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The construction of childhood, learning and play: an evolutionary and ecological revision

This paper questions the causal adequacy of the ‘social’ construction of childhood arguing that it can only be true to a degree. Smith draws on extensive reading from evolutionary psychology in humans and the biosphere to consider the evolutionary paradox, that play seems an excess, especially in the prolonged childhood of humans. Given that play is demonstrably an ecologically robust strategy in many species, it is argued that the concept of excess is a misunderstanding. Detailed analysis of the role of play in development, the evolution of intelligence, parallel processing and expert routines and its centrality to social interaction follows.