In the late 19th century, Groos developed the first theory of play informed by an understanding of evolution by natural selection. The practice theory.
I agree that play is for practice. But why do we need to practice? A kidney doesn't need practice to filter blood. Some muscles grow strong without practice. So why must a predator practice hunting?
I think the answer is that play is for *learning coordination*. If a system can work in isolation, it doesn't need to practice, it can simply develop the features it needs; evolutionarily, genetic assimilation will dominate (the Baldwin effect). But if that system must interact with other complex systems to work, then all of those systems need to understand the emergent consequences of their interactions - and each of them may be influenced in different ways by their environment. So coordination between such complex systems cannot be assimilated by evolution - it must be learned.
But arbitrary interaction between complex systems is also dangerous - one might trigger an explosive positive feedback loop that damages these systems. So interactions during the learning process must be gentle. Imagine if you were born with very strong muscles but poor coordination between them. You would damage yourself very quickly. We are born with weak muscles so we learn to coordinate them before we can make strong movements. In constrast a foal is born with much more ability for strong movement, but it pays a price in developmental constraint - it will never be able to learn the subtly coordinated movements humans can make, or even the complex whole-body coordination of a hunting cat.
The same is true, I think, for social relationships. You can evolve to have rigidly constrained cooperative relationships that do not require learning (like an ant) or you can evolve to have flexible diverse relationships with adaptive roles (like a human) - but the latter requires a propensity for play. Gentleness, small talk and jokes are how we learn to coordinate with each other sensitively.
Hello - I am training in retained reflex integration therapy. We aim to integrate any primitive survival instincts that haven't completed their development journey, and go on to cause a delay. These reflexes should be integrated by movement, and undirected play is the quickest way to develop primitive reflexes into postural reflexes ie survival instinct into purposeful movements. Movement such as crawling helps to develop vision and promotes connection between the left and right hand side of the brain, to then go on to develop good gross motor skills that we may need to hunt animals for food. Children need good gross motor skills before they can develop the fine motor skills for writing etc, and by devaluing play we are hindering their educational skills. I am training in Rhythmic Training Movement International, which was developed by Dr Harald Blomberg, a psychiatrist who worked with children with huge development delays in the Romanian Orphanages in the early 90's. We need movement to integrate reflexes and create connections in the brain, and the children in the orphanages showed what happens when there is no opportunity for this. Reading your post without know any about about the work of Groos makes me think that he recognised the importance of play without the knowledge of the primitive and postural reflexes behind it
This reminds me of how 'play' is described in Andreas Wagner's 2019 book (Life Finds a Way: What Evolution Teaches Us About Creativity).
Great article! Thank you for all your research!
In this section: Application of Groos’s Theory to Humans, in the second paragraph, it says apples to humans (applies).
I agree that play is for practice. But why do we need to practice? A kidney doesn't need practice to filter blood. Some muscles grow strong without practice. So why must a predator practice hunting?
I think the answer is that play is for *learning coordination*. If a system can work in isolation, it doesn't need to practice, it can simply develop the features it needs; evolutionarily, genetic assimilation will dominate (the Baldwin effect). But if that system must interact with other complex systems to work, then all of those systems need to understand the emergent consequences of their interactions - and each of them may be influenced in different ways by their environment. So coordination between such complex systems cannot be assimilated by evolution - it must be learned.
But arbitrary interaction between complex systems is also dangerous - one might trigger an explosive positive feedback loop that damages these systems. So interactions during the learning process must be gentle. Imagine if you were born with very strong muscles but poor coordination between them. You would damage yourself very quickly. We are born with weak muscles so we learn to coordinate them before we can make strong movements. In constrast a foal is born with much more ability for strong movement, but it pays a price in developmental constraint - it will never be able to learn the subtly coordinated movements humans can make, or even the complex whole-body coordination of a hunting cat.
The same is true, I think, for social relationships. You can evolve to have rigidly constrained cooperative relationships that do not require learning (like an ant) or you can evolve to have flexible diverse relationships with adaptive roles (like a human) - but the latter requires a propensity for play. Gentleness, small talk and jokes are how we learn to coordinate with each other sensitively.
Hello - I am training in retained reflex integration therapy. We aim to integrate any primitive survival instincts that haven't completed their development journey, and go on to cause a delay. These reflexes should be integrated by movement, and undirected play is the quickest way to develop primitive reflexes into postural reflexes ie survival instinct into purposeful movements. Movement such as crawling helps to develop vision and promotes connection between the left and right hand side of the brain, to then go on to develop good gross motor skills that we may need to hunt animals for food. Children need good gross motor skills before they can develop the fine motor skills for writing etc, and by devaluing play we are hindering their educational skills. I am training in Rhythmic Training Movement International, which was developed by Dr Harald Blomberg, a psychiatrist who worked with children with huge development delays in the Romanian Orphanages in the early 90's. We need movement to integrate reflexes and create connections in the brain, and the children in the orphanages showed what happens when there is no opportunity for this. Reading your post without know any about about the work of Groos makes me think that he recognised the importance of play without the knowledge of the primitive and postural reflexes behind it