What is happening in children’s brains when they are playing pretend?

Aanestad, Emma, John, Marvellous, Melkonyan, Eliza, Hashmi, Salim, Gerson, Sarah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8710-1178 and Vanderwert, Ross ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2280-8401 2021. What is happening in children’s brains when they are playing pretend? Frontiers for Young Minds 10.3389/frym.2021.644083

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Abstract

Our brains are active while we learn, work, and even play! We wanted to find out what parts of the brain kids use when they play with dolls. Because pretend play with dolls might involve imagining how other people act and feel, we thought that the areas of the brain used for thinking about other people might be particularly important during doll play. If this is true, do kids use these parts of the brain in all types of pretend play or is there something special about playing with dolls? Are the brain regions that are important for thinking about other people used in the same way when playing with an iPad vs. with dolls? Do kids use the social parts of their brains when playing pretend on their own, or only with a friend? Let us talk about what we found!

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology Cardiff University Centre for Human Development Science (CHDS)
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 December 2021
Date of Acceptance:	29 November 2021
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 06:55
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/145965

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