On the transition from pretence play to reality: What are the rules of the game?

Abstract

This study focuses on the hypothesized boundaries that separate pretence play from reality by examining the ‘transition’ preschoolers make in response to a set of planned interruptions of their pretence play. The interruptions varied in the extent to which they violated an implicit set of pretence rules. Forty‐five preschoolers, aged 3, 4 and 5 years participated in two standardized play scenarios that were interrupted at four predetermined times. The results point to the nature of the interruption as the most important variable, and show that even young preschoolers can freely switch back and forth between pretence and reality modes of thought and behaviour.

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