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Is Difficulty Overrated? The Effects of Choice, Novelty and Suspense on Intrinsic Motivation in Educational Games
Abstract
Many game designers aim to optimize difficulty to make games that are "not too hard, not too easy." However, recent experiments have shown that even moderate difficulty can reduce player engagement. The present work investigates other design factors that may account for the purported benefits of difficulty, such as choice, novelty and suspense. These factors were manipulated in three design experiments involving over 20,000 play sessions of an online educational game.
The first experiment (n=10,472) randomly assigned some players to a particular level of difficulty but allowed other players to freely choose their difficulty. Moderately difficult levels were most motivating when self-selected; yet, when difficulty was blindly assigned, the easiest games were most motivating. The second experiment (n=5,065) randomly assigned players to differing degrees of novelty. Moderate novelty was optimal, while too much or too little novelty reduced intrinsic motivation. A final experiment (n=6,511) investigated the role of suspense in "close games", where it was found to be beneficial. If difficulty decreases motivation while novelty and suspense increase it, then an implication for educational game designers is to make easy, interesting games that are "not too hard, not too boring."
... Curiosity is generally considered to be a large driver of video game players' motivation and enjoyment [4,11,14,16]. However, it is unclear how much curiosity is driven by intrinsic personality factors versus the game's design. ...
... For example, Sedano et al. [16] found that curiosity was the main factor driving whether users completed their mobile game, called SciMyst, ranked above challenge. Lomas et al. [11] found that novelty, choice, and suspense was a better driver of motivation than challenge for their educational game, Battleship Numberline. In their work on self-determination theory, Ryan et al. [14] found that curiosity was a top motivator for video game players, behind the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. ...
... Players chose to play better-ranked players and sought more difficult matches. However, although Lomas et al. [11] partially replicate Abuhamdeh and Csikszentmihalyi's findings when players of Battleship Numberline are able to choose their own difficulty, Lomas et al. [11] found that their players generally wanted to play levels which were as easy as possible. In either case, player's beliefs about why they succeed or fail plays a big role in their motivation to play a game. ...
... However, despite the widespread adoption of the difficulty-skill balance model, empirical work on the subject is far from uniform-studies have repeatedly found limitations, moderators and data patterns contradicting the model (e.g. [20][21][22]). More importantly, prior work suffers from significant methodological issues. ...
... A large-scale online maths game study, in contrast, found a linear relation between success rate and behavioural engagement-the easier the game, the longer people played [38]. A follow-up study [20] could replicate this pattern, but found it became an inverted-U if and only if players consciously self-selected a difficulty setting, instead of difficulty being randomly assigned and not revealed. Finally, a study on teaching children to read [39] operationalized and manipulated difficulty as the proportion of successful trials, but found no difference in engagement between a 60% success rate and an 80% success rate. ...
... Manipulating difficulty by matching player participants with confederate opponents of a desired strength poses even greater logistical challenges. Hence previous studies in this vein have relied on either non-experimental analyses of unmanipulated naturally occurring data [20], or human confederates self-handicapping, which is by necessity imprecise [37]. ...
How does the difficulty of a task affect people's enjoyment and engagement? Intrinsic motivation and flow theories posit a 'goldilocks' optimum where task difficulty matches performer skill, yet current work is confounded by questionable measurement practices and lacks scalable methods to manipulate objective difficulty-skill ratios. We developed a two-player tactical game test suite with an artificial intelligence (AI)-controlled opponent that uses a variant of the Monte Carlo Tree Search algorithm to precisely manipulate difficulty-skill ratios. A pre-registered study (n = 311) showed that our AI produced targeted difficulty-skill ratios without participants noticing the manipulation, yet different ratios had no significant impact on enjoyment or engagement. This indicates that difficulty-skill balance does not always affect engagement and enjoyment, but that games with AI-controlled difficulty provide a useful paradigm for rigorous future work on this issue.
... The study was conducted to examine the role of SMS in learning. This study confirmed what others (Lomas et al., 2017) higher level of engagement when the digital interface and classroom norms encouraged peer interactions and peer assessment. ...
... The digital game used in the studies in this thesis had a competitive game-play, and the findings corroborate what the literature in this area says.However, it is important to note that user behaviour can influence the nature of gameplay.Observations from Studies 1 and 3 indicate that even in competitive gameplay, primary school students often collaborate and provide help.Study 1 sheds light on the significance of game simplicity. Similar to whatLomas et al. (2017) had reported, this study demonstrated that when game rules were kept simple, students actively participated and engaged with the game, even in the absence of direct supervision from the teacher. This finding emphasized the importance of designing games with intuitive and easily understandable rules to encourage student autonomy and involvement. ...
