Social Play & Nonsocial Play

Social and Nonsocial Play

Robert J. Coplana, Laura L. Ooia, Alison Kirkpatricka, & Kenneth H. Rubinb

a

b

Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

University of Maryland, College Park, USA

In D.P. Fromberg & D. Bergen (Eds.), Play from birth to twelve: Contexts, perspectives, and meanings – 3rd Edition. New York: Routledge. 2015

Social & Nonsocial Play 2

Social and Nonsocial Play . This chapter examines both ends of the social participation spectrum, from social play (activities that take place when two or more partners interact with one another in both literal and non-literal fashions) to nonsocial play (solitary activities in the presence of peers). The discussion addresses questions such as: “Why are these forms of behavior of developmental significance?”; “How does one assess social and nonsocial play?"; and "What are the predictors, concomitants, and outcomes associated with individual differences in social and nonsocial play?". It is argued herein that: (1) social play provides a unique and important context for young children's social, social-cognitive, and emotional development; and (2) whereas some forms of nonsocial play are normative and relatively benign, others may be markers for underlying socioemotional difficulties. Definitions & Historical Perspectives The examination of social and nonsocial play draws upon the intersection of two historical conceptual perspectives. The first pertains to social participation (Parten, 1932) and the importance of peer interactions for children’s healthy development (Rubin, Bukowski, & Bowker, in press). The second describes various structural features of play, such as functional (sensorimotor), constructive, and dramatic behaviors (Piaget, 1962; Smilansky, 1968). In this regard, the discussion spreads well beyond the boundaries of traditional definitions of children’s play (Rubin, Fein, & Vandenberg, 1983). The focus in this chapter is on play in the peer context - “in the presence of other children”. Within these parameters, social play denotes all forms of play behaviors displayed during interaction with peers (among dyads or in larger groups). It occurs when the child: (a) is motivated to engage others in playful activities; (b) is able to regulate emotional arousal; (c)


possesses the skills necessarily to initiate interactions with another child, such that; (d) the social overtures are accepted in kind. Accordingly, social play comprises the associated constructs of social participation, social competence, and sociability, and involves two (or more) children participating in play of various forms (e.g., functional-sensorimotor, constructive, dramatic). It also comprises active conversations between children as they go about interacting with each other, negotiating play roles and game rules. In contrast, this chapter defines nonsocial play as the display of solitary activities and behaviors in the presence of other potential play partners. An important component of this definition involves the presence of other people, which infers the opportunity to engage in social interaction and group-oriented play. Thus, a child who is playing quietly alone in his/her room at home would not be engaging in nonsocial play, as there are no play partners in the immediate vicinity. Social Participation. Starting in the 1920's, there were several attempts to develop comprehensive taxonomies for describing children's social interactions with peers (e.g., Andrus, 1924; Verry, 1923). Various categories described different types of social and nonsocial play. For example, one taxonomy included the broad category of ‘occupied with other children’, which further distinguished between the behaviors of talking, watching, interference, imitation, and cooperation (Bolt, 1928). A Classic Taxonomy of Social Participation. A classic study defined two observational categories of socially interactive play and four categories comprising nonsocial or “semi”-social play activities (Parten, 1932). During associative play, the child interacts with other children and may be using similar materials, however, there is no real cooperation or division of labor. Cooperative play consists of a group activity organized for the purpose of


