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SOCIAL CLASS, INTELLIGENCE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN'S PLAY INTERESTS
Author(s) -
Kniveton Bromley H.,
Pike Celia L. R.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1972.tb01142.x
Subject(s) - boredom , psychology , social class , class (philosophy) , developmental psychology , social relation , middle class , variety (cybernetics) , social psychology , artificial intelligence , political science , computer science , law
SUMMARY An experiment is described which investigates the effect of social class and intelligence on the play behaviour of 51/2‐year‐old boys during a 75 min period. Interest in their play was assessed using a variety of measures: (1) flitting; (2) number of toys played with; (3) level of constructiveness of play; and (4) verbal interaction with experimenter. The results showed: (1) there was no significant difference in amount of Hitting between social class groups; (2) middle‐class children played with more toys than working‐class children; (3) social class, intelligence and time in the play situation interacted in their influence on constructiveness of play but had no effect on “normal play”. Constructiveness decreased with time and was interpreted as a symptom of boredom; (4) as predicted, middle‐class children talked with the experimenter more than working‐class children.