Social interactions in classrooms in India and many other countries are limited. Networked
computers can potentially support classrooms to be more interactive. It can help students share
representations amongst themselves and work together on a shared virtual activity space. In
research on the role of shared screens or shared virtual workspace in learning settings, less
attention has been paid to contexts where learners are co-located. This thesis project looks at the
impact of the shared screen in a computational game environment on mathematics learning and
practices and the construction of learners' emotions and social status in classroom interactions. It
was done through three separate but connected studies.
In study 1, I investigated whether a chat application (instant messaging environment) can be used
to create a game environment and help children learn arithmetic skills. If yes, what features of
iii
the digital game environment are central to the learning process and why? I used the case study
method for this study, which was conducted in a village school with primary school students.
Fifteen students in grades 3 and 4 participated in the study. I found that the game based on the
chat application was successful in helping children learn arithmetic. Analysis drawing on tools
from a distributed cognition framework suggested that the shared screen might be the central
feature of the computational game environment. Next, I decided to study the role of shared
screens systematically.
In study 2, using an iterative design process, I designed two versions of a simple arithmetic game
by modifying the chat application used in the previous study: a solo version in which the student
played the game alone and a multiplayer version in which the screen was shared, and the players
could see the arithmetic moves of the other players in a co-located setting. In this study, interns
working at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education and grade 4 students (n= 45) from a
semi-urban school participated.
In the third study, I implemented these two versions of the game in a 4th-grade classroom in a
suburban school in a large metropolis in India. A total of 45 students in grade 4 participated in
the study. I used the case study method and collected both qualitative and quantitative data.
Classroom sessions were video recorded, computer logs were collected, and field notes were
taken. Focus group discussions were held with the students. I coded a portion of the data to get at
patterns of classroom interactions. Then, I drew on qualitative video analysis tools to analyse
specific episodes to understand the fine timescale dynamics of dominant interaction patterns in
each setting.
Results from three studies show that the shared screen served as a shared memory device,
keeping a record of all the students' posts, and was entangled in the moment-to-moment
dynamics of self- and peer-assessments of arithmetic. These findings suggest that thoughtful
integration of networked digital tools in computer-supported learning environments can increase
student-student interactions, support disciplinary learning and facilitate researchers to study
social and emotional variables.
... These denote a task or problem rather than a specific experience. Lomas et al. [19] define difficulty as "the probability of failing the task," which can be objectively measured in a video game. In contrast, "difficult" and "challenging" are relational attributes that refer to how difficulties and challenges are experienced by the player. ...
... The nuanced perception of challenge, inclusive of its emotional dimensions, is deemed indispensable for elucidating its nexus with narrative immersion. Quantifying perceived challenge assumes significance and can be operationalized through instruments such as the CORGIS, designed to capture various facets of challenge, including emotional ones [19,20,42,44]. ...
This paper explores the intricate interplay between perceived challenge and narrative immersion within role-playing game (RPG) video games, motivated by the escalating influence of game difficulty on player choices. A quantitative methodology was employed, utilizing three specific questionnaires for data collection on player habits and experiences, perceived challenge, and narrative immersion. The study consisted of two interconnected stages: an initial research phase to identify and understand player habits, followed by an in-person intervention involving the playing of three distinct RPG video games. During this intervention, selected players engaged with the chosen RPG video games separately, and after each session, responded to two surveys assessing narrative immersion and perceived challenge. The study concludes that a meticulous adjustment of perceived challenge by video game studios moderately influences narrative immersion, reinforcing the enduring prominence of the RPG genre as a distinctive choice in narrative.
... Theoretical accounts of curiosity as motivating an urgent need to resolve uncertainty (e.g., seeking outcomes or answers) stand in contrast with real-world examples where prolonged anticipation and uncertainty are paradoxically preferred (17,18), such as in narratives (17), close contests in sports, (19) and video games (20,21). In fact, people even specifically avoid early resolution (22,23) by adopting self-control mechanisms to decrease the likelihood of information exposure (24,25). ...
... gathering. Thus, curiosity experienced during information gathering can encourage prolonging the state of uncertainty, similar to how people prefer to experience movies, sports, or narratives that unfold across time (17,(19)(20)(21)(22). However, higher curiosity still predicted continuing a video even after participants made correct, highly confident guesses. ...
