

Mark Anderson - Play in Predictive Minds
LEGO Literacy Alert
Nope, we didn’t ask Marc to answer any questions using Lego, but he did complete some Madlibs on Mural at 59 mins
___________________
Hello there!
We’re Dr. Jane Hession and Ronan Healy. We’re a husband and wife team and co-founders of the service design studio How Might We - www.howmightwe.design
We're passionate about Play and provide online and in-house training in the LEGO Serious Play method to:
1) Third-level Educators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Ed_Innovators
2) Organisational Innovators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Org_Innovators
Episode 10
“Adult playfulness is the same as childhood playfulness.” Yes, you heard that right. THE. SAME.
In this episode, we chat with Dr. Marc Anderson about his fascinating research on play through a predictive processing framework.
By understanding play in this way, we can revolutionise our approach to integrating play into workplaces and classrooms, fostering more innovative and adaptable environments that are more engaging and fulfilling for everyone involved.
Marc who?
Dr Marc Malmdorf Andersen is an associate professor at the Department for Culture, Cognition & Computation, Aarhus University Denmark. His research focuses on play, risky play and recreational forms of fear in children and adults.
Mark is the author of Play and has co-authored some really interesting research papers, such as:
1) Play in Predictive Minds
2) Play, Reflection, and the Quest for Uncertainty
3) Getting a Kick out of Film: Aesthetic Pleasure and Play in Prediction Error Minimizing Agents
4) Can playing Dungeons and Dragons be good for you? Tabletop role-playing games to mitigate social anxiety and reduce problematic gaming.
Marc’s Book - Play
https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/23062/play
Twitter (or X)
https://x.com/marc_m_andersen?lang=en
Academic website
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/mana%40cas.au.dk
Play in Predictive Minds: A Cognitive Theory of Play
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/play-in-predictive-minds-a-cognitive-theory-of-play
Play, Reflection, and the Quest for Uncertainty
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/play-reflection-and-the-quest-for-uncertainty
Can playing Dungeons and Dragons be good for you? Tabletop role-playing games to mitigate social anxiety and reduce problematic gaming. https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/can-playing-dungeons-and-dragons-be-good-for-you-tabletop-role-pl
Getting a Kick out of Film: Aesthetic Pleasure and Play in Prediction Error Minimizing Agents
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/getting-a-kick-out-of-film-aesthetic-pleasure-and-play-in-predict
Timestamps
(0:00) - Introduction to the Podcast and Hosts
(4:05) - Dr. Anderson's Childhood and Play
(8:03) - The Importance of Risky Play
(10:05) - Explanation of Adult Playfulness
(16:41) - Addressing the Stigma of Adult Playfulness
(18:03) - Misunderstandings About Play
(21:12) - The Connection Between Play and Learning
(26:03) - Predictive Processing and Play
(30:26) - Balancing Work and Play in Academia
(34:00) - Simplifying Research for a Young Audience
(35:07) - Discussion on Predictive Processing Paper
(41:54) - Explaining Cognitive Differences in Children and Adults
(45:56) - Practical Applications of Predictive Processing in Organizations
(48:41) - Research on Recreational Fear
(57:56) - Applying Recreational Fear in Organizations
(1:01:03) - Encouraging Risky Play in Children
(1:08:10) - Potential Impact of Risky Play on Entrepreneurship