Play signals, play moves: a gorilla critique of play theory

Abstract

ABSTRACTPlay dates over a three-year study of two bachelor western lowland gorillas at the Philadelphia Zoo offer a critique of the idea of play as essentially a voluntary activity. Through video microanalysis, play emerges as negotiated interaction. The study goes beyond the primate ‘play face’ (PF) to understand the complexity of signaled play sessions and suggests that gorillas, like humans, have the equivalent of pregame ritual, and that play may climax cyclically, rather than begin with the PF. The study raises questions about the framing and coding of play behavior, play initiation, play signaling, and about the use of objects in social play.