Abstract

As infants become more interested in their nonsocial surroundings, triadic play, where a toy is added to infants' play with their caregivers, becomes an increasingly frequent play context. Yet, little is known about the emergence of triadic play within the first year of life. Identifying the play contexts in which infants participate is integral to understanding the processes by which infants develop into increasingly competent social beings. The present research consisted of two studies. In Study 1, the Relational Play Category Coding Scheme was developed to delineate characteristic bouts of triadic play occurring between mothers and their infants aged 4 to 7 months. Five different triadic play categories were identified. The coding scheme was applied to a sample of mothers and their infants in Study 1 who participated in a longitudinal study of free play when their infants were 4, 5�$1