발달기 아동 모험 놀이 공간의 인지 신경과학적 호감 구조 연구 = A Study of Developmental Children’s Spatial Preferences for Risky Play Based on Cognitive Neuroscience

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Enjoyable play activities help children develop their brains during childhood. In particular, risky play can trigger positive emotions, which making risky play spaces essential. Through extensive research, it was found that three kinds of risky play facilities, such as High-level Play Houses like Tree-House, climbing facilities, and swings, appear in children’s play spaces in different regions with high frequency. Although designers have applied these facilities in a large number of children’s play space designs that were well-liked by children, there is a lack of research on the reasons for the emergence of this status. The author suggests that children prefer risky play since it corresponds to their psychological needs and brain reward system.
Therefore, based on evolutionary psychology and cognitive neuroscience theories, this study first describes the relevant concepts and analyses the current design state of children’s risky play spaces.
Secondly, based on previous research in cognitive neuroscience, the interaction between the brain reward system of children and children’s development was collated. The process of play stimulates dopamine production in children, generates pleasurable emotions, and promotes attention and learning ability. Then, combined with the exploration of the brain reward system shows that children’s participation in risky play triggers an Anti-Phobic Effect and leads to positive experiences. Finally, the reasons for the preference for three previously mentioned risk play facilities and their activities were analysed in evolutionary psychology. It is argued that risky play corresponds to children’s preferences and benefits their development. Based oncognitive neuroscience, this paper explains the mechanisms and positive effects of the interaction between risky play and the neural activity of children’s brains.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

유년기의 즐겁고 건강한 놀이활동은 어린이의 두뇌계발과 건전한 심리 형성에 도움을 주며, 특히 모험적인 놀이는 긍정적인 정서를 유발할 수 있다. 어린이의놀이 공간 디자인에 나무집과 등반시설 그리고 그네와 같은 모험적인 성격의 놀이 요소가 보편적으로 사용되는 사실을 많은 연구에서 확인하였다. 이렇게 모험 요소로 구성되는 놀이 공간은 모든 문화권에서 인기가 있지만, 어린이들이 모험적인 놀이를 선호하는구조는 잘 연구되지 않고 있다. 어린이들이 모험적 놀이를 즐기는 이유는, 이러한 활동이 심리적 욕구와 뇌의 발달 그리고 두뇌의 보상 기체에 부합하기 때문이다. 본 연구는 진화심리학 및 인지신경과학의 이론을바탕으로 관련 개념을 설명하고, 아이들의 모험적인놀이 공간의 설계현황을 정리해 분류하였다. 둘째, 인지 신경과학의 선행연구를 통해 아동의 두뇌 보상 기제와 아동 발달의 상호작용 관계를 정리하였다. 즉, 놀이 과정은 두뇌에서 도파민 분비를 자극하여 기분을 좋게 하고 집중력을 높여 학습 능력을 향상한다.
그리고 뇌의 보상 메커니즘과 함께 어린이들이 모험적인 게임에 참여하면 공포감을 억제하는 효과가 나타나, 긍정적인 게임 경험을 할 수 있다는 것을 밝혀냈다. 마지막으로, 진화심리학은 앞에서 전제한 세 가지 모험적인 놀이 장치와 그 활동을 분석함으로써, 모험적인 놀이가 아동이 선호하고 또한 아동의 성장에유리하다는 것을 증명했다. 본 연구는 인지신경과학과진화심리학에 기초해, 모험적인 놀이 활동과 아동기두뇌의 신경 활동 사이 상호작용 기제의 적극적인 작용을 설명한다. 이를 통해 아동의 성장과 발달에 적합한 경관 공간을 설계하기 위한 과학적 참고자료를 제공할 수 있을 것으로 기대한다.

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