The relationship between the cognitive style and play behaviors of 3-to-5-year-old children

Children (N=1276) ages 3 to 5 were tested for their cognitive style (field dependence/independence) and their play behaviors were observed and recorded. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) for the childrenʹs play behaviors was found to be significant by the Wilksʹ lambda criterion, indicating that FD and FI individuals played differently. That is, FD children engaged more in play than did FI ones. Three significant interactions were found for cognitive style and play behaviors: (a) cognitive style and play behaviors, (b) age, cognitive style, and play behaviors, and (c) age, sex, cognitive style, and play behaviors. Four- and 5-year-old FD children usually had the most play behaviors except for the leadership abilities where 3-year-old FI children had the highest scores in dramatic play. In contrast, 3- and 4-year-old FI children had the least play behaviors except for frequency of play where 5-year-old FI children had the lowest scores in all of the play areas. The childrenʹs play behaviors were also influenced by their cognitive style, sex and age.