Play Behavior in Child Development: Evolutionary Psychology

Introduction

The significance of games as a tool for active learning and introduction of modeling sand roleplay as the means of examining real-life scenarios into the learning process has been accepted recently, causing a significant shift toward the active promotion of games as a vital learning tool for young children. However, the nature of the specified phenomenon as interpreted from the standpoint of evolutionary psychology is yet to be studied in order to identify crucial strategies for encouraging play as the means of supporting child development and encouraging young children to develop vital skills and abilities [1]. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to examine the effects of play behavior on the extent and speed of building cognitive skills in young children.

The evolutionary psychology underpinnings of play on the successful acquisition of cognitive skills and social behaviors in young children have been considered by several scientists lately. For instance, the processes associated with building specific cognitive skills as a means of recognizing relevant social cues could be regarded as an evolutionary mechanism in children.

Furthermore, some of the recent studies have shed light on the specifics of social interactions from the standpoint of evolutionary psychology. For instance, the use of lies as a unique social phenomenon has been the subject of some of the recent evolutionary psychology studies [1]. Remarkably, since children use lies and fantasy narratives as the means of shaping social interactions and their perception of society, the specified study can be considered related to the issue at hand.

Overall, the existing body of research points to the necessity to examine the significance of play behaviors in children as a part of the developmental and learning processes through the lens of evolutionary psychology. Although the importance of play in has been established quite clearly in previous research, the connection between the primary tenets of evolutionary psychology and the specified issue are yet to be established and identified [1], [4], [5], [7], [9]. Furthermore, recommendations concerning the use of play as the means of encouraging early childhood development will have to be provided.

Thus, the core question that this paper will seek to answer is: how does evolutionary psychology explain the significance and nature of play behaviors in children at early developmental stages, and how can these insights be used to model the further development process and enhance it?

Review and Analysis

Evolutionary Psychology and Child Development

The connection between evolutionary psychology and child development might not be obvious at first; however, in further examination of the specified notions, the link becomes more apparent. At its core, the discipline of evolutionary psychology is an approach to exploring human behavior from the perspective of the ecological impact of the sociocultural environment in the development of specific habits and responses [2]. Therefore, evolutionary psychology suggests that the emergence of specific behavior that serves the function of preserving one in the course of natural selection [3]. According to Seiffert-Brockmann [2], evolutionary psychology’s core tenets reside on two crucial premises, the first one being that “‘there is a universal human nature,’ with the limitation ‘that this universality exists primarily at the level of evolved psychological mechanisms, not of expressed cultural behaviors’” [2]. Moreover, the specified statement expands to include the following characteristic of evolutionary psychology: “culture is generated with the help of universal psychological mechanisms” [2]. Therefore, the main assertion that the field of evolutionary psychology makes is that the human mind does not represent a fully blank slate and, therefore, serves as the backbone for human society, and no vice versa. Consequently, it will be reasonable to assert that evolutionary psychology links the core developmental processes associated with the evolutionary progress of the human brain to the core societal phenomena and the relevant adjustments. In turn, the phenomenon of child development is a process observed from infancy to adolescence can be regarded as the acquisition of essential cognitive and social skills necessary for communication and social functioning.

Play and Its Role in Child Development

The importance of play and the related activities in the cognitive and socioemotional development of children is paramount. A review of the recent studies on the issue has shown that the relevance of play as a tool for introducing essential sociocultural principles and behaviors to young children and, therefore, cementing them as models that they will apply in adulthood is extraordinarily high [2]. Specifically, the paper by Cheraghi et al. [3] explains that platy as a tool for teaching young children essential skills is instrumental in encouraging motor development in the preschool age. The described conclusions align with the principles of evolutionary psychology, which posits that the adaptive behavior of the human brain inherited from ancestors allows selecting the pathways to the active development of the most relevant skills and abilities [4]. Therefore, play should be considered critical in advancing the active development of vital skills in young learners.

