In honor of Stanley A. Kuczaj, II

June 12-14, 2016   |   Chicago, Illinois, USA

Stanley A. Kuczaj, II University of Southern Mississippi (1951-2016)
Organizers:
Lance Miller Chicago Zoological Society - Brookfield Zoo Email Website	Alex de Voogt American Museum of Natural History in New York Email Website	38 shades of play: A digital event on the science of a diverse and pervasive behavior We all know what it means to play. We play badminton, we play with others, we are playfully exploring an environment…. Come to think of it, there is so much to playing, what does it mean to play? According to the Oxford English dictionary, the word “play” has a total of 38 meanings – ranging from 28 shades of the verb to 10 variants of the noun. On top of that, play is not just confined to humans but is also common across many animal species. This digital event focused on the psychology of play. The event coincided with the publication of a special issue of Learning & Behavior on The Evolutionary and Psychological Significance of Play. The issue was guest edited by Alex De Voogt (American Museum of Natural History) and Lance Miller (Chicago Zoological Society). Read the Posts

Description
This Psychonomic Society Leading Edge Workshop will explore the evolutionary and psychological significance of play. Although members of a myriad array of species play, all play is not the same.  Species that play differ in terms of the forms and functions of their play and so it is possible that the evolutionary benefits of play vary from species to species. If so, is it the case that the evolutionary significance of play varies systematically, with additional benefits being added as species increase in cognitive or social complexity? Or are the benefits of play distributed more equally across the animal kingdom? Answers to these questions are necessary in order to determine the general evolutionary significance of play as well as its unique benefits for individual species.  Of course, the evolutionary and psychological significance of play are intimately connected. The play of individuals as well as species varies, and the consequences of individual variation as well as the implications of species differences must be considered to ascertain the manner in which play influences an individual’s survival and reproductive fitness. In order to build a coherent framework that integrates research on individual differences with that on species differences, the proposed workshop will bring together scientists from the fields of animal behavior, animal welfare, anthropology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology and psychology to define play and its significance.

Participants

Cindy Dell Clark Pennsylvania State University	Alex de Voogt American Museum of Natural History	Vladimir Dinets University of Tennessee, Knoxville	Tracy Gleason Wellesley College	Fernand Gobet University of Liverpool
Artin Goncu University of Illinois at Chicago	Martine Hausberger University of Rennes	Heather Hill St. Mary's University	Angeline Lillard University of Virginia	Lance Miller Chicago Zoological Society - Brookfield Zoo
Mathias Osvath Lund University	Elisabetta Palagi University of Pisa	Jaak Panksepp Washington State University	Sergio Pellis University of Lethbridge	Jeff Rushen University of British Columbia
Marek Špinka Institute of  Animal Science, Czechia