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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