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Full-Text Articles in Recreational Therapy

An Explorer In A Cardboard Land: Emotion, Memory, And The Embodied Experience Of Doing Jigsaw Puzzles, Angela Cora Garcia Jan 2016

An Explorer In A Cardboard Land: Emotion, Memory, And The Embodied Experience Of Doing Jigsaw Puzzles, Angela Cora Garcia

Natural & Applied Sciences Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how playing a game or engaging in a leisure activity provides the participant with an experience which integrates physical, mental, and emotional elements. I use an autoethnographic approach to study the process of completing jigsaw puzzles. The main focal point of the paper is the connection between engagement in a physical activity (completing a puzzle) and how the mind works and where it goes during the performance of that activity. The goal of the paper is to illustrate the connections between action and thought, and to show how one of the benefits, …


Explorers, Detectives, Matchmakers, And Lion Tamers Understanding Jigsaw Puzzlers’ Techniques And Motivations, Angela Garcia Apr 2013

Explorers, Detectives, Matchmakers, And Lion Tamers Understanding Jigsaw Puzzlers’ Techniques And Motivations, Angela Garcia

Natural & Applied Sciences Faculty Publications

Why do people enjoy jigsaw puzzles, which—challenging and time-consuming as they are—might be considered more like work than play? The author investigates the motivations, preferences, and satisfactions of individuals working on jigsaw puzzles, and she explores how these elements of play relate to the procedures and strategies puzzlers use to assemble their jigsaws. She identifies four general approaches to completing these puzzles: the Explorer, Detective, Matchmaker, and Lion Tamer. She then describes how those who use these approaches differ in their openness to serendipity and flexibility, their attraction to the aesthetics of the puzzle picture, the degree of difficulty they …