ABSTRACT
Imagine a child of 15 months playing. Ben can now walk quite steadily. He doesn’t speak very much still but points to objects. Anything that moves he calls a ‘ka’. It is four o’clock on Monday afternoon. His mother is preparing dinner in the kitchen because she has some guests. Ben’s older sister, Katie, who is four years old is watching Play School on television and, occasionally, doodling a drawing. Ben’s play-pen, which he is a bit old for, stands in one corner of the room. Ben tries to get Katie’s attention, first, by calling her name and, then, when that fails, by taking one of his dolls from the side of the play-pen and offering it to her. When Katie brushes him off because she says she is busy watching television, Ben first drops the doll on to her lap, laughs, picks it up and places it in one of Katie’s carts. The cart has a long string attached so Ben pulls it away. Katie complains that Baby is taking her things but is more interested in Play School. Ben pulls the cart across the living room to the kitchen. His mother is irritated and tells him not to bring toys in there but relents when he says ‘doll hungry’. His mother gives him a piece of carrot which Ben puts in his mouth. ‘I thought the doll was hungry’, chides his mother. She gives him another piece of carrot which Ben duly feeds to the doll. ‘Did she like it?’ mother asks. ‘Yes’, smiles Ben. By now, Ben’s mother has had enough of being the ideal, play-stimulating parent and tells Ben to go and play with Katie.
