Pediatric ATI Practice Exam

What behavior might indicate a preschooler believes death is akin to sleep?

1. The child engages in pretend play about death.

2. The child avoids talking about death altogether.

3. The child asks questions about sleeping and death.

4. The child shows no emotional response when discussing death.

The correct answer is: The child engages in pretend play about death.

Engaging in pretend play about death can indicate that a preschooler perceives death as something similar to sleep. At this developmental stage, children often use play to explore and understand concepts that they find difficult to grasp, including complex topics such as death. By incorporating themes of death into their pretend games, they may be expressing their understanding or curiosity about the concept, often interpreting it as a state of unconsciousness or an extended form of sleep, rather than a permanent state of being. This form of play is crucial for emotional processing and can be a healthy way for children to navigate their thoughts and feelings about life and death. It reflects their cognitive development, in which they may not fully understand the finality of death but can grasp it in a more familiar context, such as sleep, which they experience regularly.