Content uploaded by Fernand Gobet
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Fernand Gobet on Apr 08, 2016
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Moves in Mind: The Psychology of Board Games
Abstract
Board games have long fascinated as mirrors of intelligence, skill, cunning, and wisdom. While board games have been the topic of many scientific studies, and have been studied for more than a century by psychologists, there was until now no single volume summarizing psychological research into board games. This book, which is the first systematic study of psychology and board games, covers topics such as perception, memory, problem solving and decision making, development, intelligence, emotions, motivation, education, and neuroscience. It also briefly summarizes current research in artificial intelligence aiming at developing computers playing board games, and critically discusses how current theories of expertise fare with board games. Finally, it shows that the information provided by board-game research — both data and theories — have a wider relevance for the understanding of human psychology in general.
website: http://www.tandfebooks.com/isbn/9780203503638
... In addition to the effects of cognitive training (repeating a cognitive task several times to improve the performance in cognitive tasks), playing board games should positively affect cognition because of the intrinsic characteristics of playing board games. An essential element to differentiate board games from other types of games is that board games are based on rules that must be freely accepted and followed by the players [62]. Observational studies have found that players engage in different behaviors [63][64][65] that could be linked to executive functions. ...
... Finally, we focused on a particular characteristic when playing. It is supposed that when you have played a game several times, you can master it [62,66,67]. However, individual differences can be found with players who usually win and who typically lose. ...
... If the cognitive enhancement effect of playing board games is explained because it is like cognitive training (performing the same cognitive task repeatedly [22,23]), it makes sense that those players with better cognitive levels outperform players with lower cognitive levels. As Sala and Gobet [62] found, we can assume a significant correlation between the cognitive level of players and their performance when they play cognitive games. However, the point is that slight decreasers continued playing, though they earned slightly lower points play after play. ...
Citation: Moya-Higueras, J.; Solé-Puiggené, M.; Vita-Barrull, N.; Estrada-Plana, V.; Guzmán, N.; Arias, S.; Garcia, X.; Ayesa-Arriola, R.; March-Llanes, J. Just Play Cognitive Abstract: Modern board and card games are usually used for leisure. Few studies have focused on the type of game played in vulnerable populations. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of playing modern board and card games to enhance updating, inhibition, and flexibility in children at risk of social exclusion using games that activated specific basic executive functions. We developed a quadruple-blind randomized clinical trial during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixty-eight participants (7-12 years old) were divided into two experimental groups: 35 children played games that directly activated basic executive functions, and 33 played games that directly triggered other cognitive domains. The primary statistical analysis consisted of mixed models. We found significant time effects in cognitive flexibility and inhibition and, to a lesser extent, in working memory in both gaming groups. We analyzed the cognitive profile of the games and found that all the games activated basic executive functions significantly, irrespective of the experimental group. Therefore, it is possible that playing any type of modern board and card game (excluding games with a high incidence of luck) could be beneficial for children at risk of social exclusion.
... Chess and other board games have offered a fertile ground for studying complexity, in particular in computer science and artificial intelligence. Based on the size of the problem space, different measures of computational complexity have been developed, which depend on the average branching factor (number of possible moves) and average length of a game (Allis, 1994;Gobet et al., 2004). De Groot et al. (1996) used Shannon's (1948 information theory to estimate the amount of information in a position likely to occur in a master game and obtained an upper limit of 50 bits; this is much lower that the amount of information in a legal, but possibly random chess position, estimated as 143 bits. ...
... The level of expertise was independent of age, which did not vary between groups, F(3,59) = 0.01, p = 0.99. The sample size (N = 63) was deemed appropriate because effects sizes tend to be strong and results replicable in research on chess players' expertise (e.g., Gobet et al., 2004). Ethics approval was granted by Brunel University, UK. ...
... A substantial body of evidence, starting from De Groot (1978), has shown that players, when they are not under extreme time pressure and when they face non-routine problems, engage in considerable search. In particular, skill differences have been documented in the statistics of search (e.g., depth of search and number of reinvestigations; Gobet, 2016;Gobet et al., 2004;Holding, 1985). Based on an analysis of the distributions of move times and blunders, Chang and Lane (2016) found that stronger players search more than weaker players even in speed chess (5 min per player for the entire game), sometimes spending more than 1.5 min on one move. ...
