Auerbach is perhaps best known for her hypothesis regarding "Play Quotient" or "PQ." She uses the term to refer to both a personality trait of individuals and a characteristic of toys, games and other playthings. Her theory is propounded in her book, Dr. Toy's Smart Play—Smart Toys: How to Raise a Child with a High PQ (Play Quotient), first published in 1998.

PQ

PQ is somewhat analogous to the notion of IQ - intelligence quotient. PQ is a number given to the ability of a person to be playful based on the range from not playful to highly playful analogs with creativity, spontaneity, good humor, and other attributes.

Products like toys, games and other items have PV or Play Value attributes, each of which is weighted for its particular value. Dr. Toy selects those attributes that are characteristic of the product being assessed. The sum of the values of the attributes associated with the product is its PV.. For example, if a product such as a specific construction toy possessed 10 attributes, each with an average weight of 7.5, its play value would be 75. As with PQ, the higher the PV the better. Products that are considered stimulators of PQ and have high PV include books, construction toys, dolls, games, puppets, puzzles, transportation toys and many others.

Interestingly, objects and products influence the PQ and stimulate playfulness. There is at least the implication of a feedback loop wherein people who play with objects that have a high play value are more likely to have a high PQ.

While Auerbach does not specifically develop or measure this role of a feedback loop between playing with objects that have a high PQ and developmentally leading to one having a higher PQ, some implied causality seems inescapable. Future studies are possible and warranted. Also, it appears probable that in the individual, additional feedback loops may exist between having high PQ and other desirable personality traits such as intelligence, creativity, imagination, and dexterity.

She completed her undergraduate work in education and psychology at Queens College (1960), and also attended the University of Maryland between 1961-62 for courses in child study, guidance and counseling. She received her MA in special education at George Washington University (1965), and was awarded a Ph.D. in child development from Union Institute (1973).

Her early professional background included teaching in New York City, Maryland and the District of Columbia. In the late 1960s she became a staff member of the U.S. Department of Education and later the Office of Economic Opportunity. At the Department of Education she evaluated Titile I programs, and was responsible for approving the first grant to Sesame Street.

As a mother herself of a young daughter, Auerbach organized the first in-house child care center in the headquarters of the Department of Education for the children of employees of the Agency. This center became a widely copied model in other government agency officesthroughout the country. The original center remains in operation.

Her interest in child care led to her participation in several conferences and research programs in the early 1970s. This pursuit culminated in the early-1970s in the publication of a major work, Choosing Child Care, first published in 1973.

Auerbach was also founder and director of the San Francisco International Toy Museum which she operated from 1986 to 1990 at the historic Cannery[1] overlooking San Francisco's waterfront. It was a hands-on, children's museum where children could learn about the history of toys, and were able to play with and test out new toys and other products. Unfortunately, it was forced to close due to lack of funding following the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

During her career which has spanned more than four decades she has produced scores of articles for a wide variety of publications and given innumerable interviews for radio and television journalists and for print publications and online web sites. She is often interviewed around the holiday season for her opinion on the best toys by various media outlets, local, national and international. She has also written more than a dozen books.

Auerbach is well known in the toy industry for her annual award programs which include:

• Best Green Toys
• Best Classic Toys
• Best Vacation Toys
• 100 Best Toys

These Dr. Toy awards are widely accepted in the toy industry as a badge of special recognition, and are looked to by parents, grandparents and teachers for guidance in choosing toys. The awards have been awarded annually since the early 1990s.

Her website, Dr. Toy's Guide, is the oldest site on the Internet focusing exclusively on the evaluation of toys and resources for consumers. All of her awards and more can be found on it.

In recent years she has worked to make changes in the toy industry by producing with a committee a code of ethics. She has emphasized that products should not be copied by others, because doing so undermines the creativity and originality of others. She has also promoted ethics and standards in the toy industry and that it is essential for toys to meet safety standards and to be properly packaged. She also has tried to encourage the toy industry to domore to support play in stores and in the community.