Rough-and-tumble play, also called play fighting, is a form of play where participants compete with one another attempting to obtain certain advantages (such as

biting Biting is a common zoological behavior involving the active, rapid closing of the jaw around an object. This behavior is found in toothed animals such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish, but can also exist in arthropods. Myocytic contrac ...

or pushing the opponent onto the ground), but play in this way without the severity of genuine

fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

(which rough-and-tumble play resembles). Rough-and-tumble play is one of the most common forms of play in both humans and non-human animals. It has been pointed out that despite its apparent aggressiveness, rough-and-tumble play is helpful for encouraging

cooperative behavior Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal a ...

and cultivation of

social skills A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called social ...

. For rough-and-tumble play to remain "play" (instead of spiraling into a real fight), there has to be cooperation (e.g., with participants agreeing to not actually exert forces in pretend punches). Sometimes, one participant may push or hit harder than expected, and then the other participants will have to decide whether it was an unintended mistake or a malicious transgression. Thus, rough-and-tumble play involves considerable social reasoning and judgment.

References

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External links

Rough and Tumble Play
''Scholarpedia''. Play (activity) Aggression Ethology Learning Childhood Mock combat Fight play