Playful precursors of problem solving in preschoolers.

The results of a number of recent studies suggest that play serves to create specific skills as well as a special, flexible set for innovative thinking and problem solving. In this study, an analysis was made of object play components to determine whether the specific skills evidenced in the combinatorial activity of play and/or the flexible set suggested by the use of fantasy were related to performance on a problem-solvin g task. Seventy-six female and 64 male preschoolers were permitted to play for 8 minutes with a number of sticks of varying length as well as with a number of blocks. A subset of these materials was subsequently made available in a problem-solving session in which solution could be achieved by joining sticks to create a tool to retrieve a lure. Significant correlations were found between (a) the discovery of the solution principle and (b) the quality of combinatorial activity during play and problem-solving solution time. Nonsignificant correlations were found between all other play measures, including nonliteral object use and solution time. The results are discussed in relation to recent research relating play and convergent and divergent problem-solving skills. Some resolutions to a number of apparent inconsistencies in the literature are suggested.