Rough-and-tumble play, also called play fighting, is a form of play in which partners compete with one another to gain some advantage (e.g., strike, bite, push onto ground), but do so without the severity or consequences of serious fighting, which it resembles (Aldis, 1975). Play fighting is one of the most commonly reported forms of play (Pellis & Pellis, 1998), having some basic commonalities across most species that play, including humans (Pellis et al., 2010a). These include the insertion of co-operative behavior into sequences of playful competition that make play fighting reciprocal and so ‘fair’ (Bekoff, 2001). Given this prevalence and similarity across a wide swathe of species, most notably in birds and mammals, but also possibly in other vertebrate (e.g., some reptiles and fish) and invertebrate (e.g., some insects) lineages (Burghardt, 2005), play fighting is ideally suited for studying the brain mechanisms by which play is produced and how it has evolved (Pellis & Pellis, 2009). Although there are many studies of play fighting in a diverse range of species (Burghardt, 2005; Fagen, 1981), the most intensively studied species is the rat, especially its domesticated version suitable for laboratory research, and the knowledge gained from this model species has implications for our understanding of play in general (Pellis & Pellis, 2009).
Rough & Tumble Play
Rough-and-tumble play, also called play fighting, is a form of play in which partners compete with one another to gain some advantage (e.g., strike, bite, push onto ground), but do so without the severity or consequences of serious fighting, which it resembles (Aldis, 1975). Play fighting is one of the most commonly reported forms of play (Pellis & Pellis, 1998), having some basic commonalities across most species that play, including humans (Pellis et al., 2010a). These include the insertion of co-operative behavior into sequences of playful competition that make play fighting reciprocal and so ‘fair’ (Bekoff, 2001). Given this prevalence and similarity across a wide swathe of species, most notably in birds and mammals, but also possibly in other vertebrate (e.g., some reptiles and fish) and invertebrate (e.g., some insects) lineages (Burghardt, 2005), play fighting is ideally suited for studying the brain mechanisms by which play is produced and how it has evolved (Pellis & Pellis, 2009). Although there are many studies of play fighting in a diverse range of species (Burghardt, 2005; Fagen, 1981), the most intensively studied species is the rat, especially its domesticated version suitable for laboratory research, and the knowledge gained from this model species has implications for our understanding of play in general (Pellis & Pellis, 2009).
