ABSTRACT
In the interest of exploring “normal” and pathological behavior, the field of psychology has gone through many changes in the conceptualization of developmental functioning throughout the life span. Although interest in play began during the 1920s, until only relatively recently, psychological theorists had a limited understanding of the usefulness and applicability of play and the methods for using play in therapy. Even within the various theories of personality development, scholars discussed the issue of play only in relation to a small fraction of human behavior.