carrying out some plan of action or attaining some goal. Play partners coordinate their behaviors and take particular roles in pursuit of the common goal The nonsocial or "semi"-social play activities included: (1) Unoccupied behavior -- the demonstration of a marked absence of focus or intent (e.g., child stares blankly into space or wanders aimlessly); (2) Onlooker behavior -- the observation of others’ activities without an attempt to enter into the peers' activity; (3) Solitary play -- playing apart from other children (at a distance greater than three feet) and paying little or no attention to others; and (4) Parallel play -- the child plays beside (i.e., within 3 feet) but not with other children. Based on a small sample of preschool children, this taxonomy of social participation retains considerable influence in the modern study of children’s social and nonsocial play, However, current researchers use a refinement of the original scale for purposes of examining developmental, cultural, and individual differences in children's social and nonsocial play (broadly defined). It is interesting to note that studies postdating the 1970’s, combined associative play and cooperative play as social play from the classic taxonomy. Structural Components of Play. During the twentieth century, other researchers also delineated different structural components of play, including such activities as ‘sensorimotor games’, ‘games of make-believe’, and ‘passive games’ (e.g., looking at pictures) (e.g., Bühler, 1928; Stern, 1924). Later researchers characterized what was to go on to become the contemporary taxonomy of structural play forms (Piaget,1962; Smilansky,1968) . For example, functional-sensorimotor play as the primary play form among infants and young children. involves simple and repetitive motor activities. With increasing age, children progress to constructive play (manipulation of objects for the purpose of constructing or creating something) and exploratory activities (focused examination of an object for the purposes of obtaining


information) and eventually learn to participate in symbolic (or dramatic) play (involving elements of pretense and the production of de-contextualized behaviors). Subsequent research did not support a linear progression (see Rubin et al., 1983). However, the discussion of nonsocial play will emphasize attention to these structural components of children’s play as they are nested within the classic taxonomy of social participationdiscussed earlier . The Developmental Significance of Social Play Theorists have been positing the developmental significance of peer interaction for over fifty years (see Rubin et al., in press, for a recent review). Early work emphasized the importance of peer involvement for children’s social development (Piaget,1932; Mead,1934,& Sullivan,1953). In particular, Piaget (Ibid) suggested exposure to instances of interpersonal differences of opinion and thought with one’s peers (as opposed to interactions with adults), and opportunities for discussion and negotiation about these differences, aided children in the acquisition and development of sensitive perspective-taking skills in interpersonal relationships. Supportive of the the importance of the development of perspective-taking through peer interaction, another researcherstressed the significance of peer interaction in the development of the self-system (Mead, 1834). In effect, exchanges among peers, in the contexts of cooperation, competition, conflict, and friendly discussion, allowed the child to gain an understanding of the self as both subject and object-- the notion of the looking glass self (Ibid.) Finally, a supportive psychologist proposed that peer relationships (called chumships) are essential . , for the development of skills of cooperation, compromise, empathy and altruism (Sullivan,1953). The underlying thread connecting these theorists is the emphasis on experiences


within the peer group, and its role in the acquisition, maintenance, and practice of important social skills. Peer interaction,particularly social play, continues to be of substantive developmental significance (Göncü & Gaskins, 2011).

A question of significant importance that arose from

these historical perspectives,is “What about those who rarely engage others in social play?”. Assessing Social and Nonsocial Play There currently exist many different measures designed to assess social and nonsocial play and their related constructs. These measures can be broadly characterized in terms of the source of information regarding children's play behaviors: (a) outside sources; and (b) direct observation. Outside Source Assessments.

Outside source assessment procedures involve

asking "expert" informants, such as peers, parents, and teachers, to rate or nominate children's social inclinations. There are several advantages to using paper-and-pencil rating scales or nomination techniques. To begin with, outside source assessment is comparatively quick and inexpensive. As well, parents, classmates and teachers have the potential to observe children in many different circumstances and across long periods of time; thus, they can make inferences about specific children's "everyday" behaviors. The disadvantage of outside source observation methods center on the use of untrained observers for the purpose of data collection. There may be some bias in their ratings of the children's characteristic social behavior patterns. More importantly, because they are untrained, they may not be able to identify specific and detailed aspects of behaviors, such as differentiating between social and nonsocial play.