When people feel curious, they often seek information to resolve their curiosity. Reaching resolution, however, does not always occur in a single step but instead may follow the accumulation of information over time. Here, we investigated changes in curiosity over a dynamic information-gathering process and how these changes related to affective and cognitive states as well as behavior. Human participants performed an Evolving Line Drawing Task, during which they reported guesses about the drawings’ identities and made choices about whether to keep watching. In Study 1, the timing of choices was predetermined and externally imposed, while in Study 2, participants had agency in the timing of guesses and choices. Using this dynamic paradigm, we found that even within a single information-gathering episode, curiosity evolved in concert with other emotional states and with confidence. In both studies, we showed that the relationship between curiosity and confidence depended on stimulus entropy (unique guesses across participants) and on guess accuracy. We demonstrated that curiosity is multifaceted and can be experienced as either positive or negative depending on the state of information gathering. Critically, even when given the choice to alleviate uncertainty immediately (i.e., view a spoiler), higher curiosity promoted continuing to engage in the information-gathering process. Collectively, we show that curiosity changes over information accumulation to drive engagement with external stimuli, rather than to shortcut the path to resolution, highlighting the value inherent in the process of discovery.
... The study was conducted to examine the role of SMS in learning. Our study confirmed what others (Lomas et al., 2017) had reported: simple rule-based games can be engaging and motivating. In parallel to other studies in the literature (Plass et al., 2013), we also saw a higher level of engagement when the digital interface and classroom norms encouraged peer interactions and peer assessment. ...
... This study echoes the suggestions by other researchers that instructional games should be as simple as possible (Lomas et al., 2017), especially when designed for young students. Games should not consume considerable time in learning the rules. ...
Networked computers can potentially support classrooms to be more interactive. It can help students share representations amongst themselves and work together on a shared virtual activity space. In research on the role of shared screens or shared virtual workspace in learning settings, there has been less attention paid to contexts where learners are co-located. This paper looks at the impact of the shared screen in a computational game environment on mathematics learning and practices and the construction of learners' emotions and social status in classroom interactions. We designed two versions of a simple arithmetic game: a solo version in which the student played the game alone and a multi-player version in which the screen was shared, and the players could see the arithmetic moves of the other players. We implemented these two versions of the game in a 4th-grade classroom in a suburban school in a large metropolis in India. Classroom sessions were video recorded, computer logs were collected, and field notes were taken. Focus group sessions were held with the students. We coded a portion of the data to get at patterns of classroom interactions. Then we drew on qualitative video analysis tools to analyze specific episodes to understand the fine timescale dynamics of dominant interaction patterns in each setting. Our analysis shows that the shared screen served as a shared memory device, keeping a record of all the students' posts, and was entangled in the moment-to-moment dynamics of self- and peer- assessments of arithmetic. These findings suggest that thoughtful integration of networked digital tools in computer-supported learning environments can increase student–student interactions and support disciplinary learning.
... In addition to these positive effects, GBL situations may also cause negative emotions and frustration for learners. Observed challenges can manifest as time-consuming and demanding exercises with a game or difficulties with environments (Boghian et al., 2019), technical unreliability, unbalance, or instability (Jääskä and Aaltonen, 2022;Jong, 2016;Marklund and Taylor, 2016), and complexity of games (Lomas et al., 2017). Moreover, students may feel uncomfortable with competition and results comparison in GBL situations (Scepanovic et al., 2015). ...
... The findings above support the notion that challenge and complexity in educational gaming and related assignments can cause positive stress and facilitate capturing students' attention (Hamari et al., 2016;Shute et al., 2015). However, previous studies have also observed that it is difficult to find a balance in game complexity and challenge and that too much challenge can be counterproductive from the perspective of maintaining students' attention (Lomas et al., 2017). While previous research has identified the game complexity and challenge dilemma, there is little understanding of the remedies, i.e., concrete means and practices to find a balance, especially in the context of project management education. ...
Research on game-based learning (GBL) methods shows that they may increase students' motivation and learning in the context of higher education. However, there is still unclarity regarding whether and how GBL methods can be utilized in project management education. Our quasi-experimental study analyzes project management students' experiences of a GBL method applied in six European higher education institutes during late 2021 and early 2022. Data about students' experiences were collected using a post-game survey in which students were asked to evaluate how the applied GBL method affected their motivation and learning. The data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Our findings include students' positive and negative perceptions related to the applied GBL method, which influenced students’ motivation to study and learn project management phenomena. Our findings indicate that game-based learning solutions can be used to motivate students and to prepare learners to deal with uncertainty, as in real-life projects.
