How Playfulness Motivates – Putative Looping Effects of Autonomy and Surprise Revealed by Micro-Phenomenological Investigations

Abstract

Play and playfulness have repeatedly been suggested to promote learning and performance, also in environments traditionally not connotated with play. However, finding empirical evidence for these claims has been aggravated by the lack of a definition of play and playfulness fitting to this description. This paper proposes to consider playfulness as an attitude, mode or mental stance, that can be modulated independent of the activity pursued and of the general character of the person. It furthermore introduces the micro-phenomenological method to assess the process and outcome of such modulation. To explore this, we devised a simple building task in a controlled within-subject design, interviewing each participant on how they accomplished the task when asked to perform it so that it either felt playful or not playful. The outcomes of this data driven approach supported this notion of playfulness as a stance, and allowed for specific hypotheses about the temporal course and mechanisms of becoming playful. They suggest that an experience of autonomy and self-expression may be key to the success of the modulation. They furthermore indicate that the resulting playful state may allow for an exploratory engagement with materials that can lead to surprising results. Such unexpected results seem to enhance participants’ feeling of competence which, in turn, may increase the motivation for the task. We discuss these results within the framework of Deci and Ryan’s motivational theory and in relation to current research on gamification and learning.

Play in predictive minds: A cognitive theory of play.

“…In adults, a recent study on playfulness involved presenting adult participants with a building task using LEGO bricks (Heimann & Roepstorff, 2018). Participants were provided with five sets of six LEGO bricks, and instructed to build a small duck.…”

Sharing Perspectives: Inviting Playful Curiosity Into Museum Spaces Through a Performative Score

“…In the following, we discuss how different disciplinary traditions of characterizing play can help us understand the SP score as a form of playfulness and discuss the implications this has for play as a form of cultural learning. These approaches include understanding micro-phenomenological research on the characteristics of playfulness, and particularly as a behavioral “mode” which it may be possible to encourage ( Heimann and Roepstorff, 2018 ). We look also at performance research on sensory attunements through playful movement and attentional exploration leading to surprise ( Gil, 2006 ).…”

“…As previously described, micro-phenomenological research has linked play to exploration and curiosity ( Heimann and Roepstorff, 2018 ). These experimental findings resonate with what we have described above about the experiences of the participants in the SP score, in particular that “freed from specific constraints and goals, participants seem to enter curiosity driven interaction with the material, which allows for an unknown outcome to occur” ( Heimann and Roepstorff, 2018 , p. 11).…”

“…Firstly, we relate the experiences of the participants in the SP-score to micro-phenomenological investigations of play. In an experimental context, Katrin Heimann and Andreas Roepstorff have explored how playfulness may be seen as an attitude that can be modulated to create experiences of competence and creativity ( Heimann and Roepstorff, 2018 ). They found that verbally encouraging participants to solve tasks with a “playful” attitude made them more open and exploratory in their approach ( Heimann and Roepstorff, 2018 , p. 6).…”

“…In an experimental context, Katrin Heimann and Andreas Roepstorff have explored how playfulness may be seen as an attitude that can be modulated to create experiences of competence and creativity ( Heimann and Roepstorff, 2018 ). They found that verbally encouraging participants to solve tasks with a “playful” attitude made them more open and exploratory in their approach ( Heimann and Roepstorff, 2018 , p. 6). With these perspectives, we link the particpants experiences in the SP-score to a large and interdisciplinary field concerned with understanding how and why humans play.…”