Symbol Formation and Play

Apes and Fantasy Play

A good place to start would be with the closest living relatives of man, the great apes. Jean-Carlos Gómez and Beatriz Martín-Andrade examine whether fantasy play takes place among great apes, since they see fantasy play as what constitutes symbol formation. They examine the evidence of fantasy play among great apes to see if it occurs and conclude that we still do not know whether great apes have symbolic play. They add that very few studies have even addressed whether great apes engage in symbolic play, and most accounts are either incidental or anecdotal. They say that at the minimum, we can say that symbolic play is not typical in apes like it is in humans.

They do admit, however, that apes in captivity whom humans train to use language may exhibit true symbol formation in their play with elements of imagination and pretense. They suggest we should remain skeptical of whether apes engage in symbolic play until we have more research. We should also note that all studies of animals do not apply this definition of symbol formation, and many say that animals engage in symbol [Page 694]formation not only among apes, but in other species, including birds. So it all depends on how you define symbol formation. Whether nonhuman animals engage in symbol formation and play remains debatable, but research into it will continue to change our views of differences between humans and other animals.

In studying the great ape, we need further research on whether or not apes engage in symbolic play.

Piaget's Studies on Symbol Formation

Jean Piaget was the main person to write about symbol formation and play from the psychological perspective. It is important to note here that the way Piaget uses terms like sign and symbol differs from the way others use them. So we need to understand that he is taking a different approach to symbol formation than the approach of Gómez and Martfn-Andrade. Piaget said children up to 2 years old had no symbol formation, but from ages 2 to 7 years, they not only begin to talk but can take part in make-believe play and can make drawings (doing what few, if any, animals can do). Psychologists have examined the play activity and drawings of the children in detail, generally saying these demonstrate their understanding of an adult task, and that play is a way to rehearse adult roles. While we could call this symbol formation, Piaget says this stage, the preoperational stage, is still only part of the way from the concrete to the abstract, abstract being what he means by truly symbolic. He looks at the development to symbol formation from play in terms of assimilation and accommodation.

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