Indeed, research points to the fact that play affects the extent of social and especially cognitive development of children to a significant extent. Furthermore, studies indicate that the concept of play is transferred socially from parents to children and, therefore, defines the ability of the latter to develop specific social and cognitive skills that are particularly important for becoming functioning members of a specific society [4]. Namely, the study by Lin and Li [4] mentions the direct impact that parents’ beliefs and traditions associated with play have on their children’s patterns in play behavior and the resulting acceptance of the suggested social norms and rules.

Remarkably, the specified findings do not contradict the idea of play as a natural part of childhood development being dependent on natural evolutionary processes and not the artificial constructs created within society. Specifically, using the example of China, the author explains that, even within the communities where play used to be viewed as undesirable and inappropriate, the inherent psychological need to use play as the means of transferring core cultural knowledge and skills finally overcame the restrictions. Namely, the study mentions that “Confucian heritage culture (CHC), which has dominated Chinese society for 2000 years, tends to view play as frivolous or even harmful because it diverts children from (pre)academic learning” [4]. However, the research mentions that the described limitation on the opportunities for children to develop the necessary skills and abilities through play was finally deemed as unnecessary once children began to integrate play into their developmental process naturally: “In contemporary China, however, a series of recently instituted Early Childhood Education (ECE) reforms advocate a child-centered approach and promote play in early educational settings” [4]. The described scenario can be considered a direct reference to the importance of play in early childhood development from the evolutionary psychology perspective.

More importantly, research points to the fact that play not only factors into childhood development as an exceptionally important item but also functions as a part of a synergetic system within which essential developmental processes occur. Specifically, the study by Kirk and Jay [5] confirms that play has a vital function within the framework of environments and relationships in early childhood development., Specifically, according to the study, “Guided participation in cultural activity may lead to “participatory appropriation,” which describes the notion of adaptation, or making the external knowledge and understandings one’s own” [5]. Therefore, play performs a vital function in early childhood development, providing the basis for acquiring skills for social interactions.

Therefore, the development of behaviors that allow children to function in society according to the set standards and, therefore, thrive to become socially functioning adults hinges on their ability to engage in play-related activities, Consequently, it is reasonable to suggest that play also represents a rudimental function of the evolutionary process, helping young learners to adapt to the target environment and mimic the behaviors that lead to the best outcomes. Consequently, the connection between the functions of play and the key tenets of evolutionary psychology can be seen as rather apparent.

Perspectives on Child Development, Evolutionary Psychology, and Evolutionary Theory

Evolutionary psychology offers a unique perspective on the concept of child development by placing greater emphasis on the role of genetic and ecological mechanisms that are believed to underlie the core cognitive skills in individuals. For instance, an article by Kirk and Jay [5] argues that the concept of cultural cognition guides the development of core skills and abilities in children at the early stage of their development. Admittedly, the links between childhood development and evolutionary psychology remain tenuous. The current body of academic work demonstrates quite large and extensive gaps in the understanding of the connection between the two concepts [5]. Therefore, further links will have to be explored in order to locate key connections.

However, there have been several attempts at connecting the two notions, which indicates that the specified concepts are still related. For instance, the study by Michel [6] asserts that the link between behavioral development and evolution can be established by inspecting the issue form the tenets of the developmental psychobiology (DPB) perspective. Namely, according to Michel [6], connecting development to evolution will allow discovering new insights into the human nature: “The profound changes in human life in the past 12K years are influencing our psychological traits. However, our psychological traits are plastic and responsive to our developmental environments.” Thus, the necessity to draw a line between the notion of evolutionary theory as a product framework and as a process one, giving preference to the latter as the approach that allows viewing human nature as constantly changing and adapting one.

Furthermore, there is a direct connection to the evolutionary theory observed in the specified processes. Namely, the fact that specific behaviors are developed as a response to the target environment, with the specimen that acquire the necessary behavioral skills having the highest chances to survive and thrive aligns with the core tenets of the evolutionary theory [1]. Therefore, apart from neurobiological mechanisms that shape early childhood development, one should also consider the effect that core evolutionary mechanisms coded in people as a result of the continuous development occurring over millennia. In this context, behaviour changes and especially those observed in early childhood as a paradigm should be regarded not as the vehicle behind the evolutionary development of humans but, instead, as its direct outcome.

