A Brief Glimpse at the Long Evolutionary History of Play

Play has long been considered an enigmatic behavior that is hard to define, but having many putative functions difficult to confirm. This situation is changing quite rapidly in recent years. This introduction to a special issue on play provides some general background, historical and contemporary, o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gordon M. Burghardt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Animal Behavior and Cognition 2014-05-01
Series:Animal Behavior and Cognition
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/uploads/journals/2/01.Burghart_Final_2.pdf
Description
Summary:Play has long been considered an enigmatic behavior that is hard to define, but having many putative functions difficult to confirm. This situation is changing quite rapidly in recent years. This introduction to a special issue on play provides some general background, historical and contemporary, on the recognition and phylogenetic aspects of play, along with a discussion on the adaptive functions of play and some recent research findings that might facilitate or extend future research.
ISSN:2372-5052
2372-4323