d, while the size of girls' play groups decreased. Results from the study did not confirm the hypothesis for boys, but did support the hypothesis for girls. The number of girls excluded from play groups increased significantly between the ages of 4 and 6. One possibility for these results is that girls have a preference for less stimulation and are not as active as boys. This could be self disclosure. The effect that mothers and fathers have on their preschool children was studied by (Idle, Wood, and Desmarais, 1993). The interaction between 20 intact families was observed. Parents were first asked to complete a toy desirability scale. It was found that parents believed that neutral toys are not specific to the gender of the child while feminine toys were preferred for girls and masculine toys preferred for boys. However, this was not the case when the same parents were actively engaged in play with their child. It was observed that in general, parents spent the least amount of time with feminine toys. These results were true regardless of the gender of the parent or the child. It was found that children accepted most of the toys presented to by their parents and that their enthusiasm was equal for toys in all three categories. Turner, Gerval, and Hinde (1993), conducted a study in both Cambridge (UK) and Budapest (Hungary). The children were interviewed to assess toy preference, awareness of stereotypes and sex-role preference. The children were also observed during free play at school. The behaviours observed included activities, playing with toys, sex of playmates, and social interactions with peers and teachers. It was found that girls liked female-typical toys, and showed more female typical behaviour than boys, and vise-versa. It was also observed that boys liked "sex-appropriate" toys more, and "sex-inappropriate" toys less than girls. Girls, however, were less stereotyped than boys in their toy and sex-role preference. In both c...
