Playing with dolls could help the social development of children - including those with neurodiverse conditions such as autism, according to a study.
The research, from Cardiff University, found children exhibiting higher levels of autism traits showed increased brain activity in a key region associated with social processing when engaging in conversations with individuals during doll play.
And the new findings suggested the broader social engagement with others while engaging in doll play was a unique pathway to social development for these children.
This was in contrast to what was observed in neurotypical children, who were more likely to discuss the dolls' thoughts and emotions.
However, researchers said that despite this difference, it showed that both groups may be able to benefit from doll play by using it as a tool for practicing social scenarios and developing social skills, such as empathy.
The findings are the latest release from a multi-year study by the Centre for Human Developmental Science at the university’s School of Psychology.
Previous years have focused on neurotypical children and found wide-ranging social and developmental benefits of playing with dolls.
Now, in its third year, the research team has replicated those results with a more diverse range of participants, including children aged between four and eight displaying both high and low levels of traits associated with autism.
Lead researcher Dr. Sarah Gerson said: “Our study shows that doll play can encourage social processing in children, regardless of their neurodevelopmental profile.
“The findings show that all children, even those who display neurodivergent traits commonly associated with autism, may use doll play as a tool for practicing social scenarios and developing social skills, such as empathy.”
State-of-the-art functional, near-infrared spectroscopy equipment was used to explore brain activation while children played with dolls and on tablets, both by themselves and with another person, replicating conditions from the first year of the study.
While observing children, researchers saw increased brain activity in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) region - which is heavily involved in social and emotional processing such as empathy - when playing with dolls, for both play with a social partner and during solo doll play, but less so during solo tablet play.
The study's results suggest that doll play could support social processing, regardless of a child’s neurodevelopmental profile, but through different pathways.
For children displaying fewer autistic traits in the research, talking about the mental states and emotions of the dolls they were playing with was associated with increased pSTS activity.
In contrast, for those displaying more autistic traits, talking with others during doll play, even when playing by themselves, led to more social processing on a neural level.
Other research has shown that social processing and empathy
