In the following pages, I will attempt to explore the concepts of multiple determination and of “play” in relation to some developmental tasks of the second year of life. A review of the literature on play reveals a multiplicity of approaches to the phenomenon, and the need for a conceptual model which incorporates, rather than attempting to avoid, the issue of multiple function; a model which moves in the direction of a more unified cognitive-affective understanding of symbolic processes. Observations of toddler activity suggest the potential usefulness of such a model for research and for clinical conceptualization, and its special relevance to aspects of toddler development.

One morning, as 15-month-old John and his mother played together in a familiar nursery room (this setting will be described in