THE PLAY STATE OF MIND
HOW TO GET IT AND WHY YOU NEED IT
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| Exploring the benefits of playfulness and how through repetitive exercises adults can neurologically rewire their brain to utilize a playful mind and enhance their daily lives at work, home and intrapersonally. |
Introduction
The benefit of play in adult lives is, by the most part, agreed upon in the play research community. However, what seems to be missing from the conversation is not how adults engage in play, as this is often interpreted and synonymous with how adults have fun, but rather how adults can learn to be more playful as a general mental state and how to bring the playful state of mind into daily lives. My hypothesis is that adults can indeed learn, or better yet, remember how to play by engaging in various group oriented exercises, similar to those of long form improvisation. Through repetitive exposure to such exercises, the adult brain can rewire itself neurologically to be more adaptive, innovative and problem solving oriented. Repetitively exposing and engaging a mind in a play state, the mental state allowing for optimum play, will open up neural pathways for interpreting daily work, relationship, or intrapersonal problems, in a more joyful and creative approach, resulting in higher level solution oriented thinking and overall greater personal happiness
Review of Literature
Other additional scholarly sources from peer-reviewed publications that I have found interesting include Chen-Ping Chang’s 2013 article in Creative Education “Relationships between Playfulness and Creativity among Students Gifted in Mathematics and Science” as well as Louk J.M.J. Vanderschuren and colleagues’ article “The Neurobiology of Social Play Behavior in Rats” from Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. Both of these have thorough scientific research on their topics. For example, Chang’s article includes charts on the relationship between high-achieving math students and their adventurousness, curiosity, imagination and other playful personality qualities. Similarly, but a very different topic, Vanderschuren and teams’ article has a wonderful graph exploring the playfulness of rats after administering various drugs into their system.
In David Dobbs’ article for the 23rd of April, 2013 publication in The New York Times, “Playing for All Kinds of Possibilities” he observes Dr. Alison Gopnik’s work with children. Gopnik, a professor of Psychology, studies how children learn about their environment through play. Also studying the effects of play in early development are Chen-Ping Chang, Chih-Ting Hsu, and I-Jun Chen. In their joint article, “Relationships between the Playfulness Climate in the Classroom and Student Creativity” from Springer Science & Media, September 21 2011, they write about how a spontaneous playful environment enhances student’s creativity. Continuing this research of play throughout one’s childhood is Marianne B. Staempfli. In her article, "Adolescent Playfulness, Stress Perception, Coping and Well-being" from the Journal of Leisure Research of 2007, she takes a look at how play continues to be a crucial role in teenagers being able to navigate the difficult waters of adolescence. Lastly is the DVD the Promise of Play, released in 2008 and executive produced by Stuart Brown and David Kennard. The program is divided into three segments: “The Mother of Invention”, “A World of Your Own” and “The Heart of the Matter.” Together these videos highlight play in the corporate environment, play as a personal expression, and what play can teach us about humanity.
Plan to Collect Information
As I’ve gathered my sources, I have been very pleased with the Kitsap Regional Library’s ProQuest Magazine & Newspapers database. This has been a very valuable and fruitful source for collecting peer-reviewed articles. Another great source I’ve used for collecting peer-reviewed articles is the Academic Search Premier through the Olympic College Online Library. I have very much enjoyed just browsing at the local library, Kitsap Regional’s Bainbridge branch, for books which could possibly relate to my thesis and provide interesting insight into the world and research of play. This allowed my mind to wander and become creative, introducing new and varied research into my paper I hadn’t previously considered. For example, I checked out multiple spiritual and religious books relating to mindfulness, from authors such as Thich Nhat Hanh and Pema Chodron. I am hoping these sources will support my theory that playfulness is a state of mind, requiring consistent play-oriented exercise, similar to meditation leading to mindfulness.
I plan on returning to the library to find books about neuroscience and the neuroplasticity of the mind. One such book I look forward to on this topic is Diane Ackerman’s An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain as well as The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge. Many of the books I’m interested in are either very recently published or obscure; therefore I also plan to order books from Amazon. Such titles are The Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness, various authors, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention, as well as Why People Play by Michael J. Ellis. I have asked the library for an interlibrary loan on these titles, but they are having difficulty locating. A few other titles I’m waiting to see if an interlibrary loan is possible are The Gift of Play: Why Adult Women Stop Playing and How to Start Again by Barbara Brannen, and Charles E. Schaefer’s Play Therapy with Adults. I would like to continue my search for peer-reviewed articles and see if there are any articles via EBSCO that would be useful - perhaps finding some on neuroplasticity. My goal is to appeal to the more science minded reader and express my theory that developing a more playful mind is possible through creating new neural synapses with repetitive exercises. I am hoping that recent research on neuroplasticity will support this. Also to support this line of thought will be sources on muscle conditioning for extreme athletes like marathon or sprint runners. Through repetitive exercise they can change how their muscle fibers react to different activities and environmental stressors, I see exercising the “muscle” of play working in a similar way. Ideally, I’d love to interview some of my fellow improvisational performers in Los Angeles, given I can schedule time with them, and thus gain additional insight into in the power of a play conditioned mind. I hope to gather additional voices that also believe and can affirm that long form improvisation inspired training can develop a fluid and playful mind beneficial to all aspects of life.