Early Play Behavior in Children

Among key behaviors that can be regarded as the outcome of the evolutionary process, play takes a rather significant spot. Though the importance of games and play, in general, as a basis for effective early childhood development has been discovered rather recently, the use of play as an intuitively understandable and efficient framework for developing the necessary social behaviors has been cemented in most communities for a while. Indeed, research reports on the presence of variations of play behaviors in young children across all cultures and communities [5]. The outcomes homogeneity in the use of play for the described purpose signals that there is a direct connection between the evolutionary processes within communities across the globe and the use of play as a major tool.

In addition, to embrace the full extent of the significance that play has on children’s behavior from the evolutionary psychology perspective, one should consider providing an accurate definition of play. Though play could be seen as the entire gamut of activities in which children engage as a means of engaging and entertaining themselves, the subject matter needs to be narrowed down for the purposes of this research. Specifically, the definition offered by Kirk and Jay [5] appears to be a reasonable compromise in determining the concept of play as a “balanced blend of child-guided and teacher-guided experiences” [5]. Therefore, there are strong indications that early play behavior in young children could be examined from the perspective of Evolutionary Psychology. Namely, the phenomenon in question could be considered as the process of developing the qualities that have been evolutionary distilled as the most sensible and the safest approaches to creating a survival strategy in the target cultural context.

Functions of Play Behavior in Child Development: An Evolutionary Psychology Perspective

Mimicking Adults: Molding an Understanding of Social Interactions

Exploring the role of play in the development of children, one should mention the social function first. Identifying core patterns in adults’ behaviors and translating them into play, children develop an intrinsic understanding of the principles and values that guide specific choices in interactions in the social context [7]. Specifically, the opportunity to imitate specific behaviors is not to be underestimated as a powerful tool for children to acquire the necessary skills and abilities, particularly, in the social context. Specifically, play functions as a crucial learning mechanism that enables children to build the necessary skillset in a natural and effective manner [7]. Therefore, the role that games and play have in the early childhood development is not to be underestimated.

Connecting the specified concept to the notion of evolutionary psychology, one should mention that play is not only natural but also instinctive to children. Indeed, studies prove that most children engage in play in a completely natural manner and without any encouragement from adults: “Through play, children entering kindergarten develop problem solving skills, adaptive abilities, and social skills” [7]. Therefore, the functions of play can be linked to the concept of evolutionary psychology. Specifically, the development of social skills and sociocultural concepts that further build children’s understanding of the core sociocultural behavioral paradigms in adults’ interactions and relationships.

Remarkably, a drop in the extent of play behavior and the related interactions between children observed recently can also be seen as directly related to the notion of evolutionary psychology. Though being counterintuitive at first, the described trend reflects the sociocultural paradigm if interactions observed within the global community presently. Namely, the trend of shifting most of the sociocultural interactions to the digital context, namely, social networks and the related social media, can be regarded as a major change within the relationship dynamics in the modern context [7]. In turn, children experiencing early development tend to mimic the observed tendencies in adults’ communication, which leads to a drop in the extent fop play and ta strong preference toward the use of digital games as the means of acquiring the necessary social skills.

Therefore, the concern regarding the lack of play in children’s development, especially at its earliest stages, while being legitimate, appears to lack the nuance of how the specified paradigm has changed. Instead of disappearing completely, the function of play has been altered and adjusted to fit the current digital context, which has informed the further alterations in children’s acquiring the necessary social skills. As emphasized above, applying the lens of evolutionary psychology, will demonstrate that the observed trend is quite natural given the transfer of most social relationships except familial ones into the context of the digital setting, particularly, social networks and the associated digital media.

Modeling Social Scenarios: Play Behavior and Evolutionary Psychology

From the perspective of the tenets of evolutionary psychology, play should be seen as a vital element of the childhood development process due to the essential survival opportunities that it provides. Specifically, the use of play can be regarded as an inherent mechanism for mimicking the behaviors and standards that allow children to avoid conflicts and the related complications in the future and, therefore, could be seen as a survival mechanism when viewed through the lens of evolutionary psychology [8]. Indeed, the study by Lange et al. [8] confirms that the outlined behaviors can be ascribed to evolutionary processes as the direct effect of the survival instinct applied to the environment of social interactions.

