Play is a term employed in ethology and psychology to describe to a range of voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities normally associated with pleasure and enjoyment.[1] Play is commonly associated with children, but positive psychology has stressed that play is imperative for all higher-functioning animals, even adult humans.
The rites of play are evident throughout nature and are perceived in people and animals, although generally only in those species possessing highly complex nervous systems such as mammals and birds.[2] Play is most frequently associated with the cognitive development and socialization of those engaged in developmental processes and the young. Play often entertains props, tools, animals, or toys in the context of learning and recreation. That is, some hypothesize that play is preparation of skills that will be used later. Others appeal to modern findings in neuroscience to argue that play is actually about training a general flexibility of mind – including highly adaptive practices like training multiple ways to do the same thing, or playing with an idea that is "good enough" in the hopes of maybe making it better.
Some play has clearly defined goals and when structured with rules is called a "game", whereas, other play exhibits no such goals nor rules and is considered to be "unstructured" in the literature. Play promotes broaden and build behaviors as well as mental states of happiness – including flow.
Play has traditionally been given little attention by behavioral ecologists. Edward O. Wilson wrote in Sociobiology that "No behavior has proved more ill-defined, elusive, controversial and even unfashionable than play."[3] Though it received little attention in the early decades of ethology, and instead only existed as a matter of study within human psychology, there is now a considerable body of scientific literature resulting from research on the subject. Play does not have the central theoretical framework that exists in other areas of biology.
Ethologists frequently divide play into three general categories: Social play, locomotor play and object play. Locomotor play is the pretend playing that a very young animal participates in when alone.[4] The jumping and spinning characteristic of locomotor play can best be seen in young goats.[4] Researchers have theorized that locomotor play helps the cells in the cerebellum of the brain to develop connections.[4] Types of play listed by psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Brown expand upon these basic categories to include: fantasy and transformational play as well as body, object, social.[5] The National Institute for Play describes the previous five play types, as well as the play types attunement and narrative.[6]
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Play is essentially an activity which is enjoyed alone, though it can involve others, who perceive the play from their perspective and may not be in the mood for play. Play is most commonly associated with juvenile activities, and when engaged in by an adult they may be described as "childish" or "child at heart." Play can consist of an amusing, pretend or imaginary activity alone or with another.
A concerted endeavor has been made to identify the qualities of play, but this task is not without its ambiguities. For example, play is commonly perceived as a frivolous and non-serious activity; yet juveniles at play often display a transfixed seriousness and entrancing absorption while engaged in it. Other criteria of play include a relaxed pace and freedom versus compulsion. Yet play seems to have its intrinsic constraints, as in, "You're not playing fair."
When play is structured and goal-orientated it is often presented as a game. Play can also be seen as the activity of rehearsing life events, e.g., young animals play fighting. Play may also serve as a pretext, allowing people to explore reactions of others by engaging in playful interaction. Flirting is an example of such behavior. These and other concepts or rhetorics of play are discussed at length by Brian Sutton-Smith in the book The Ambiguity of Play. Sometimes play is dangerous, such as in extreme sports. This type of play could be considered stunt play, whether engaging in play fighting, sky-diving, or riding a device at a high speed in an unusual manner.
The seminal text in the field of play studies is Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga. Huizinga defined play as follows:
Summing up the formal characteristic of play, we might call it a free activity standing quite consciously outside 'ordinary' life as being 'not serious' but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes the formation of social groupings that tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress the difference from the common world by disguise or other means.
This definition of play as constituting a separate and independent sphere of human activity is sometimes referred to as the "magic circle" notion of play, and attributed to Huizinga, who does make reference to the term at some points in Homo Ludens. According to Huizinga, within play spaces, human behavior is structured by very different rules: e.g., kicking (and only kicking) a ball in one direction or another, using physical force to impede another player (in a way which might be illegal outside the context of the game).
Another classic in play theory is Man, Play and Games by Roger Caillois. Borrowing much of his definition from Huizinga, Caillois coined several formal sub-categories of play, such as alea (games of chance) and ilinx (vertigo or thrill-seeking play).
According to Stephen Nachmanovitch, play is the root and foundation of creativity in the arts and sciences also as in daily life.
Improvisation, composition, writing, painting, theater, invention, all creative acts are forms of play, the starting place of creativity in the human growth cycle, and one of the great primal life functions.[7]
A notable contemporary play theorist is Jesper Juul who works on both pure play theory and the application of this theory to computer game studies. The theory of play and its relationship with rules and game design is also extensively discussed by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman in their book Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. In computer games, the word gameplay is often used to describe the concept of play.
Symbolic play uses one thing to stand for another and shows the child's ability to create mental images. There are three types of symbolic play: dramatic play, constructive play, and playing games with rules.