,Thus, although there are a plethora of teacher and parent measures designed to examine related constructs (i.e., children's social competence, personality, temperament, classroom behaviors), there are relatively few such measures designed specifically to assess social and nonsocial play. These include the Preschool Play Behavior Scale (Coplan & Rubin, 1998), the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (Fantuzzo & Hamptom, 2000), and the Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (Hart et al., 2000). However, direct behavioral observations remain the most common method used to assess young children’s social and nonsocial play. Direct Observations. Direct observation techniques involve the systematic recording of children's behaviors. There are several advantages of observational techniques. First, the behaviors observed are face valid. Second, 'blind' observers reduce biases in the coding process. That is, coders are not influenced by their past knowledge of a child's behaviors. Finally, coders can be trained to observe and record very specific and detailed behaviors. Disadvantages of observational techniques included obvious costs in time and personnel. Also, coders may be limited in the contexts, settings, and time frames during which they can observe behavior. Methodological advances in both time- and event-sampling techniques, however, have increased the generalizability of direct observational techniques. There currently exist several observational coding schemes designed to assess aspects of social and nonsocial play. Time-sampling protocols are most common, although event samples, scan samples, and ratings are often used in combination or as alternatives (see Smith, 2011, for a recent review). Investigators have employed these coding schemes to observe social and nonsocial play in laboratory playrooms (Gazelle et al., 2005), classrooms (Fabes, Hanish, Martin, Moss, & Reesing, 2012), and the schoolyard playground (Coplan, Ooi, & Rose-Krasnor, 2014).


Chapter authors have made frequent use of the Play Observation Scale (POS, Rubin, 2001), described below. The Play Observation Scale. The POS (Rubin, 2001) was developed in the 1970s to allow observations to be made of the structural components of play (as defined by Piaget, 1932 and Smilansky, 1968) as they were nested in the social participation contexts described in an early taxonomy ( Parten,1932). Early work focused on developmental, normative observations of preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school children during free play (e.g., Rubin, Maioni, & Hornung, 1976; Rubin, Watson, & Jambor, 1978). The POS employs a time sampling methodology within which 10 second segments are coded for both social participation (e.g., solitary, parallel, group) and the cognitive quality of children's play (e.g., functionalsensorimotor, constructive, dramatic). Several additional free play behaviors are assessed, including instances of unoccupied behavior, onlooking, exploration, peer conversation, hovering, rough-and-tumble play, and aggression. The use of the POS in chapter authors’ research (e.g., Coplan, DeBow, Schneider, & Graham, 2009; Coplan, Ooi, & Rose-Krasnor, 2014; Henderson, Marshall, Fox, & Rubin, 2004; Rubin, Burgess, & Hastings, 2002) and others’ (e.g., Bar-Haim & Bart, 2006; Chen, DeSousa, Chen, & Wang, 2006; Guralnick, Hammond, & Connor, 2003; Nelson, Hart, & Evans, 2008) has allowed for a clearer understanding of children's social and nonsocial play behaviors. The POS allows a detailed assessment of children’s nonsocial play he POS combines (1932) nonsocial participation categories to create three distinct sub-types of nonsocial play behaviors (e.g., Coplan, Rubin, Fox, & Calkins, 1994). or example, reticent behavior is identified by the frequent production of onlooking behaviors (prolonged watching of other children without accompanying play) or being unoccupied (wandering aimlessly, staring off into space). Solitary-


passive play includes the quiescent exploration of objects and/or constructive activity while playing alone. Finally, solitary-active play includes repeated sensorimotor actions with or without objects (functional activities) and/or by solitary dramatizing. each of these different forms of nonsocial play appear to have different meanings, reflect different developmental pathways, and associate with decidedly different psychosocial outcomes. Individual Differences in Social and Nonsocial Play Children are more likely to engage in social play with increasing age (Rubin et al., in press). However, there also exist marked individual differences in the degree to which children are socially motivated and willing to participate in peer play. I Individual differences in children’s social and nonsocial play patterns are influenced by children’s dispositional characteristics (e.g., temperament, sex), social motivations, and social competence. Play patterns are also influenced by the cultures within which children live. Thsu, the display of social play and different forms of nonsocial play can be considered marker variables for psychosocial adjustment in childhood. Temperament and Biological Influences. There is growing evidence to suggest that temperamental characteristics may serve as biologically- based precursors to the display of different play styles. For example, a researcher distinguished between inhibited and uninhibited children (Kagan, 1997). The former group were quiet, hypervigilant, fearful, and restrained in the face of novelty. Conversely, the latter group reacts with exuberance, as if they do not distinguish between novel and familiar situations. Compared to their more outgoing counterparts, inhibited children have higher heart rates, reduced heart rate variability, larger pupil diameters, and greater motor tension (see Fox, Henderson, Marshall, Nichols, & Ghera, 2005, for a review). More recently, findings from behavioral genetics research identified differences in temperament


