The Meaning Behind a Child Saying, “Let’s Play!”

Authors

Brandon Clifford, Brigham Young University
Larry Nelson, Brigham Young University

Keywords

social withdrawal functions, withdrawn behavior in children, play behaviors, language skills

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

Abstract

Social withdrawal functions as an umbrella term capturing various types of withdrawn behavior in children (Coplan & Rubin, 2010). Past research has defined more specific types of withdrawal using various approaches including observed play behaviors (Coplan, et al., 1994). To illustrate, reticent children (a form of withdrawal) primarily engage in onlooking and unoccupied behavior while solitary-passive children engage in solitary constructive and exploratory behavior. Although this deductive step furthers the social withdrawal research in describing the characteristics and behaviors of children, the language skills of these distinct groups requires further investigation.

Recommended Citation

Clifford, Brandon and Nelson, Larry (2016) "The Meaning Behind a Child Saying, “Let’s Play!”," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2016: Iss. 1, Article 40.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2016/iss1/40