Pretend Play, Divergent Thinking, and Math Achievement in Girls: A Longitudinal Study

The present study examined longitudinal relationships among early pretend play, divergent thinking, and academic achievement in school-age girls. Theoretically, processes in pretend play should relate to divergent thinking and academic achievement. The aim of the present study was to establish longitudinal correlates of pretend play in school-age girls. It was hypothesized that early measures of pretend play would predict divergent thinking and academic achievement, controlling for verbal intelligence, at a 4-year follow-up. Thirty-one girls in the fourth through eighth grades participated in the study. Four years before the present study, these children received the Affect in Play Scale and a divergent thinking task. Children in the present study were administered a divergent thinking task (Alternate Uses Task). In addition, AIMSweb scores of academic achievement in reading and math were collected from school records. As hypothesized, early pretend play predicted later divergent thinking. Children whose pretend play was more imaginative and organized generated more alternate uses for common objects. Positive affect in play predicted originality of responses. In addition, both pretend play and divergent thinking predicted girls’ mathematics achievement longitudinally. Divergent thinking and play combined accounted for 31% of the variance in math achievement over time. All results remained significant when verbal intelligence was controlled. The present study provides important longitudinal evidence for the predictive power of pretend play in children’s development and adaptive functioning, particularly as it relates to divergent thinking and math achievement in girls.