at the molecular level (Fox, Nichols, et al., 2005). For example, examinations of gene x environment interactions have identified the short allele serotonin transporter 5–HTT as a genetic risk marker for behavioral inhibition and negative emotionality in childhood (e.g., Burkhouse, Gibb, Coles, Knopik, & McGeary, 2011). Physiological mechanisms of emotion regulation appear to represent important components of children's dispositions to engage in or withdraw from interactions with others (e.g., Hane, Fox, Henderson, & Marshall, 2008; Henderson et al., 2004). For example, researchers argue that left frontal EEG asymmetry patterns are associated with approach motivations, whereas patterns of right frontal EEG asymmetry are linked to motivations to withdraw. Similarly, differences in vagal tone (a measure of parasympathetic control over heart rate) have been identified as markers for social dispositions. specifically, low baseline heart period (i.e., heart rate acceleration) and higher heart rates in response to unfamiliar situations are linked to behavioral inhibition (Fox, Henderson, et al., 2005). Indeed, these physiological markers appear to be related to social behaviors, competencies in information processing, and emotion regulation during potentially socio-evaluative situations. For example, other researchers reported that right frontal EEG asymmetry in early childhood predicted lower emotion regulation and heart rate patterns consistent with an inhibited temperament during a stress-inducing social task (i.e., giving a speech) at age nine years (Hannesdóttir, Doxie, Bell, Ollendick, & Wolfe, 2010). These findings suggest that physiological underpinnings play a significant role in social motivations and anxiety responses in social situations. Parental Influences. Parents represent another important influence in the development of individual differences in children's social and nonsocial play. From an attachment perspective, it is possible to postulate that insecure anxious-resistant children in group settings with peers


seek to avoid rejection by displaying passive, adult-dependent behavior and withdrawal from social interaction (Renken, Egeland, Marvinney, Sroufe, & Mangelsdorf, 1989). Researchers supporting this finding report that insecure attachment predicted increases in social withdrawal over time (BoothLaforce etal., 2012) . Moreover, a recent meta-analysis reported a significant (small to medium) effect size between insecure attachment and internalizing behaviors such as social withdrawal ( Madigan, Atkinson, Laurin, & Benoit, 2013).. Parenting styles and behaviors vary, with authoritative parents (high in control and warmth) likely to raise well-adjusted children who are socially responsible and competent, friendly, cooperative and prosocial with peers (Baumrind, 1991). In contrast, authoritarian parents (harsh, coercive, and low in warmth) (Ibid.) are likely to have children who are socially incompetent, aggressive, and/or socially withdrawn (see also Hastings, Utendale, & Sullivan, 2008). Other researchers report that overprotective parents, who over-manage situations for their child and discourage child independence, interfere with children’s abilities to develop their own coping skills for handling socially stressful situations(McShane & Hastings, 2009).

Supporting

this notion, investigators found that mothers’ and fathers’ overprotectiveness predicts socially wary and withdrawn behaviors (Bayer, Hastings, Sanson, Ukoumunne, & Rubin, 2010; Bögels, Stevens, & Majdandžić, 2011). Moreover, parental overprotection tends to exacerbate the development of socially-wary and withdrawn behaviors among temperamentally shy and inhibited children (Coplan, Arbeau, & Armer, 2008; Degnan, Henderson, Fox, & Rubin, 2008; Lewis-Morrarty et al., 2012). Interestinglyresearchers recently reported that overprotective parenting may be particularly maladaptive for shy children when expressed in low-threat