... The paramount opinion among game designers is that a maximally fair and engaging match is one with equal (50:50) winning odds for each party. In single-player games, this has been translated into the assumption that an optimally balanced game features 50% winning odds for players (Lomas et al., 2017). ...
... Relation to existing theories PP sees motivation and enjoyment arising expected prediction error (=uncertainty) reduction rates. This aligns with (and provides an explanatory framework for) increasing bodies of empirical research identifying the importance of expected versus actual success or difficulty in game engagement (Iacovides et al., 2015;Lomas et al., 2017;Denisova and Cairns, 2019;Frommel et al., 2021). People are motivated to start, continue, or stop playing based on expectations of being able to progressreduce error. ...
Why do we seek out and enjoy uncertain success in playing games? Game designers and researchers suggest that games whose challenges match player skills afford engaging experiences of achievement, competence, or effectance—of doing well. Yet, current models struggle to explain why such balanced challenges best afford these experiences and do not straightforwardly account for the appeal of high- and low-challenge game genres like Idle and Soulslike games. In this article, we show that Predictive Processing (PP) provides a coherent formal cognitive framework which can explain the fun in tackling game challenges with uncertain success as the dynamic process of reducing uncertainty surprisingly efficiently. In gameplay as elsewhere, people enjoy doing better than expected, which can track learning progress. In different forms, balanced, Idle, and Soulslike games alike afford regular accelerations of uncertainty reduction. We argue that this model also aligns with a popular practitioner model, Raph Koster’s Theory of Fun for Game Design, and can unify currently differentially modelled gameplay motives around competence and curiosity.
... Experiencing failure in particular could be vital for the enjoyment of a game [31], and its frequency is crucial considering the importance of challenge and difficulty in games-which although related, are different concepts [17]. Lomas et al. defined difficulty as "the probability of task failure" [42] and stated that, "by definition, increased difficulty increases the rate of task failure" [42]. Targeting the right amount of failure is important for games with optimal challenge in a way that it is not too easy nor too hard [17,24,34]. ...
... Experiencing failure in particular could be vital for the enjoyment of a game [31], and its frequency is crucial considering the importance of challenge and difficulty in games-which although related, are different concepts [17]. Lomas et al. defined difficulty as "the probability of task failure" [42] and stated that, "by definition, increased difficulty increases the rate of task failure" [42]. Targeting the right amount of failure is important for games with optimal challenge in a way that it is not too easy nor too hard [17,24,34]. ...
Experiencing the thrill of success is one of digital gaming's pleasures , but often also involves the crush of repeated failure. To explore success and failure in play, we conducted a mixed-methods study in which 182 participants described scenarios of success and failure and their experiences therein. Our results suggest that success and failure should be considered in relation to the players' goals, that failure should be differentiated into temporary and perpetual failure, and that temporary failure (the struggle) is integral to the experience of success (overcoming the struggle). We further show that although success is generally more enjoyable than failure, players who enjoy a challenge are more likely to experience competence and find enjoyment within experiences of failure. Our findings contextualize what players perceive as failure and success, and that, for many players, success is overcoming the struggle of failure.
... Achieving a state of "flow" is an overarching aim of games (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988;Ke, 2016), and the provision of optimal challenge within the game is crucial to this eg, through matching the game difficulty and the players' skill level (Denisova et al., 2017;Hamari et al., 2016;Kim & Ruipérez-Valiente, 2020). Although the terms challenge and difficulty can often be used interchangeably, they are interrelated yet distinct concepts-difficulty can be defined as the "probability of task failure" (Lomas et al., 2017), whereas challenge is a more nuanced and harder to define concept based on player perception of effort and experience ie, how difficult do they find the game, which depends on a player's particular skills and prior expertise (Denisova et al., 2020). Within the context of learning, tasks that are too difficult can result in cognitive overload whereas simple tasks may lead to feelings of boredom and disengagement (Hendrix et al., 2018;Shute et al., 2013). ...
... Navigo is a large-scale game designed to be used over an extended period of time to improve children's reading performance. Therefore, it was important to have a sufficient variety in the learning activities to increase language exposure to foster reading fluency as well as provide novelty, which is important for maintaining engagement and motivation over an extended time period (Lomas et al., 2017). Moreover, compared to an equivalent non-adaptive game, in an adaptive game it is necessary to foster variations in learning pathways, thus requiring a larger amount and variety of game mechanics and language features, a goal we broadly refer to as "replayability". ...
