- Oxford Library of Psychology
- The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology
- Oxford Library of Psychology
- About the Editor
- Contributors
- Developmental Psychology: A New Synthesis
- Personality and Emotional Development
- The Development of Stress Reactivity: A Neurobiological Perspective
- The Development of Emotion Regulation: Integrating Normative and Individual Differences Through Developmental Neuroscience
- The Developing Moralities: A Cognitive Neuroscience Approach
- The Structure of Temperament and Personality Traits: A Developmental Perspective
- Temperamental Contributions to Inhibited and Uninhibited Profiles
- Social Development
- Attachment Theory and Research: Précis and Prospect
- A Neural Networks, Information-Processing Model of Joint Attention and Social-Cognitive Development
- Peer Relationships in Childhood
- Play
- Prosocial Development
- Gender Development During Childhood
- Self-Conceptualizing in Development
- Theory of Mind: Self-Reflection and Social Understanding
- Sociocultural Contexts of Development
- An Overview of Developmental Psychopathology
- Modularity and Developmental Disorders
- Aggression and Antisocial Behavior: A Developmental Perspective
- The Social Environment and the Development of Psychopathology
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Toward a Developmental Synthesis
- Risk and Resilience in Development
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
The role of play in human development is controversial. In some quarters it is viewed as indispensable to children’s healthy development and education, while in others it is marginalized as a topic unworthy of study and of questionable functional significance. I suggest that differences in the ways in which play is defined and the ways in which its function is conceptualized have led to this misunderstanding. I outline the ontogeny of social, object, locomotor, and pretend play and their possible functions. I also make educational policy and research recommendations for the role of play in children’s lives.
Keywords: play, locomotor play, object play, exploration, social play, pretend play, novelty, function, natural selection, ontogeny, phylogeny
Anthony D. Pellegrini is Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, and Adjunct Professor of Child Psychology, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota.
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- Oxford Library of Psychology
- The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology
- Oxford Library of Psychology
- About the Editor
- Contributors
- Developmental Psychology: A New Synthesis
- Personality and Emotional Development
- The Development of Stress Reactivity: A Neurobiological Perspective
- The Development of Emotion Regulation: Integrating Normative and Individual Differences Through Developmental Neuroscience
- The Developing Moralities: A Cognitive Neuroscience Approach
- The Structure of Temperament and Personality Traits: A Developmental Perspective
- Temperamental Contributions to Inhibited and Uninhibited Profiles
- Social Development
- Attachment Theory and Research: Précis and Prospect
- A Neural Networks, Information-Processing Model of Joint Attention and Social-Cognitive Development
- Peer Relationships in Childhood
- Play
- Prosocial Development
- Gender Development During Childhood
- Self-Conceptualizing in Development
- Theory of Mind: Self-Reflection and Social Understanding
- Sociocultural Contexts of Development
- An Overview of Developmental Psychopathology
- Modularity and Developmental Disorders
- Aggression and Antisocial Behavior: A Developmental Perspective
- The Social Environment and the Development of Psychopathology
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Toward a Developmental Synthesis
- Risk and Resilience in Development
- Index
