Play and Cooperation: A Longitudinal Study of Chinese Children*

*A study of cooperation in the American children who took part in the play study was planned but could not be completed due to extremely high participant loss in the intervening three years.

Abstract

*A study of cooperation in the American children who took part in the play study was planned but could not be completed due to extremely high participant loss in the intervening three years.

This longitudinal study of the social development of urban Chinese children addressed their play skills as kindergartners and, three years later, their abilities to cooperate In potentially competitive games. First, 27 boys and 22 girls’ play was observed using M. Parten's (1932) system, modified to suit these subjects’ play environment and behaviors; a second sample of 30 boys and 33 girls in the United States was also studied. Although differences in play patterns were observed in the two samples, social contact scores were virtually identical. Second, 40 of the Chinese sample, with 4 more girls, were observed 3 years later playing 2 games devised by M. C. Madsen (1961) and others, the games having been widely used in cross‐cultural studies of children's cooperation. The participants compared favorably with other samples previously reported. Spontaneous cooperation was predicted by earlier social play scores but not by non‐play conversation.

Key words:

• Social play
• cooperation
• preschool students
• grade‐school students
• cross‐cultural
• social development
• only children

Notes

*A study of cooperation in the American children who took part in the play study was planned but could not be completed due to extremely high participant loss in the intervening three years.