Links to Cognitive Theory

Cognition is the ‘mental processes involved in perceiving, attending to, understanding and recalling information’ (Krause, Sandra, Duchesne & McMaugh, 2011, p. 51). Children learn about their world and the social expectations of others a lot through the play with peers, rough play has a substantial link to the cognitive development in children, in that it serves as a medium for practising skills that have already been learnt.  Through rough play children learn physical skills, how their body moves and how to control their movements; they develop language skills through signals and non-verbal communication and social skills through playing dominant and subdominant roles, negotiating, and developing and maintaining friendships (Smith, Smees, & Pelligrini, 2004).

Renowned theorist Jean Piaget identified the importance of play in the cognitive development of children through specific stages. In an early childhood setting the stage most commonly related to rough play would be the pre-operational stage; this stage is the beginning of the ability to reconstruct in thought what has been established in behaviour (Santrock, 2011), involving practising skills that will become elements of the child’s concrete operational stage (Tannock, 2011).

Pellegrini, Dupuis and Smith’s 2007 research supports Piaget’s theory further by stressing the importance of practical experience through play in young children’s cognitive development. Stating ‘gaining a cognitive understanding of social systems through play serves to provide many practical experiences which enhance learning, including developing an understanding of social rules, social expectations and logical thinking’ (Tannock, 2011, p.14). This statement reinforces that children who engage in rough and tumble play are learning to make judgments about their physical abilities, how to respond to others, and how their playmates respond to them (Tannock, 2007).

Research by Scott & Panksepp (2003) showed children involved in rough play were better equipped to cope with change and were socially flexible, that bouts of rough play lead to games with rules accompanied by a decrease in physical activity showing their brain was functioning at a higher level to extend their play and give reason behind their actions, and that rough play prepared the nervous system for later social interactions (Scott & Panksepp, 2003).

There is evidence that rough-and-tumble play leads to the release of chemicals affecting the mid-brain, lower forebrain, and the cortex, including areas responsible for decision making and social discrimination; growth chemicals positively affect development of these brain areas (Pellis & Pellis 2007). In other words, rough-and-tumble play, this universal children’s activity, is adaptive, evolutionarily useful, and linked to normal brain development.

Research has developed tremendously from seeing rough play in a negative sense that is focussed on aggression to a positive outlook that supports and values the cognitive development it contributes to in young children.