Play

Question 1

What are the issues surrounding play?

Answer 1

No clear function

No solid theory of why it happens

Question 2

What are the problems of calling play “apparently purposeless”?

Answer 2

1) The observer may fail to decipher the immediate benefit or function of play

2) The true benefit or function may not occur until much later

3) The benefits or functions may be multiple and confounding

Question 3

What are the costs of play?

Answer 3

Energetic (waste of energy)

Reduced vigilance

Increased predation

Risk of injury

Question 4

What is an ethogram?

Answer 4

An inventory of an animal’s actions

Question 5

What are the three types of play?

Answer 5

1) Object play

2) Locomotor play

3) Social play

Question 6

What is the difference between play and exploration in object play?

Answer 6

Exploration = what is this

Play = what does this do

Question 7

What are the two hypothesis for the function of locomotor play?

Answer 7

1) Provides the lay of the land information

2) It provides exercise and develops motor skills (practice causes cerebellar synaptogenesis in mice)

Question 8

What are the three hypothesis for the function of social play?

Answer 8

1) Enhances physical skills

2) Facilitates long term relationships

3) Enhances cognitive skills

Question 9

What are the two expression of play in gorillas?

Answer 9

Mouth open and teeth covered

If play starts to get rough, open mouth and show teeth to reassure it is still play

Question 10

Why do animals tend to play fair?

Answer 10

The gains from ‘cheating’ are low

May be excluded from groups which can be significant and long lasting

Question 11

What are the problems with testing the hypothesis about play?

Answer 11

If you deprive animals of play you deprive them of other things too - so problems with logistics and ethics

So hard to create experiments to find the function of play