Predictive Play, Fun, and the Construction of Cognitive Niches

Marc Malmdorf Andersen from Aarhus on "Beyond Rational Constructivism: Predictive Play, Fun, and the Construction of Cognitive Niches"

ABSTRACT:

Rational constructivism portrays children as Bayesian learners who build and revise intuitive theories of the world through exploration and play. Yet while it models how children infer causal structure, it remains largely silent on why play feels fun, and how children actively shape the environments that make learning possible.

I argue that predictive processing provides a deeper, and in some respects alternative, account. Within this framework, play is a mode of active inference in which agents seek and resolve prediction errors within a “sweet spot” of uncertainty. Here, fun functions as a metacognitive signal - indicating that learning is proceeding faster than expected. Moreover, predictive minds do not only update to fit the world; they also reshape the world to fit their predictions as well as engage in niche construction to generate the very conditions that make play rewarding and productive.

I end by connecting this theoretical view to cross-cultural work on toys as teachers, showing how children’s self-directed play with material culture concretely instantiates these predictive strategies. Rather than adding color to rational constructivism, predictive processing redefines what learning, curiosity, and play themselves are: processes by which organisms actively engineer the environments that let them learn.

PERSONAL BIOGRAPHY:

Marc Malmdorf Andersen is a cognitive scientist who explores the extent to which predictive processing can explain the dynamics of play. His work examines how children seek out, construct, and resolve just-right surprises, and how this playful exploration reshapes learning, curiosity, and the updating of internal models. Andersen’s research suggests that play is a form of active model-building in which agents deliberately create situations that challenge their expectations and help them learn more efficiently. On a broader level, his work contributes to affective science, including how playful settings allow people to engage with fear in manageable and meaningful ways. Together, his work suggests how play supports both cognitive growth and emotional flexibility.

Teams link to join online

Dates & times

Accessibility

If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.