Power Structure

The author looks at children's play from the perspective of interpretive reproduction, emphasizing the way children create their own unique peer cultures, which he defines as a set of routines, artifacts, values, and concerns that children engage in with their playmates. The article focuses on two types of routines in the peer culture of preschool children--approach-avoidance play and dramatic role play--and compares their importance. The author outlines the universal nature of these routines and how they can be embellished and extended.
Ludic Toons: The Dynamics of Creative Play in Studio Animation
Author: Power, Pat
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Animation,Anthropology,Creativity,Cognitive Psychology,Play,Semiotics,Cartoons,Neurology,Sociology,Aesthetics,Art Activities

Though generally accepted as the most playfully entertaining form of popular media or art, animation as play has received little scholarly analysis. The author examines the nature of playfulness in animation and describes play as a critical tool in animation studies. Examining studio character animation from such perspectives as creative production, animated output, and audience reception, he builds on findings of animation studies, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, anthropology, semiotics, sociology, and aesthetics to propose a specific or ludic mode of animation. He then reviews how cinematic naturalism affects the nature of play in animation. He concludes that animation is a playground for the mind and that engagement with animated entertainment is authentic play. (Contains 2 figures.)
Including Children with Autism in Social and Imaginary Play with Typical Peers: Integrated Play Groups Model
Author: Wolfberg, Pamela
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Autism,Play,Research and Development,Imagination,Peer Relationship,Models,Group Dynamics,Pervasive Developmental Disorders,Interpersonal Competence,Intervention,Adolescents,Children,Evaluation Methods

Peer-play experiences are a vital part of children's socialization, development, and culture. Children with autism face distinct challenges in social and imaginary play, which place them at high risk for being excluded by peers. Without explicit support, they are likely to remain isolated from peers and the consistent interactive play that encourages developmental growth. This article focuses on the theory and use of Integrated Play Groups (IPGs), which offer a comprehensive, research-based intervention that helps children on the autism spectrum engage in play with typical peers in regular social settings. The article examines the nature of play and the developmental and sociocultural problems it presents for children with autism. The authors describe IPGs, focusing on their conceptual design and the interventional approach to them called guided participation. They highlight innovative uses of IPGs for older populations and discuss Integrated Teen Social Groups. They summarize research and development efforts and discuss the implications of IPGs for the future. (Contains 3 figures.)
Pretend Play, Coping, and Subjective Well-Being in Children: A Follow-Up Study
Author: Fiorelli, Julie A.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Females,Psychological Patterns,Play,Coping,Imagination,Life Satisfaction,Followup Studies,Child Development,Cognitive Development,Affective Behavior,Well Being,Elementary School Students,Comparative Analysis,Age Differences,Emotional Development

Researchers, the authors state, link play to cognitive and affective processes important for a child's development and overall well-being. In this article, the authors examine the relationships involving pretend play, coping, and subjective well-being (the last of which they conceptualize as positive affect--positive mood--and life satisfaction) and investigate the stability and predictive power of play skills. They report on a study in which they measured the pretend play, coping skills, positive affect, and life satisfaction of thirty girls in kindergarten through fourth grade and compared these measures to the girls' pretend play eighteen months earlier. They found that affect or emotional themes in play related to positive mood in daily life and that imagination and organization in play related to coping ability. Their results, they concluded, also support the stability of imagination and organization in pretend play over time. (Contains 2 figures.)
Play Initiating Behaviors and Responses in Red Colobus Monkeys
Author: Worch, Eric A.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Age Differences,Animals,Play,Animal Behavior,Behavioral Science Research,Interpersonal Relationship,Observation,Infants,Children

Red colobus monkeys are playful primates, making them an important species in which to study animal play. The author examines play behaviors and responses in the species for its play initiation events, age differences in initiating frequency and initiating behavior, and the types of social play that result from specific initiating behaviors. Out of the eighteen attempts to initiate play observed by the author, four resulted in play fighting, six in social-locomotor play, four in aggressive rebuffs, and four in passive withdrawals. Old infants proved both the primary initiators and targets of play initiation attempts. Fourteen attempts involved contact with the target animal, suggesting that contact is a species-specific strategy used to initiate play. The author found no relationship however, between specific initiating behaviors and the type of social play that ensued. The author discusses the limitations of the study and directions for future research. (Contains 3 figures.)
Whither (Whether) Medical Humanities? The Future of Humanities and Arts in Medical Education
Author: Shapiro, Johanna
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Medical Education,Humanities,Humanities Instruction,Art Education,Interdisciplinary Approach,Integrated Activities,Models,Empathy,Resistance (Psychology)

This special issue of &quot;Journal for Learning through the Arts&quot; focuses on the uses of literature and arts in medical education. The introductory article addresses current debate in the field of medical humanities (MH), namely the existential question of what is the purpose of integrating humanities/arts in medical education; and then examines how the submissions included in the issue illuminate this conversation. Specifically, I frame the discussion as critiques of &quot;models of acquiescence&quot; in medical education contrasted with calls for medical educators employing the humanities to adopt &quot;models of resistance.&quot; After deconstructing some of the arguments against models of acquiescence, and examining both examples of resistance and acquiescence included in this issue, I conclude that the dichotomy, while in some ways providing valuable insight into the various ways humanities and arts can be understood within a medical context and the various uses to which they can be put in medical education, nevertheless does not do justice to the complexity of actual medical humanities teaching experience.