The outlined changes align with the essential principles of evolutionary psychology exactly. Namely, the opportunity to produce the skills and abilities necessary for engaging in social interactions is vital for every human being. In turn, play and games provide extensive options for building a set of mechanism for navigating the social environment. Specifically, the study by Lange et al. [8] explains the following:

Hence, from an evolutionary perspective, specific traits exist because they evolved to solve recurrent problems of survival and reproduction during human phylogeny (hominization). They enabled those individuals who possessed a respective trait (i.e., a beneficial phenotype) to have children who, in turn, inherited the alleles (genotype) of the associated phenotype. [8]

Thus, the traits associated with the ability to communicate effectively and remain an active member of a community could be seen as a natural outcome of the evolutionary psychological processes. In turn, the use of play as the means of cementing these behaviours at an early stage and the further integration of the learned behaviours as the function of survival in an increasingly complex society into their patterns of communication with others.

Evolutionary Psychology Mechanisms and Cognitive Development through Play

Another vital role that play and the use of games have on childhood development, according to the core tenets of evolutionary psychology, is linked to the development of cognitive abilities as the essential evolutionary mechanism that allows people to survive. Namely, the evolutionary psychology principles suggest that the gene-environment interactions define the deve4lopment of specific skills and abilities, therefore, leading to the emergence of crucial compe4tencies that allow people to survive [9]. Based on the specified premise, seeking the fastest and the most effective method of gaining the outlined skills and competencies is only natural for people even at the earliest stages of their development [9]. In turn, play as the opportunity to mimic the behaviors of adults and model interactions within a confined and safe environment of peers seems to be the most reasonable and natural choice for building the skills and abilities in question [9]. For this reason, the use of play in early childhood and the acquisition of cognitive skills associated with specific social interactions can be harkened back to the core concepts of evolutionary psychology.

Indeed, studies indicate that play and the use of be various games have a profound impact on cognitive development of children. Specifically, the research by Lange et al. [8] confirms that the incorporation of play into learning experiences represents a vital mechanism for building the necessary behaviors and social practices in young children.

Piaget and Evolutionary Psychology

Another peculiar perspective that the evolutionary psychology theory offers on the issue of early childhood development and, specifically, the use of play in the process, concerns the application of Piaget’s theory of childhood development. According to the core principles of Piaget’s theory, childhood development can be split into four essential stages (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational ones) [10]. According to Piaget, specific skills and abilities are developed at each stage.

There is no doubt that Piaget’s theory has had a tremendous effect on the enhancement of the understanding of human development/. The theory is particularly effective at explaining the remarkable progress that children experience at the earliest age hen embracing a broad range of information and internalizing the knowledge that will, later on, become the foundation for their further acquisition of vital skills and abilities. Therefore, the impact that Piaget’s theory has produced on the exploration of the human development cannot be denied. However, applying the evolutionary psychology lens to the subject matter will demonstrate several dents in Piaget’s framework. Specifically, when combining the two theoretical frameworks in question, one might find out that “not simply that Piaget’s model must be modified to incorporate the insights of evolutionary psychology, but that developmental theory should be subsumed into evolutionary psychology” [10]. The specified assumption leads to the inevitable conclusion that the core tenets of evolutionary psychology and its perspective on early childhood development are incongruent with those of Piaget, who placed the emphasis solely on the supposedly orderly and structured pace of skill development in children. Furthermore, Genovese [10] adds that “a case is made that absent the insights of evolutionary psychology, Piagetian constructivist pedagogy is fundamentally flawed” [10]. Consequently, the misalignment between Piaget’s theory and the perspective that evolutionary psychology introduces to scrutinize the nature of childhood development and the sociocultural underpinnings thereof may be seen as conflicting. Moreover, the statements in question could be regarded as mutually exclusive, which means that one of the approaches to understanding childhood development could be questioned for its legitimacy. Nevertheless, with the integration of evolutionary psychology principles into the understanding of early childhood development, most of the aspects of Piaget’s perspective could be reconciled with that one of evolutionary psychology.

