Myers, D. (1998).
Playing against the self: Representation and evolution
In Reifel, S. (Ed.) Play and Culture Studies, Vol. 1.
CT: Ablex Publishing Co.

Definition: "a transformational process operating most fundamentally on mental representation" pp. 31

Many human representations are meaningless for survival. Representational skills have physical consequences only to the extent they result in behavior (see Combs = beliefs (i.e., representations) lead to behavior).

Representational skills are isolated from the natural environment which results in extreme variability and greater adaptability so human ecology cannot be fitness test for representational skills. When they are exposed to the environment they are functioning as another behavior that can be selected for. Representations themselves are the environment for the evolution of representations.

"Symbol transformation play" is at once an adaptive mechanism and the environment in which that mechanism must adapt, the dialectical nature of play. The function of play, therefore, is as "a homeostatic mechanism increasing the variance of represenationalism, not so much in genetic predetermination as in phenotypic expression." pp. 37. Play creates the random variation in representation for the selection of representations. A common feature in play forms is to assign intentionality to play objects and play mates.

With repeated exposure to play themes, cognitive growth occurs and the self organization is calibrated. The self is reorganized and expanded into a possibility space in small increments resulting in only slight changes in self-organization.

The Gist (pp. 42):

• "play is a representational process
• representational characteristics (intentionality) are the basis of advanced (humanlike) cognition
• representational characteristics evolved as a result of neurophysiological variations (increased complexities) in the physical organism
• once representational characteristics are present in the physical species, the skills associated with those representational characteristics that are significantly different from non-representational skills are not bound by the ecological context of that physical species
• evolution cannot occur without a bound ecological context
• representationalism serves as its on ecological context
• within the ecological context of representationalism, play both varies and tests representational skills
• "successful" representational variations produced by and within play may or not have survival value within a natural-historical context
• "successful" variations produced within play that do not have survival value proliferate within the ecological context of the physical species (e.g., as the "magical" self, or the "religious" self, or the "scientific" self, or the "playful" self)."