8 
This is a condensed version of a larger article that appeared in the American Journal of Play (Gray, 2009).Analysis of the anthropological literature suggests that hunter-gatherers use play and humor, more or less deliberately, to make their highly egalitarian mode of existence possible. Their methods of governance and sharing, religious beliefs and practices, and productive […]
9
Although recess has traditionally been a regular practice in primary school settings, today recess is being reduced or eliminated in an effort to provide more instructional time and increase achievement. However, empirical research does not support the elimination or reduction of recess. Research documents that recess affords many physical, cognitive, and social benefits for primary […]
7
The connection between play and culture has an illustrious past. In 1950, the classic play theorist Johan Huizinga articulated the position of play as a cultural phenomenon, one that humans share with animals. In this work, he introduced the defining criteria of play and its relationship to other higher forms of human activity such as […]
7
The world of iPods, mobile telephones, portable wireless computers, and devices of every description, including toys that contain computer chips, memory, voice recognition, and interactive connectivity has forever changed the landscape of play. User-generated content allows players not only to play, but to shape the games they play, and by so doing shape the effects […]
8
To look deeply at play, and to place it in evolutionary, biological, cultural and contemporary context is to partially answer the question, what, really does it mean to be fully human? Or, to state it another way, if play is lost or missing, in a complex changing and demanding world, are there serious negative consequences […]
8
Movement comes in all sizes. It is stretchable, temporally elastic, and full of energetic possibilities. It can be tailored to any occasion. It can be discreet or boisterous. Like anything that is overdone, it can tire you out or even knock you out. Children often excel in it and of course infants are known to […]
9
Rough-and-tumble play, also called play fighting, is a form of play in which partners compete with one another to gain some advantage (e.g., strike, bite, push onto ground), but do so without the severity or consequences of serious fighting, which it resembles (Aldis, 1975). Play fighting is one of the most commonly reported forms of […]
9
Play is not neatly defined in terms of any single characteristic; instead, it involves a constellation of characteristics, which have to do with the motives or mental framework underlying the observed behavior. After analyzing multiple sources of play definitions, the author concludes that essentially all of the descriptors of human play used by prominent play […]
7
Common usage claims broad application for the term playground including school playgrounds, park playgrounds, wilderness playgrounds, zoo playgrounds, arboretum playgrounds, camp playgrounds, casino playgrounds, dog playgrounds, cruise playgrounds, street playgrounds, rooftop playgrounds, loose parts playgrounds, check-a-child playgrounds, wilderness playgrounds, imagination playgrounds, accessible playgrounds, intergenerational playgrounds, natural playgrounds, etc. Even politicians play with the label. For […]
8
Free play, in which children develop their own activities, including rough-and-tumble activities that, as the term play implies, involves physical activity such as running, jumping, play fighting, and wrestling, are increasingly recognized as essential components of a child’s development. Both human and animal studies have provided evidence that periods of play improve social skills, impulse […]
7 
Pastoralists in East Africa are well known for their abilities in effective livestock and natural resource management in the dynamic arid and semi-arid ecosystem in which they live. Their ethnobiological knowledge, manifest in their skills of managing livestock and natural resources, is generated from the daily experiences of individuals in different landscapes. Since the early […]
8 
This research investigated the changes in after school time use in Cyprus within the last 50 years with particular interest to the time spent playing and studying. Time diaries, where collected from 401 adults and children (6-58 years), that used to be, or were at the time of data collection students in primary schools in […]
8 
The study investigates parents’ perceptions of and engagement with their children’s play in the context of Qatar. Quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire that was administered to parents of children aged 4-7 years old in Doha. A total sample of 240 parents responded to the questionnaire. Findings indicated that Qatari parents valued the importance […]
6 
Object play occurs in diverse animals in addition to birds and mammals. Although many carnivores engage in object play in a predatory context, many non-predators do so also. Conjectures over the years on the motivation to play are reviewed dealing with intrinsic, developmental, and stimulus factors. We then report on quantitative studies of the play […]
8 
The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between child-mother interactive behaviors and cognition in preschoolers born preterm (<32 weeks gestation; n = 82) and full term (>37 weeks gestation; n = 53). Child-mother interactive behaviors were assessed during a videotaped free play session. Maternal education and neonatal medical factors were included as […]
10+ 
Appetitive motivation and incentive states are essential functions sustained by a common emotional brain process, the SEEKING disposition, which drives explorative and approach behaviors, sustains goal-directed activity, promotes anticipatory cognitions, and evokes feelings of positive excitement which control reward-learning. All such functions are orchestrated by the same ” archetypical ” neural processes, activated in ancient […]
10
Compared to the study of negative emotions such as fear, the neurobiology of positive emotional processes and the associated positive affect (PA) states has only recently received scientific attention. Biological theories conceptualize PA as being related to (i) signals indicating that bodies are returning to equilibrium among those studying homeostasis, (ii) utility estimation among those […]
9 
Given that the cognitive and affective processes underlying empathy do not fossilize, studies of the empathic capacities of nonhuman primates provide us with a critical window through which we can explore the evolutionary origins of human empathy. Specifically, the comparative method provides an opportunity to determine which features of empathy are uniquely human and which […]
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What is the state of play?
My initial response to the question posed to me is that the state of play, as a scientific field, is actually pretty healthy. By this I mean that psychologists, biologists, ethologists, neuros-cientists, educators, sociologists, and others are realizing that play is an important, if not critical, aspect of life and an exciting and diverse research field. The increased […]