Remarkably, the concept of play as a necessary instrument in enhancing in childhood development does not suggest that play should be completely uncontrolled. The outlined observations point to the fact that the use of play in early childhood development might not be as intuitive as some studies suggest. Therefore, as an evolutionary psychology tool, namely, the phenomenon that children are expected to accept intuitively and integrate into their learning process in order to survive and thrive within the target community could be questioned. However, applying the same evolutionary psychology perspective will show that the integration of play into the learning process does not suggest that all learners succeed in the specified task. On the contrary, the very premise of evolutionary psychology implies that, being an ongoing process, the development of vital skills in people will inevitably imply that some children will fail at building the necessary skillset, whereas others will acquire it accordingly [10]. Therefore, the specified observation does not nullify the significance of evolutionary psychology in the development of the required skills at early childhood development stages with the help of games and other variations of play.

In this context, the significance of the Cognitive Load Theory as the framework for understanding the perspective of Evolutionary Psychology on childhood development, as well as to reconcile it with Piaget’s framework, should be mentioned. The Cognitive Load Theory posits that active development can be promoted by ensuring that the extent of information offered to the learner aligns with the respective capacities [11]. Therefore, the framework in question can be seen as the opportunity to engage with the nature of cognition, specifically, the aspects of long- and short-term memory that allow managing different information types. Connecting the Cognitive Load Theory to Evolutionary Psychology will demonstrate that the choice of a learning framework depends not only on the unique characteristics of learners but also on the pathways that have led students to develop specific approaches to learning and especially the process of memorizing information [11]. In other words, the Cognitive Load Theory should be linked to the realities of developing specific cognitive skills, namely, memory-related capacities, in learners, which should be connected to evolutionary psychology as the skills that have been built as a result of the natural selection process.

Implications for Child Development: Examining Future Opportunities

The specified outcomes are expected to have direct implications on the further strategies to be developed to encourage early childhood development. Specifically, the opportunity to enhance early childhood development and introduce children to a broader range of cognitive and analytical skills can be explored. Additionally, the range of strategies for encouraging the acquisition of the knowledge and skills in question can be expanded significantly.

Additionally, the described outcomes suggest that the further examination of the mechanisms of play’s effects on children’s early development is needed. Specifically, given the continuous expansion of the concept of play and games, in particular, in the contemporary society, the significance digital play in early childhood development could be seen as a necessary area to examine. Furthermore, the drop in the extent of physical play interactions between children observed recently due to the COVID-19 restrictions needs to be studied in conjunction with the specified phenomenon. Indeed, reports direct researchers to the fact that the extent of physical play and the associated interactions among children, as well as between children and educators, has diminished substantially [12]. The observed trend could be attributed not only to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects but also to the ongoing digitalization to the sociocultural environment, in general, and educational one, in particular [12]. Therefore, the transfer of play into the digital context could be examined from the perspective of evolutionary psychology.

Namely, the development of propensity toward digital games in young learners when provided with the specified option could be seen as an inevitable step from the perspective of evolutionary psychology. Given the changes in the current sociocultural environment, the development of the relevant skills of communicating and collaborating in the digital context appears to be a vital ability that defines children’s further potential for surviving and thriving in a highly digitalized and globalized context [7]. Specifically, in the environment where most interactions are likely to be carried out with the help of digital tools and the related options, the evolutionary significance of digital games appears to be doubtless.

The opportunity to tailor children’s skills to the current sociocultural and socioeconomic requirements within the contemporary society, which digital play provides, also need to be scrutinized further. The research by Lange et al. [8] asserts that the emphasis on “short-term processes and proximal causes,” which most digital games of the present-day environment provide, reflects the changes that have occurred to the sociocultural context recently [8]. Specifically, the propensity toward engaging in digital play and the development of the relevant skills in children, especially at the stage of early childhood, reflects the presence of a noticeable shift in the societal paradigm of relationships and interactions, which are currently largely defined by the use of technology.

