Jessica Taggart

LIFE Fellow from 2015 to 2020, University of Virginia

PhD

Dissertation completed in 2020

As Good as the Real Thing? A Mixed Methods Study of the Perceived Impact of Pretend Play on Children’s Self-Efficacy and Competence

(Advisor: Angelina S. Lillard)

Selected Publications

Taggart, J., Becker, I., Rauen, J., Al Kallas, H., & Lillard, A. S. (2020). What shall we do: Pretend or real? Children’s choices and parents’ perceptions. Journal of Cognition and Development, 21(2), 261–281. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2019.1709469

Taggart, J., Ellwood, M., Vasc, D., Chin, S., & Lillard, A. S. (2020). Parents’ roles and question‐asking during pretend and real activities. Social Development, 29(3), 767–782. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12436

Taggart, J., Heise, M. J., & Lillard, A. S. (2018). The real thing: Preschoolers prefer actual activities to pretend ones. Developmental Science, 21, Article e12582. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12582