I know this is from Jodi's Chapter to Post It but it was one of my readings and I really disagreed with the idea mentioned. Levy is talking about the Surplus Energy Theory of Play and saying that it can't be true because when children play, they tire out quickly and then rest.
"The time interval between these episodes of play behavior is certainly not long enough to build up a surplus reservoir of energy."
I totally disagree with his reasoning here! There have been all sorts of studies done on this topic. As any certified Physical Education teacher and they'd disagree with this statement, too. Children wear out a lot quicker than adults do and recover a lot quicker than adults do. It has been scientifically proven by testing the amount of oxygen being taken in (among many other things). So those times that children pause and catch their breath doesn't need to be anywhere near what adults need!
OK I'll get off my soapbox. Here's my Post It for Levy Ch. 7:
Piaget- Nature vs Nurture -Which matters more? Both create the person we become!
The idea is that we are born with some personality traits/qualities (it's simply in our Nature) and we learn some personality traits/qualities by observing the people in our lives (Nurture). For example, My sister is very pessimistic but I am very optimistic while our parents are much more in the middle. Those are traits that qualify under the Nature idea. However, we both really love to read (our mother loves to read and taught us this love when we were very little) thus it is a Nurtured trait.
Piaget also believed we learned through 2 processes: Assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is where you learn something that reinforces or goes along with something you all ready know. Accommodation is where you have to find new ways of understanding information because it doesn't fully fit with the information you know. For example, a baby seeing an orange could think it was round so it must be a ball, but when it tries to make the orange bounce, it discovers it doesn't bounce like balls bounce.
Children play to learn, thus by the time we reach adulthood, there is so much less we need to learn that play drops to a much lower level than in childhood. We've all ready assimilated and accommodated so many new ideas that less and less is new to us.
4 Types of Play According to Piaget:
1. Sensorimotor- infants play by using senses (chewing on a teething ring, following something with their eyes, etc.)
2. Preoperational- gross motor skills develop in young children who don't know the difference between reality and the make believe
3. Opperational- older children and pre teens start cognitive play. They want rules and they classfiy things
4. Formal Operational- Everyone from teenagers on up. Play in this category can be much more abstract
2 Functions of Play according to Piaget:
1. Pleasure, satisfaction, enjoyment, fun
2. Learning: "Play provides the opportunity to be wrong, sad, confused, uncoordinated, and aggressive." It gives children an opportunity to try out these emotions so they can be properly used in reality at a later time. This shows that play is an emotional release.
Problems with Piaget's Theories:
1. What about creativity? The accommodation/assimilation theory is about mimicking, not creating on your own.
2. The stages imply that play ends for the most part upon reaching adulthood. Adults still play dress up (think about Mardi Gras and costume parties)
Questions:
1. Do you think Piaget's concepts apply to adults as well as children? Why or why not?
2. Do you see any other holes in Piaget's theories surrounding play?