Intuition plays a central role in cognition in general and expertise in particular. Dreyfus and Dreyfus’s (1986) and Gobet and Chassy’s (2008) theories of expert intuition propose that a characteristic feature of expert intuition is the holistic understanding displayed by experts. The ideal way to test this prediction is to use highly expert participants and short presentation times. Chess players (N = 63), ranging from candidate masters to world-class players, had to evaluate chess problems. Evaluating the problems required an understanding of the position as a whole. Results demonstrated an effect of skill (better players had better evaluations), complexity (simpler positions were better evaluated than complex positions) and balance (accuracy diminished when the true evaluations became more extreme). A regression analysis showed that skill accounted for 44% of the variance in evaluation error. These important results support the central role of holistic intuition in expertise.
... Gameplay takes place in a confined setting, provides a break from daily life, and can serve as a means of recreation while fully absorbing the players (Huizinga, 1956). The outcome of a game is variable and influenced by the players' actions that elicit individual reactions (Gobet et al., 2004;Juul, 2003). Furthermore, a game can include competition or be based on cooperation or luck (Gobet et al., 2004). ...
... The outcome of a game is variable and influenced by the players' actions that elicit individual reactions (Gobet et al., 2004;Juul, 2003). Furthermore, a game can include competition or be based on cooperation or luck (Gobet et al., 2004). After all, a game is meant to be entertaining for the players (Pivec, 2007). ...
Modern work in team structures makes team building interventions increasingly important. A phenomenon known to have a positive effect on efficient teamwork, i.e. team performance and team satisfaction, is the experience of flow – on both individual level and team level. Approaches in positive psychology can contribute to efficient teamwork by fostering the existing potentials and resources of team members and thereby increasing individual flow and team flow at work. The present study introduces a newly developed intervention in the form of a board game based on a variety of positive psychological constructs demonstrably associated with individual flow and team flow. The aim of the game is to enhance the players’ flow and team flow experiences at work. Twelve teams from different companies with a total of 65 participants played the game. The frequency of flow and team flow at work were assessed at three time points: before playing, two weeks after playing, and four weeks after playing, with 34 participants having completed the questionnaires at all three assessment points. We found a positive effect of the board game on team flow experience at work two weeks after playing. We assume that the game enhanced the team’s feeling of togetherness and open communication thereby also enhancing team members’ flow experiences.
... This description is also quite accurate in relation to the interdependent processes of human learning and development. In a very broader manner, the first process describes the direct and indirect acquisition of knowledge and skills, while the second one is related to the biopsychosocial process of change that humans suffer during the years and might be impacted by the first one (Gobet et al., 2004). Considering the focus on HE of the present study, emphasis will be made significantly on the learning process using GBL. ...
Analogue games have been increasingly studied through the lens of media and cultural studies namely considering their technology, textuality, and audiences, to understand their ability to convey meanings, messages, and their ancient presence in popular culture. Nevertheless, their specific potential in the fields of learning and education has been relegated to the background, given the salience of digital games in the scientific landscape. This study provides a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and mapping of game-based learning (GBL) applied in Higher Education (HE). Specific areas that require further work to improve the effectiveness of GBL have been highlighted. To this aim and in the context of this research, interviews were conducted with HE tutors and game designers across Europe to determine if the issues raised in the literature review are replicated in the opinions of those teaching. The resulting analysis showed a strong similarity between written and spoken opinions regarding GBL. Although all interviewees felt there were clear benefits to exploiting GBL, there were several barriers to their use. Those that were most mentioned were the large amount of time needed to create GBL experiences, and the lack of support, or understanding of the benefits of GBL, both from students and the institutions at which they teach. The research the was carried out for this paper shows that there is a clear need for a simple, easy to use, framework for the creation of GBL experiences. Such a framework would reduce the time needed by educators to create such games and would aim to increase games' exploitation in educational contexts.
... While the extent of learning occurring from the playing of board games is complicated, particularly of more complex social concepts such as behavioral norms, there is significant evidence that the content encoded within the game influences the players. [19] Of interest here is influence of the ancient Indian game of Gyan Chauper, more commonly known as 'Snakes and Ladders' or 'Chutes and Ladders.' This racing-style game consists of one of many possible boards with an array of numbered squares varying from ~60 to several hundred; players use dice, shells, spinners, or other random methods to initiate movement along the squares allowing them to move from the bottom initial square to the final top square and victory. ...
The ancient game of Gyan Chauper or snakes and ladders exists in many forms throughout history as a board game of varying size, structure, and game elements of snakes and ladders associated with various vices and virtues inscribed within the board. Here, three boards were analyzed via Monte Carlo simulation, including the 1998 Milton Bradley version, the 72-square Vaisnava board, and the 84-square Jaina board, with the goal of understanding the relationships between board design and associated behaviors and spiritual concepts. Game play on each board was simulated 100,000 times with variations that included individual removal of a snake or ladder, thereby quantifying the importance of that element towards achieving victory. Comparison of the weighted importance of each game element and associated vice and virtue then permitted analysis of their importance for the game designer and their associated culture.
