ArticleLearning & behavior2017
What is play fighting and what is it good for?
Article in Learning & behavior, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed.
- Early synapsids neurosensory diversity revealed by CT and synchrotron scanning.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Article
- Partner Choice and Context-Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough-and-Tumble Play.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Article
- Milk allowance affects play responsiveness in calves.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2026Article
- From welfare indicator to welfare contributor: the role of play in building flexibility and resilience in captive animals.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Late bloomers in play: social isolation and playful skills in an adult bonobo.Primates; journal of primatology · 2025Article
- Groups of familiar male rats form unstable partner preferences when play fighting during the juvenile period.iScience · 2025Article
- Functional and Morphological Differences in the Play Face and Full Play Face in Lowland Gorillas, a Hominid Species: Implications for the Evolutionary Roots of Smile and Laugh Face.American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Article
- The neurobiology of play: a narrative review of evidence from mice and humans for advancing neurorehabilitation.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Unraveling sex differences in maternal and paternal care impacts on social behaviors and neurobiological responses to early-life adversity.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2025Review
- Pain and pessimism affect calves' play behaviours post-disbudding.Discover animals · 2025Article
- An Evolutionary Psychology Perspective on Athletic Development and Performance: Differences Between Proximate and Ultimate Explanations.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Shaping behaviors through social experience and their proposed sensitivity to stress.Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) · 2024Review
- Social play in African savannah elephants may inform selection against aggression.Current zoology · 2024Article
- Social negotiation and "accents" in Western lowland gorillas' gestural communication.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Nuancing 'Emotional' Social Play: Does Play Behaviour Always Underlie a Positive Emotional State?Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Review
- Paternal Activation as a Protective Factor against Problem Behaviors in Early Childhood.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2024Article
- Play partner preferences among groups of unfamiliar juvenile male rats.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Juvenile social play predicts adult reproductive success in male bottlenose dolphins.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Spontaneous playful teasing in four great ape species.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Oppositions, joints, and targets: the attractors that are the glue of social interactions.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Play fighting is a common form of play reported among species of mammals, birds, and some other taxa. The competition present in play fighting revolves around gaining some advantage, such as biting a partner without being bitten. The behavior simulated during play fighting need not be restricted to that present in adult serious fighting, but can involve competitive interactions derived from amicable behavior, such as sex and social grooming, or from nonsocial competition, such as predation. What unifies play fighting, irrespective of the functional behavior being simulated, is that it involves some degree of reciprocity, or turn taking, that requires that the competition be attenuated by cooperation. However, there are several different ways in which cooperation can be inserted into playful interactions, and these vary in use across different species. The moderation of competition with cooperation forces animals to monitor their own actions and those of their partners, and this common feature appears to be one vehicle through which the experience of play fighting in the juvenile period can train animals for greater psychological resilience. The monitoring and contextual adjustment of actions influences the development of executive functions of the brain, which, in turn, leads to the development of more adaptable adults.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.