Researchers at the National Institute for Play are creating a clinical, scientific framework for play. They describe seven patterns of play which indicate the range of activities and states of being which play encompasses.[6] References for each type of play are also listed.[6]
James Findlay, a Social Educator, defines play as "intelligence," suggesting further that play is the "meta intelligence" behind, together with, and changing, the various forms of intelligences people have. He argues that play intelligence is not a form of intelligence, it is intelligence in all its forms. He is known for his 3-dimensional models which demonstrate the principles of how intelligence and play function together.[8]
Evolutionary psychologists believe that there must be an important benefit of play, since there are so many reasons to avoid it. Animals are often injured during play, become distracted from predators, and expend valuable energy. In rare cases, play has even been observed between different species that are natural enemies such as a polar bear and a dog.[9] It has also been noted that play seems to be higher up on a hierarchy of needs. For example, stressed and starving animals do not play (making it a broaden and build behavior).[10]
One theory – Play as preparation – was inspired by the observation that play often mimics adult themes of survival. Predators such as lions and bears play by chasing, pouncing, pawing, wrestling, and biting, as they learn to stalk and kill prey. Prey animals such as deer and zebras play by running and leaping as they acquire speed and agility. Hoofed mammals also practice kicking their hind legs to learn to ward off attacks. While mimicking adult behavior, attacking actions such as kicking and biting are not completely fulfilled so that they won't injure each other. In social animals, playing might also help to establish dominance rankings among the young to avoid conflicts as adults. On the other hand, this view runs into some problems; the behaviors practiced are often quite different, or even exactly the opposite of those required in the equivalent real life situation.[10]
Researcher John Byers describes how the amount of time spent at play for many mammals (e.g. rats and cats) peaks around puberty, and then drops off. This corresponds to the development of their cerebellum, suggesting that play is not so much about practicing the exact behaviors, as much as building general connections in the brain. Research by Sergio Pellis and colleagues discovered that play may shape the brain in other ways. Young mammals have an overabundance of brain cells in their cerebrum (the outer areas of the brain – part of what distinguishes mammals). Play has been evidenced to help the brain clean up this excess of cells, resulting in the more effective cerebrum of maturity.[10]
Marc Bekoff describes a Flexibility Hypothesis which attempts to incorporate these newer neurological findings. It argues that play helps animals learn to switch and improvise all behaviors more effectively. Animal researcher Marek Spinka believes that playing helps animals learn to handle new and surprising events.[11] There may, however, be other ways to acquire even these benefits of play – the concept of equifinality. The idea is that the social benefits of play for many animals, for example, could instead be garnered by grooming. Patrick Bateson maintains that equifinality is exactly what play teaches. In accordance with the flexibility hypothesis, play may teach animals to avoid "false endpoints." In other words, they will harness the childlike tendency to keep playing with something that works "well enough," eventually allowing them to come up with something that might work better, if only in some situations. This also allows mammals to build up various skills that could come in handy in entirely novel situations.[10]
Peter Smith warns against a "play ethos." He says we must keep things in perspective, and let real evidence – rather than wishful thinking – guide our beliefs about play.[10]
Learning through play has been long recognized as a critical aspect of childhood and child development. Some of the earliest studies of play started in the 1890s with G. Stanley Hall, the father of the child study movement that sparked an interest in the developmental, mental and behavioral world of babies and children. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a study in 2006 entitled: "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent–Child Bonds". The report states: "free and unstructured play is healthy and – in fact – essential for helping children reach important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental milestones as well as helping them manage stress and become resilient."[12] This report also states that: "Play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child". [13]
Many of the most prominent researchers in the field of psychology (including Jean Piaget, William James, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Lev Vygotsky) have viewed play as endemic to the human species; indeed, the attributions projected upon an imaginary friend by children are key to understanding the construction of human spirituality and it pantheon(s) of deification (and demonization).
Play is explicitly recognized in Article 31 of The Convention on the Rights of the Child (adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, November 29, 1989). which states:
Childhood "play" is also seen by Sally Jenkinson (author of The Genius of Play) to be an intimate and integral part of childhood development. "In giving primacy to adult knowledge, to our 'grown-up' ways of seeing the world, have we forgotten how to value other kinds of wisdom? Do we still care about the small secret corners of children's wisdom?"[14]
Modern research in the field of "affective neuroscience" has uncovered important links between role playing and neurogenesis in the brain.[15] Sociologist Roger Caillois used the word ilinx to describe the momentary disruption of perception that comes from forms of physical play that disorient the senses, especially balance.
In addition, evolutionary psychologists have begun to expound the phylogenetic relationship between higher intelligence in humans and its relationship to play.
Stevanne Auerbach mentions the role of play therapy in treating children suffering from traumas, emotional issues, and other problems.[16] She also emphasizes the importance of toys with high play value for child development and the role of the parent in evaluating toys and being the child's play guide.
American historian Howard Chudacoff has studied the interplay between parental control of toys and games and children's drive for freedom to play. In the colonial era, toys were makeshift and children taught each other very simple games with little adult supervision. The market economy of the 19th century enabled the modern concept of childhood as a distinct, happy life stage. Factory-made dolls and doll houses delighted the girls. Organized sports filtered down from adults and colleges, as boys made good with a bat, a ball and an impromptu playing field. In the 20th century teenagers were increasingly organized into club sports supervised and coached by adults, with swimming taught at summer camps. The New Deal's WPA built thousands of local playgrounds and ball fields, promoting softball especially as a sport for everyone of all ages and sexes, as opposed to increasingly professionalized adult sports. By the 21st century, Chudacoff notes, the old tension between controls and freedom was being played out in cyberspace.[17]
Researcher Stuart Brown says that play isn't important to children, it's important to humans (or for that matter, all high functioning animals). The broaden and build behaviors it fosters may have even greater value for adults than children. The mental state of flow is also a major component of play, and has itself been associated with things like creativity and happiness. Brown often quotes Brian Sutton-Smith's insight: "the opposite of play is not work, it is depression."[18] Examples of adult play abound (e.g. the arts, but also curiosity driven science).
Tim Brown explains that values like a bit of shamelessness during the creative process is extremely important in adult designers.[19]
Play may allow people to practice useful habits like learned optimism, which might help manage existential fears. Play also offers the opportunity to learn things that may not have otherwise been explicitly or formally taught (e.g. how to use, and deal with, deceit and misinformation). Thus, even though play is only one of many habits of an effective adult, it remains a necessary one.[10]