These Chunk-based strategy and mnemonics have been developed to count ground state electron configurations of elements, which is a common questions for the higher secondary (11/12) level general chemistry students. To assimilate a better understanding of the nature of chemical reactions, an adequate knowledge of the periodic table of elements is mandatory. Valence shell electrons of elements participate in redox chemical reactions. Chemistry students thus must be able to write electron configurations correctly. Here we have explained a chunking tool for determining the electron configurations of elements having atomic numbers up to 120.
There are four skills in learning English that should be mastered by students such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. To support those four skills, students should master in grammar. The basic of grammar in learning English is Tenses. One of way in learning grammar is through games. Jumanji is one of games which have many advantages. JFG (Jumanji for Grammar) was adopted by Jumanji that purposed to learn grammar. The purpose of this study is to make JFG board game to learn grammar for university students. The idea of this project comes up because there is no a JFG board game to learn grammar for the university students in Bengkalis. The result of this study was a set of JFG Board Game as medium to learn of grammar especially in tenses. This game consists of a dice, board of jumanji, five sets of question cards and four pawns with different colors. By using this game, the student can learn grammar in a more interesting and effective way.Keywords: JFG (Jumanji for Grammar) Board Game, Grammar, Students in University.
Uzmanlık çalışmaları, uzmanlaşılan alanda üstün performans gösteren kişilerin performanslarına odaklanmaktadır. Bir alanda uzmanlaşmış kişilerin alana özgü görevleri gerçekleştirirken sıklıkla kullandıkları yöntemler, bazı becerilerin kazanımı açısından üstünlük sağlasa da bazen pek yararlı olmayan sonuçlar doğurabilir. Bu durumdan etkilenen becerilerden biri de bilişsel esnekliktir. Bilişsel esneklik düzeyi, uzmanlık düzeyleri ile yakından ilişkilidir. Bu konuda yapılan çalışmaların sonuçları, uzmanlaşma düzeyi arttıkça alana özgü görevlerde uzmanların bilişsel esneklik düzeylerinin de arttığını göstermektedir. Ayrıca uzmanların uzmanlık düzeyi, sıklıkla kullanılan yöntemin yarattığı bozucu etki olarak tanımlanan Einstellung etkisinin görülmemesinde de önemli rol oynamaktadır. Mevcut derlemenin amacı, uzmanlık alanındaki çalışmalarda bilişsel esnekliğin etkisini incelemektir. Alan yazınındaki çalışmalar incelendiğinde, farklı uzmanlıklarda yapılmış çalışmalarda uzmanlık düzeylerinin değişkenlik gösterdiği; bu nedenle bu çalışmaların sonuçlarından yola çıkarak uzmanların bilişsel esneklik düzeyleri hakkında kesin sonuca varılamayacağı anlaşılmaktadır. Buna karşın, uzmanlaşma sürecinde olan kişilerde bilişsel esnekliğin daha düşük; uzmanlaşma düzeyi yüksek olanlarda bilişsel esnekliğin daha yüksek olduğunu öne süren araştırmalar da bulunmaktadır.
The purpose of this research is to investigate the extent to which knowledge can replace and support search in selecting a chess move and to delineate the issues involved. This has been carried out by constructing a program, PARADISE (PAttern Recognition Applied to Directing SEarch), which finds the best move in tactically sharp middle game positions from the games of chess masters. It encodes a large body of knowledge in the form of production rules. The actions of the rules post concepts in the data base while the conditions match patterns in the chess position and data base. The program uses the knowledge base to discover plans during static analysis and to guide a small tree search which confirms that a particular plan is best. The search is “small” in the sense that the size of the search tree is of the same order of magnitude as a human master's search tree (tens and hundreds of nodes, not thousands to hundreds of thousands as in many computer chess programs).
Can an example be understood and reused to solve a new problem without resorting to an abstract representation? Two studies, with novices in the game of chess, investigate the existence of a process of reasoning by analogy that does not require the mediation of an abstract schema. In the first experiment, subjects analyze chess problem examples and then solve similar problems. The results showed that during transfer, subjects use knowledge that has a very low degree of abstraction: they only succeed on problems similar to the examples when they are perceptually close. Experiment 2 investigates the role of failure in analogical transfer. From the results it seems that attempting to solve the source problem is a determinant in case-based reasoning.
