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Social play is more than a Pavlovian romp

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2000

Marc Bekoff
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0334 marc.bekoff@colorado.edu
Colin Allen
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77894 colin-allen@tanu.edu snaefell.tamu.edu/~colin/

Abstract

Some aspects of play may be explained by Pavlovian learning processes, but others are not so easily handled. Especially when there is a chance that specific actions can be misinterpreted; animals alter their behavior to reduce the likelihood that this will occur. The flexibility and fine-tuning of play make it an ideal candidate for comparative and evolutionary cognitive studies.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2000 Cambridge University Press

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