Given the outlined trend observed in social interactions globally, as well as the propensity among children to engage in digital versions of play, particularly, in a variety of digital games requiring interactions between players, the significance of the transition to the cyberspace needs to be embraced. Namely, the importance of integrating digital opportunities into supporting early childhood development and the acquisition of the relevant skills must be regarded as an absolute and indispensable necessity. For this reason, the integration of tools for the active development of the skills that young learners will need in their further development and participation within their community must incorporate digital play and, particularly, digital games aimed at enhancing students’ ability to socialize within the target setting.

Furthermore, the necessity to research the role of digital play as a trend that is gradually substituting and ousting traditional play among children as the tool for developing the necessary skills and abilities needs to be examined further. Specifically, the changes that the concept of play has undergone over the past several years indicate that children are highly likely to engage in digital play much more frequently than in traditional one, with core activities being transferred to the cyber realm. Consequently, relevant adjustments must be made to accommodate the development of critical skills and abilities associated with participating in the digital discourse.

Moreover, the specified changes will have to be examined through the lens of evolutionary psychology in order to forecast future changes in the acquisition of core skills and abilities associated with participation in the online discourse in order to locate potentially negative alterations that may affect children’s development adversely. For instance, the inability to develop crucial psychological traits required for proper development of cognitive abilities, as well as the failure to undergo each of the stages of cognitive development, must be seen as a major threat that the transfer to the digital context and the resulting deprivation of personal interactions may entail in children at the early stages of development,. From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, not only the described outcome as the result of exposure to a specific environment is possible, but it may also percolate into the further generations of children, who will be unable to develop specific abilities associated with cognitive, social, and other aspects of development as a result. Therefore, corrections must be introduced into how play evolves in the current sociocultural context so that early childhood development could not be hindered as a result.

Finally, the extent of children’s motivation to develop the specified skills, as well as their independence in the learning process, can be raised substantially it the introduction of the described insights. Namely, children can be encouraged to gain agency, independence, and initiative in their cognitive progress, which will inform their active participation in games and development of an intuitive understanding of a range of cognitive processes and the associated abilities. In other words, the introduction of the evolutionary psychology perspective into the process of early childhood development and the associated education processes will allow improving the quality of the latter and increase the extent and range of skills acquired. Furthermore, the proposed change will allow making the development of the required habits more controllable and, therefore, introduce a greater range of options for enhancing the quality of learning.

Conclusion

Overall, the examination of the core changes in children’s behaviors and perceptions as a direct result of play when viewed through the lens of evolutionary psychology proves that play and engagement in games allows children to build the skillset necessary for socializing actively and becoming members of the target community. Furthermore, the specified perspective indicates that the process in question is quite flexible when examined through the lens of evolutionary psychology since it suggests that exposure to specific societal facts and requirements defines the course of play and the acquisition of the associated skills and behaviors. For this reason, current trends in the use of play in children at early behavioral stages need to be considered. Particularly, the transfer to the digital context and the further abandonment of offline play as the means for children to model social relationships will require a shift in the provision of tools that children could integrate into the play process. Specifically, the development of devices and apps that could offer the acquisition and training of the relevant skills and behaviors could be suggested. Furthermore, active observations and analysis of the play behaviors and trends in children’s play will be needed to ensure that children are provided with the necessary tools for developing the skills needed in the future.

Overall, it is recommended that further insights should be taken into the development of play trends and tendencies in children in the context of the present-day digital environment. Namely, the changes in the development of respective skills, as well as the extinction of some of the capabilities that will become rudimentary in the new digital environment of social media will have to be examined more thoroughly. With the specified focus in mind, predicting the key trends and locating the opportunities for enhancing childhood development as the process linked directly to the notion of evolutionary psychology will become possible. Thus, the chance to focus on improving the quality of social skills developed by children in the current sociocultural context, while also diversifying them to enhance the process of cultural exchange, will emerge. The described opportunity is expected to represent a plethora of options for successful early childhood development with the help of play and the related activities transferred into the new sociocultural context.

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