What criteria & requirements does game need?
1.
Play needs security
2.
Game has no other goal than game
3.
Game is voluntary and rewards itself
4.
Game is different from reality
5.
Play is creative repetition
1. play needs security:
An important prerequisite for play is a relaxed environment that offers safety and security. When hungry, thirsty, afraid, in pain or tired, we do not play.
2. game has no other goal than game:
Play is activity without apparent necessity. It is composed of sequences of hunting, aggression & sexual behavior. However, it differs from the respective serious reference e.g. there is no real prey in the hunting game (the game partner plays the prey).
3. game is voluntary and rewards itself:
an important criterion for any game is the voluntariness of all playing partners. The bodys own reward system provides the fun and also facilitates learning. BUT be careful: one-sided play, such as throwing the ball continuously, can become compulsive.
4. game is different from reality:
incomplete, exaggerated, uneconomic and unpredictable behavior can be observed in the game. Individual components from hunting, flight, sexual behavior as well as social grooming are combined arbitrarily.
5th game is creative repetition:
real play behavior always remains flexible & variable. A behavior sequence is not rigidly repeated but always varied. For example, toys can be rolled, thrown or hidden in the human-dog game without breaking off the game.
What do dogs think about when they stare at you?
Just as humans stare into the eyes of someone they adore, dogs will stare at their owners to express affection. In fact, mutual staring between humans and dogs releases oxytocin, known as the love hormone. This chemical plays an important role in bonding and boosts feelings of love and trust.
Definition: Gambling behavior
It does not exist, this one consistently all-encompassing definition of play! Despite a multitude of studies in recent years, no one has yet been able to explain what biological function play ultimately has. “Play is not easily defined. Attempts to define it functionally face the problem that it is not obvious that play serves any particular function either at the time when it is performed or later in life.” [Defining play is not easy. Attempts to define it functionally face the problem that it is not obvious that play serves any particular function either at the time it is performed or later in life]. (Marc Bekoff, 1998 in Feddersen-Petersen 2008, p. 195)
For this reason, most definitions describe as precisely as possible WHAT happens in play. This is also the case with that of the scientist Gordon M. Burghardt, who deals with the origins and evolution of game behavior:
“Play is repetitive, functionally incomplete behavior that is structurally, contextually, or ontogenetically [developmentally] distinct from more serious versions and is initiated voluntarily when the animal is in a relaxed or low-stress environment.” (Burghardt 2005 in Buyer 2011, p. 15)
Do Whippets Have Willpower?
Aow can play be distinguished from non-play? Does a uniform definition of play exist at all? Are there prerequisites and criteria for play, and if so, what would they be? What are the functions of play? Why do social canids play in such a fun, self-indulgent and creative way? By what characteristics can play actually be recognized? Have you ever heard of solitaire play? And which forms of play could you already observe?