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.
Play is closely linked to a general sense of happiness, according to Gwen Gordon, and therefore the study of play cannot exist without first studying happiness. In the happiness field, researchers study nature versus nurture and pleasure verses meaning. One can argue nature is responsible for one’s “happiness set point,” an innate fixed point of an individual’s average happiness, or you can say it is based on an individual’s experience, their nurture. Gordon argues that due to recent neuroscience findings that the brain is constantly growing, perhaps one’s happiness is actually more in our own control than we think yet she also argues that secure attachment from a young age plays a crucial role. I intended to use the concept that if one can change their mind, than perhaps they can change their predisposition for happiness – and playfulness.
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.
Playfulness in adults is a crucial trait when selecting an appropriate long term mate. Authors Garry Chick, Careen Yarnal and Andrew Purrington, study how and why this is. Using Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection as a jumping off point, they determine that playfulness is attractive to women because it signals a non-aggressiveness in their mates, while for men, playfulness signals youth which signals fertility. They then continue to study how and why playfulness survived evolution, and why it’s a key component to survival and thriving. As the authors point out, child play mimics adult skills necessary for survival, thus it prepares the young for adult hood. What skills are our current children playing that prepares them for modern adult life? And then what exercises can be developed to support those skills and that type of play? These are question I hope to explore in my paper.
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.
It is the the authors opinion that social play is it’s own form of neurobiological behavior. Social play differs from social investigation, sexual play, and aggressive play. They use the administration of various drugs into the rats systems and then observe and chart the effects, noting if social play increased or decreased. What is interesting about these finding and relevant to my own research is not just the distinction between social play and social investigation, which the authors determine from their study are two separate neurological based behaviors, but also that certains drugs like caffeine, nicotine and cocaine decreased social play in the rats, while it often increased social investigation. I wonder if as adults humans we are substituting the pleasure of social investigation for social play. If they are neurologically separate activities, as the authors findings suggest, perhaps our tendency towards a drug induced social investigation is really a search for more social play. We mistakenly continue to seek a bigger high when in the truth is, we are simply barking up the wrong tree convinced if we simply climb higher, will satisfy the search. If we could access the more playful social aspect of our brain, and incorporate the playful mind into our daily lives, perhaps our gravitation towards drugs that increase our social investigation will lessen.
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.
The author, Chen-Ping Chang, hypothesizes and confirms that a playfulness trait in students can directly predict creativity and gifted ability in the mathematics. He administered detailed questionnaires to junior high school students and then extensively analyzes the results as his main tool to gather evidence. He argues that with an ever evolving modern world geared towards technology and high level problem solving, creativity which leads to a an ability to problem solve will be an ever increasingly valuable trait for success. He perceives the benefits of play in a very similar way I do, one where the a playful mind is fluid, transformative, flexibly with a “yes and” tendency.
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.
Thomas S. Henricks, author, believes that play is critical to answering the fundamental personal question - what can I/ we do, and what can I/ we become? These are the questions one asks on their path to self-actualization. Thus, that path is walked through play, and thus this is why we play. Through play, we explore and understand our world. This allows us to greater understand ourselves. The author looks at the history of play and analyses multiply historical philosophical views of play to come to his own personal conclusion that why we play to gain self-actualization. This theory supports my own feelings on the subject. Through exploring and participating in play we gain a greater understanding of the nuances of intra- and interpersonal complexities. In turn, this allow us to solve both greater and greater intra and interpersonal/ societal problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment