[Xmca-l] Re: play, performance, and human development

[Stephenson, Hunter W.]

Interesting?  Yes.

The intellectual foundation of Dr. Holzman's talk appears to be cultural-historical psychology/activity theory.

If that's true, then how does the thesis presented here accord with, say, Leontiev (1981) who suggests the following:

Play is characterised by its motive's lying in the process itself rather than in the result of the action.  For a child playing with wooden bricks, for example, the motive for the play does not lie in building a structure, but in the doing, i.e. in the content of the action itself.  That is true not only of the preschool child's play but also of any real game in general.  'Not to win but to play' is the general formula of the motivation of play.  In adults' games, therefore, in which winning rather than playing becomes the inner motive, the game as such ceased to be play (p. 370).

In other words (or my read perhaps), Leont'ev introduces the idea of motive, linking motive with the importance of play and differentiating the play of children from the games of adults based on the orientation of that motive.  That is, child's play is motivated by the process while adults' games are motivated by the outcome.

Do adults play or do they game?  Do they do both?  When?  Why?  If they "only" game, then what is the impact on/importance to adult learning? adult development?

Long time reader/first time poster,

Hunter

________________________________________
From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] on behalf of Peter Smagorinsky [smago@uga.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 1:21 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture,     Activity (xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu)
Subject: [Xmca-l]  play, performance, and human development

Lois Holzman sent me this link to a TED talk she gave on the role of play in human development....possibly of interest to some?

TED talk<http://tedxnavesink.com/project/lois-holzman/>