Play Behaviour Flashcards
(15 cards)
How are humans unique in their play?
- Compared to other species, they exhibit imaginary play.
What are the three types of play?
1) Object play
2) Locomotor play
3) Social play
*These often occur together and there can be a lot of overlap
What’s the play bow?
- A behaviour exhibited in dogs
- Used to prolong play in dogs, illustrating how they enjoy play
T/F: Play is observed between species.
- TRUE
- Example of the humans playing with the rats, where humans can tickle the rats.
- Rats also enjoy playing hide and seek and will remain quiet when they are being seeked.
What are the different elements of play?
- Voluntary
- No obvious function
- Significantly different from functional behaviour
- The initiator is healthy, largely unstressed
- Sexual
- Aggressive
- Predatory
- Repetitive
What’s rat rough and tumble play?
- An event where there is an attacker and defender, and they engage in rough and tumble play
- The goal is to nibble the nape of the opponent’s neck
- The defender can launch counterattacks and eventually become the attacker
- Requires a balance between cooperation and competition
How do sex differences arise in play fighting?
- Depends on the exposure to hormones, specifically to androgens
- Masculinization of the brain is dependent upon exposure
- In their absence, female-typical development occurs.
T/F: Correlates of synaptic generation in the cerebellum with occurrence of play are observed in different species.
- TRUE
- More play = more synapses
What are the current theories regarding object play?
- Learning how to adapt to novelty
- Interaction with objects you are likely to encounter in your environment
What are the current theories regarding locomotor play?
- General exercise and training for things you need to do later in life
- Provides you with an understanding of the lay of the land
What are the current theories regarding social play?
- The amount of play experienced alters the animal’s ability to deal with the unexpected
- There are quantifiable effects on somatosensory, motor, and emotional centres in the brain. Can help build emotional intelligence/regulation
- There are apparent sex differences in play (ex. rough and tumble play)
What is robbing and dodging play?
- Robbing - Walking alongside another rat and attempting to grasp food with the mouth or forepaw
- Dodging - A defensive tactic in which the feeding rat uses forequarter rotation/hindlimb stepping movement to get away from the robber
Why is the rat feeding posture important?
- They maintain a hunched feeding posture
- Rats are consistently open to theft, so their feeding posture heightens arousal of rats nearby
- It’s a highly conserved behaviour
How do pivots differ between male and female rats?
- Females pivot at the pelvis (potentially related to mating behaviour?)
- Male pivots into the robber (indicative of aggressive behaviour?)
How can we test for differences in pivoting behaviour between males and females in robbing and dodging activities?
- Can castrate male rats at different time points and observe for differences:
- Can be castrated on the day of birth = exhibits female dodging behaviour
- Can be castrated at weaning = exhibits male dodging behaviour
- Illustrates that there is a role of gonadal hormones in the control of sex-typical behaviours
