The Genesis of Animal Play

In The Genesis of Animal Play, Gordon Burghardt examines the origins and evolution of play in humans and animals. He asks what play might mean in our understanding of evolution, the brain, behavioral organization, and psychology. Is play essential to development? Is it the driving force behind human...

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المؤلف الرئيسي: Burghardt, Gordon M.
التنسيق: Online
اللغة:الإنجليزية
منشور في: The MIT Press 2022
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الوصول للمادة أونلاين:ONIX_20220221_9780262269551_18
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author Burghardt, Gordon M.
author_browse Burghardt, Gordon M.
author_facet Burghardt, Gordon M.
author_sort Burghardt, Gordon M.
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description In The Genesis of Animal Play, Gordon Burghardt examines the origins and evolution of play in humans and animals. He asks what play might mean in our understanding of evolution, the brain, behavioral organization, and psychology. Is play essential to development? Is it the driving force behind human and animal behavior? What is the proper place for the study of play in the cognitive, behavioral, and biological sciences? The engaging nature of play—who does not enjoy watching a kitten attack a ball of yarn?—has made it difficult to study. Some scholars have called play undefinable, nonexistent, or a mystery outside the realm of scientific analysis. Using the comparative perspectives of ethology and psychology, The Genesis of Animal Play goes further than other studies in reviewing the evidence of play throughout the animal kingdom, from human babies to animals not usually considered playful. Burghardt finds that although playfulness may have been essential to the origin of much that we consider distinctive in human (and mammalian) behavior, it only develops through a specific set of interactions among developmental, evolutionary, ecological, and physiological processes. Furthermore, play is not always beneficial or adaptive. Part I offers a detailed discussion of play in placental mammals (including children) and develops an integrative framework called surplus resource theory. The most fascinating and most controversial sections of the book, perhaps, are in the seven chapters in part II in which Burghardt presents evidence of playfulness in such unexpected groups of animals as kangaroos, birds, lizards, and "Fish That Leap, Juggle, and Tease." Burghardt concludes by considering the implications of the diversity of play for future research, and suggests that understanding the origin and development of play can shape our view of society and its accomplishments through history.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-784982024-03-29T08:04:02Z The Genesis of Animal Play Burghardt, Gordon M. Cognition and cognitive psychology bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JM Psychology::JMT States of consciousness::JMTK Drug-induced states thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMT Psychology: states of consciousness In The Genesis of Animal Play, Gordon Burghardt examines the origins and evolution of play in humans and animals. He asks what play might mean in our understanding of evolution, the brain, behavioral organization, and psychology. Is play essential to development? Is it the driving force behind human and animal behavior? What is the proper place for the study of play in the cognitive, behavioral, and biological sciences? The engaging nature of play—who does not enjoy watching a kitten attack a ball of yarn?—has made it difficult to study. Some scholars have called play undefinable, nonexistent, or a mystery outside the realm of scientific analysis. Using the comparative perspectives of ethology and psychology, The Genesis of Animal Play goes further than other studies in reviewing the evidence of play throughout the animal kingdom, from human babies to animals not usually considered playful. Burghardt finds that although playfulness may have been essential to the origin of much that we consider distinctive in human (and mammalian) behavior, it only develops through a specific set of interactions among developmental, evolutionary, ecological, and physiological processes. Furthermore, play is not always beneficial or adaptive. Part I offers a detailed discussion of play in placental mammals (including children) and develops an integrative framework called surplus resource theory. The most fascinating and most controversial sections of the book, perhaps, are in the seven chapters in part II in which Burghardt presents evidence of playfulness in such unexpected groups of animals as kangaroos, birds, lizards, and "Fish That Leap, Juggle, and Tease." Burghardt concludes by considering the implications of the diversity of play for future research, and suggests that understanding the origin and development of play can shape our view of society and its accomplishments through history. 2022-02-21T15:09:57Z 2022-02-21T15:09:57Z 2006 book ONIX_20220221_9780262269551_18 9780262269551 9780262025430 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/78498 eng A Bradford Book image/jpeg n/a https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/3229.001.0001 The MIT Press A Bradford Book 10.7551/mitpress/3229.001.0001 10.7551/mitpress/3229.001.0001 ae0cf962-f685-4933-93d1-916defa5123d 9780262269551 9780262025430 A Bradford Book 520 Cambridge open access
spellingShingle Cognition and cognitive psychology
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JM Psychology::JMT States of consciousness::JMTK Drug-induced states
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMT Psychology: states of consciousness
Burghardt, Gordon M.
The Genesis of Animal Play
title The Genesis of Animal Play
title_full The Genesis of Animal Play
title_fullStr The Genesis of Animal Play
title_full_unstemmed The Genesis of Animal Play
title_short The Genesis of Animal Play
title_sort genesis of animal play
topic Cognition and cognitive psychology
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JM Psychology::JMT States of consciousness::JMTK Drug-induced states
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMT Psychology: states of consciousness
topic_facet Cognition and cognitive psychology
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JM Psychology::JMT States of consciousness::JMTK Drug-induced states
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMT Psychology: states of consciousness
url ONIX_20220221_9780262269551_18
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