d that human beings and all other animals have this in common. In the broadest sense, then, it refers to "mental and physical action not related to survival" (Roberts, 1995, p. 35). The presence of such an activity in all species clearly means that play is not merely an incidental aspect of human behavior. It must, instead, have "some cruder biological end" (Roberts, p. 35). In this respect, it has long been understood that play has many physiological effects. Physical movement renews energy, relieves stress, and constitutes a type of readiness-preparation for such physical responses as flight, pursuit, or fighting, which might be needed. Many biologists believe, therefore, that human beings and other animals are "neurologically predisposed to desire the levels of stimulation and the kinds of mental activity that play produces" (Roberts, p. 36).
But it also seems clear that play has other effects as well. The most important of these is that play assists in cognitive, imaginative, emotional, and social development as well as keeping the body well tuned. The role of play in development depends, in large part, on the state into which play puts the individual. The notion put forward by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is that play is "a state of optimal stimulation" which falls in the middle of a human being's continuum of experience (cited in Roberts, p. 36). This continuum runs from the state of boredom produced by unvarying routine to the high levels of intense anxiety that result from chaos. Play consists of those activities in which the individual's "capabilities are ideally balanced with the challenges of the particular task or activity" (Roberts, p. 36). The resultant pleasurable state produces a number of effects that cannot be merely incidental. Psychologists have noted, for example, that in a playful state children tend to exhibit "higher-than-normal levels of confidence and self assuranc
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