Training for thematic-fantasy play in culturally disadvantaged children: Preliminary results

Reports preliminary findings of a broader longitudinal study investigating the effects of fantasy-play intervention on socially and economically disadvantaged preschoolers. Young children directed in the role enactment of imaginary stories were significantly superior to control group youngsters on a number of measures of social and cognitive development. Fantasy-play training was significantly related to a higher incidence of spontaneous sociodramatic play and to higher scores on selected subtests of standard IQ tests, and it facilitated performance on Borke's Revised Interpersonal Perception Test. It also facilitated performance on tasks designed to measure story-sequence memory skills and story verbalization skills. However, fantasy play did not significantly enhance ability to recall pictures as opposed to objects. It is noted that fantasy-play training is a promising and practical intervention method enjoyed greatly by both the children and the adult interventionists. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).