The development and predictive relations of play and language across the second year

The play and language development of 171 toddlers was examined at 14 and 18 months by observing their activities on the Symbolic Play Test and by asse ssing their language skills using the MacArthur Communicative Development I nventories (MCDI) and the Reynell Developmental Language Scales. Additional ly, data from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the MCDI were obt ained at 24 months, in order to investigate how play and language measures taken at 14 and 18 months predict children's development at the age of 2 ye ars. The results showed that the vocabulary production and symbolic play of the 14-month-old toddlers made a unique contribution to their language and cognitive skills at the age of 2 years, while at 18 months only language v ariables made a similar contribution. Other-directed pretense discriminated between the children's subsequent language and cognitive skills best, wher eas nonsymbolic play had no independent predictive contribution. Significan t gender differences were found in the use of nonsymbolic and symbolic play acts already at 14 months. Gender did not, however, contribute to the pred iction of the children's subsequent skills, whereas maternal education sign ificantly added to the prediction of the 2-year-olds' maximum sentence leng th and that of their cognitive development.