Project Timeline
By the end of this week, I plan to have read through the remaining articles I have collected up to this point. These include articles from both scholarly journals as well as prominent newspapers like The New York Times, and specialized relevant websites like www.whatisneuroplasticity.com. This will add depth to my understanding of the topic and continue to clarify my thesis. I also hope to schedule an interview with a fellow improv artist this week. I will then be well prepared to complete my annotated bibliography by November 4th. November 5th through 10th I hope to have completed the interview as well as all other preliminary reading, both library books and those ordered from Amazon. This will allow me to begin writing my literature review, which I will complete by Thursday November 13th. After my literature review is completed I will begin drafting out my research paper, including an outline, rationale and abstract. Given that the outline of my paper is clear and organized with well-defined sections, I will then easily be able to complete a rough draft of my paper by November 25th and receive feedback from classmates at that point as well. The next two weeks, November 26th through December 2nd will be editing, revising and polishing my paper. Before handing in my final paper on December 5th, I plan to have my paper reviewed by my peers, who understand the requirements of the assignment, my husband, who is an ace at spelling and grammar, and my father, who will be excellent for checking to make sure my thoughts are organized and my thesis is well supported.
Working Bibliography/ Works Cited
Bailey, Jeanne. “Monisha C. Akhtar: Play and Playfulness: Developmental, Cultural and Clinical Aspect” American Journal of Psychoanalysis. 72.4 (Dec. 2012): 421-424. ProQuest. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
Brannen, Barbara. The Gift of Play: Why Adult Women Stop Playing And How To Start Again. Nebraska: ¡Universe, 2002. Print.
Brown, Stuart. Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.
Burghardt, Gordon M. "Play, Playfulness, Creativity, and Innovation." American Journal of Play, 6.3 (Spring 2014): 411-413. ProQuest. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
Chang, Chen-Ping. “Relationships between Playfulness and Creativity among Students Gifted in Mathematics and Science” Creative Education, 4.2 (2013): 101-109. ProQuest. Web Oct. 16 2014.
Chang, Chen-Ping, Chih-Ting Hsu, I-Jun Chen. “Relationships between the Playfulness Climate in the Classroom and Student Creativity” Springer Science & Media, B.V. (September 21 2011). ProQuest. Web. Oct. 16 2014.
Chick, Garry, Careen Yarnal, Andrew Purrington. "Paly and Mate Preference: Testing the Signal Theory of Adult Playfulness." American Journal of Play, 4.4 (Spring 2012): 407-440. ProQuest. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.
Csikszentmihlyi, Mihaly. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York: Harper Collins, 2013. Print.
Dillman Taylor, Dalena, Sue C. Bratton. “Developmental Appropriate Practice: Adlerian Play Therapy with Preschool Children.” Journal of Individual Psychology. 70.3 (Fall 2014): 205-219. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Dobbs, David. “Playing for All Kinds of Possibilities” The New York Times, New York, D. 7 (23 April 2013). ProQuest. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
Elkind, David. “Playtime Is Over” The New York Times, New York, A. 19 (27 March 2010). ProQuest. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
Gagnon, Sandra, Timothy Huelsman, Anna Reichard, Pamela Kidder-Ashley, Marissa Griggs, Jessica Struby, Jennie Bollienger. “Help Me Play! Parental Behaviors, Child Temperament, and Preschool Peer Play.” Journal of Child & Family Studies, 23.5 (July 2014): 872-884. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Gordon, Gwen. "Well Played: The Origins and Future of Playfulness." American Journal of Play, 6.2 (Winter 2014): 234-266. ProQuest. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.
Henricks, Thomas S. "Play as Self-Realization: Toward a General Theory of Play." American Journal of Play, 6.2 (Winter 2014): 190-213. ProQuest. Web 02 Oct. 2014.
Olson, Tyler. 9337064: Mid adult man in playful mood holding shopping cart while woman sitting in it and looking at camera. 123rf.com. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Promise of Play. EP. Stuart Brown and David Kennard. Direct Cinema Limited, 2008. DVD.
Rieber, Lloyd P. “Seriously Considering Play: Designing Interactive Learning Environments Based on the Blending of Microworlds, Simulations, and Games”. Educational Technology Research & Development, 44.2 (1996): 43-58. Web. Oct. 14 2014.
Schaefer, Charles E. Play Therapy with Adults. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2003. Print.
Schall, James V. “Mysticism, Political Philosophy, and Play” Modern Age, 28.3 (Summer2006): 251-258. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Shen, Xiangyou Sharon, Garry Chick, and Harry Zinn. "Validating the Adult Playfulness Trait Scale (APTS): An Examination of Personality." American Journal of Play, 6.3 (Spring 2014): 234-266. ProQuest. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.
Staempfli, Marianne B. "Adolescent Playfulness, Stress Perception, Coping and Well-being." Journal of Leisure Research 39.3 (2007): 393-412. ProQuest. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
Vanderschuren, Louk J.M.J., Raymon J.m. Niesink, Jan M. Van Ree. “The Neurobiology of Social Play Behavior in Rats”. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 21.3 (1997): 309-326. ProQuest. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.
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