situations, which provide children with the greatest opportunity for exploration and mastery of their environments (Kiel & Buss, 2012). Developmental Outcomes of Social and Nonsocial Play Social Play and Adjustment. Social play becomes increasingly common over the early childhood years (Rubin et al., 1983) until by late childhood, it becomes the norm. a recent observational study , reported that 9-12 year-old children spend, on average, 90% of their time on the schoolyard playground engaged in social play (Coplan, Ooi, &Rose-Krasnor, 2014) . Such play-based social interaction provides an important and unique context for children to develop a range of social, emotional, and cognitive skills (Rubin et al., in press). Indeed, even social interactions that involve conflict can provide children with opportunities to develop and learn adaptive social responses (Ladd, 2005). Not surprisingly, the display of social play in childhood can influence positive developmental outcomes. For example, researchers reported that Head Start children’s peer play predicted teacher-rated school competence, even after controlling for individual differences in positive emotionality during peer interactions (Eggum-Wilkens et al, 2014).. Moreover, results from longitudinal studies indicate that social play is relatively stable across childhood and predictive of positive socio-emotional functioning over time (Rubin, Hymel, & Mills, 1989; Rubin, Chen, McDougal, Bowker, & McKinnon, 1995). Sociodramatic play (pretend play with peers) appears to be a particularly beneficial form of social interaction (Vygotsky, 1967). The production of de-contextualized behaviors and the ability to share pretend play with peers (intersubjectivity, Göncü, 1993) represent significant developmental milestones for young children. The frequent production of sociodramatic play can support the development of social, linguistic, and cognitive skills (Smith, 2005). However,


although social play is generally associated with social adjustment, there is some evidence to suggest that social play, in and of itself, does not guarantee social adjustment. For example, found that social play in early childhood was not only predictive of positive outcomes in adolescence, but also predicted deviant behaviors (e.g., drug and alcohol use) (Rubin, Chen, et al.,1995) . Children’s emotion regulation appears to play a key role here. Whereas the ability to regulate negative emotions is related to social competence and peer acceptance, the inability to regulate affect is associated with socially incompetent behavior (Eisenberg et al., 2004). Researchers found that an extreme group of socially interactive preschoolers who were also emotionally dysregulated (i.e., temperamentally highly reactive and difficult to soothe), were rated by their mothers as having more externalizing problems than comparison groups of extremely socially-interactive but well-regulated children and average children (Rubin, Coplan, Fox, Calkins, 1995).. Thus, not all young children who display a high frequency of social play grow up to be competent, well-adjusted, teenagers. Nonsocial Play and Adjustment. Historically, investigators have reported that children who interact less frequently with their peers are at risk for concurrent and subsequent maladjustment difficulties, but contemporary research reveals that the relations between nonsocial play types and psychosocial adjustment in childhood are in fact quite complex: different forms of nonsocial play in the presence of peers appear to reflect different underlying psychological mechanisms, and are associated with decidedly different outcomes (see Rubin, Coplan & Bowker, 2009). Studies of three forms of nonsocial play these researchers examined are discussed below. Reticent behavior t (onlooking behaviors and being unoccupied in the presence of peers) appears to reflect temperamental shyness and social fearfulness (Coplan et al., 1994). This form


of nonsocial behavior is a behavioral marker of an approach-avoidance conflict, whereby a child wants to engage in play with peers (i.e., social approach motivation) but refrains from doing so (i.e., social avoidance motivation) because of social wariness and anxiety (Coplan, Prakash, O’Neil, & Armer, 2004). In support of this notion, researchers relate the display of reticent behavior in childhood to a constellation of psychophysiological variables (e.g., greater right frontal EEG activation, higher levels of morning cortisol) that similarly underlie the construct of behavioral inhibition (e.g., Fox, Henderson, et al., 2005; Henderson et al., 2004; Theall-Honey & Schmidt, 2006). Moreover, other investigators have related reticent childhood behavior with temperamental shyness, overt display of anxious behaviors, internalizing problems, social incompetence, low self-worth, and peer exclusion across multiple social and cultural contexts (Chen et al., 2006; Choo, Xu, & Haron, 2012; Coplan et al., 2008; Coplan et al., 2009; Coplan et al., 2013; Spinrad et al., 2004). In contrast, solitary-active play includes repetitive sensorimotor actions with or without objects (i.e., solitary-functional), and/or engagement in pretense in the presence of peers (i.e., solitary-dramatic). Frequent display of this type of behavior appears to reflect social immaturity and impulsiveness (Rubin, 1982). It is important to note that this same structural form of play can have very different meanings when displayed in different contexts. For example, as described earlier, sociodramatic play (i.e., playing pretend with peers) is generally an index of social competence and adjustment. Although it occurs rather infrequently during free play (approximately 3% of the time) (Coplan, Wichmann, & Lagacé-Séguin, 2001), solitary-active behaviors appear to be negatively salient within the social context (Rubin, 1982). Indeed, children who most frequently display this maladptive form of nonsocial play appear to have


poorer social skills and are more prone to externalizing problems such as aggression and impulsivity (Choo et al., 2012; Coplan et al., 1994; Coplan et al., 2001; Nelson et al., 2008). Finally, solitary-passive play (the examination and/or manipulation of objects in order to create something (i.e., solitary-construction), or acquire information (i.e., solitary-exploratory) (Rubin, 1982)Initially this form of nonsocial play was thought to reflect unsociability (i.e., a nonfearful preference for playing alone; Coplan et al., 1994),. This view was based on findings indicating that solitary-passive behavior in early childhood was largely unrelated to indices of psychosocial maladjustment (e.g., Coplan et al., 1994; Rubin, 1982; Rubin, Coplan, et al., 1995). However, more recent findings suggest that solitary-passive play is not simply a behavioral manifestation of the desire to play alone (Coplan, Prakash, O’Neil, & Armer, 2004). For example, evidence suggests that shy-withdrawn children may retreat into solitary-passive behaviors in response to feelings of social discomfort and/or peer rejection (Coplan, Ooi, RoseKrasnor, & Nocita, 2014; Henderson et al., 2004; Spinrad et al., 2004). Thus, solitary-passive play itself may have varying psychological, emotional, and motivational underpinnings, and may be displayed by children for different reasons. Further research is clearly required in this area, particularly to explore the longitudinal outcomes associated with this type of nonsocial play. Summary and Future Directions This chapter has explored the constructs of young children's social and nonsocial play within the context of peer interactions. Clearly, social play provides children with a unique and important environment for development. Social play and associated interactions with peers exposeschildren to a domain where they can acquire important social-cognitive and interpersonal skills. Social play allows children to acquire an understanding of other children's perspectives, and leads to a greater understanding of cooperation, negotiation, and conflict resolution.


Moreover, children who experience a consistently impoverished quality of social play and social interaction are at risk for later social maladjustment. Thus, social play can be construed as representing a "safe-haven" for children to learn about themselves and others, and to acquire skills and knowledge that will assist them throughout their lifetimes. In contrast, different forms of nonsocial play appear to have different meanings and are associated with different outcomes. Some children appear to play alone (displaying reticent behavior) because they are shy and anxious, lacking in social competence, and experiencing internalizing problems. Other children seem to play alone (displaying solitary-active behavior) because they are immature, impulsive, and excluded by peers, and display externalizing problems. Finally, although some children likely play alone because of a lack of interest in social interaction, such children may not display a particular type of nonsocial play. Additional longitudinal work should explore the meanings and implications of social and nonsocial play that continue into middle childhood and adolescence. Moreover, there needs to be deeper understanding of the role of children’s relationships (i.e., with parents and peers) in the developmental trajectories associated with the frequent display of social or nonsocial play. Finally, the vast majority of research related to social and nonsocial play has been conducted in Western cultures. There is likely significant cultural variation in the meanings of different forms of solitude. Thus, there are many avenues related to the nature and outcomes of social and nonsocial play for future researchers to explore.


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