The use of learning games within the classroom is becoming increasingly common because of their potential to positively impact learning. Recent developments in adaptivity offer further possibilities to personalise learning by tailoring the game to an individual child's level or particular learning needs. However, designing an adaptive learning game is a complex process as many different game components have an impact on the provision of optimal challenge, crucial for maintaining player engagement, with limited prior work considering the multifaceted nature of this concept. This paper explores how to design for “challenge” within large‐scale adaptive learning games through a case study focused on the design of a literacy game for three linguistically and cognitively diverse learner groups—novice readers, children with dyslexia and children learning English as a foreign language. In reflecting on our design process, we identify three key design tensions that arose: (a) supporting longer‐term learning goals through game replayability; (b) fostering either replication or innovation in pedagogy through adaptivity rules; and (c) addressing diversity between learner groups. We present a set of design recommendations to guide researchers and designers in taking a multidimensional view of challenge when designing large‐scale adaptive learning games.
Practitioner notes
What is already known about this topic? Adaptive learning games can have a positive impact on children's learning outcomes.
Ensuring optimal challenge within games is important for maintaining engagement.
Designing adaptive learning games is a complex process.
What this paper adds? Designing for optimal challenge within adaptive learning game should be considered as a multifaceted concept.
Identification of key tensions related to optimising challenge that can emerge during the design of large‐scale adaptive learning games.
Recommendations for adaptivity researchers and learning game designers for how to address these tensions in adaptive learning game design.
Implications for practice and/or policy? We need a more systematic approach to adaptivity game design to ensure wider spread adoption.
Learning game designers seeking to utilise adaptive components in designing for optimal challenge should consider a focus on learners who may require a more targeted approach.
Adaptive learning games offer opportunities for pedagogical innovation in the classroom through exploiting innovative game features as well as large‐scale data collection to support adaptive learning over time.
... At any point, students can choose to go back to the menu. This game has been subjected to multiple experiments in past [2]. Our experiments in this study aimed at improving student engagement in the game, which was defined as log(seat time * number o f questions). ...
... Numberline that challenge can lead to more engagement [2]. ...
UpGrade is an open-source tool for A/B testing in educational software. We this study, we used UpGrade to run large scale online experiments in an educational game. Our experiments were aimed at increasing the student engagement. We experimented with various features of the game such as question difficulty, game narrative, feedback style, etc. to find out which conditions produced optimal outcomes. One after another, we conducted 3 different experiments. All of these experiments were created and monitored through UpGrade. We faced several issues during the implementation of these experiments within UpGrade. We discovered that buggy programming logic in the educational software can produce invalid experiment enrollments in UpGrade. We also found out that without tracking version of the educational software, it is possible to get noise in the experimental data. We present several recommendations to avoid these pitfalls. Results of our experiments are not discussed in this paper.
... Colwell and Glavin (2018) indirectly supports the concept by showing that dynamic difficulty adjustment improves player experience for both strong and weak players, suggesting that players prefer challenges that match their own abilities. On the other hand, Demediuk et al. (2019) and Lomas et al. (2017) suggest that difficulty and enjoyment are predominately negatively correlated, while Cutting et al. (2022) and Biemer and Cooper (2024) fail to find any significant relationship. ...
Determining if and how the difficulty of algorithmic puzzle solvers is related to the difficulty and enjoyment for human players is a challenging task. In this work, we explored this relationship using logic grid puzzles. We used an algorithmic solver to estimate the difficulty of the puzzles by capturing the number of ``solver loops'' through the algorithm. This characteristic was used to generate and evaluate a set of puzzles of varying algorithmic difficulty using constrained MAP-Elites. Then, we ran a user study to gather information on the player experience of these puzzles. We tested the relationship between solver loops and player experience on generated puzzles and found that the number of solver loops is statistically significantly correlated with subjective perception of difficulty and borderline statistically significantly correlated with puzzle correctness.
... Notable inspirations include the methodical tension-building of the "Watermelon Rubber Band Challenge" from viral live streams, and the dramatic countdowns before a rocket launch, both of which captivate audiences effectively. This captivation can be linked to the experience of suspense [4], which has been seen to increase motivation in games [21] and enjoyment in other media via affective responses such as relief and surprise [22]. It can also be linked to the concept of reward prediction errors, a principle from neuroscience which suggests that anticipation helps in forming stronger memories when the outcome differs from expectations [28]. ...
As social media becomes increasingly integral to science communication, there is a rising interest in blending education with entertainment to captivate the public. This paper presents the design of a virtual reality (VR) experience that strategically employs engagement strategies such as anticipation, surprise, juiciness, and agency, aimed at enhancing learning within science education. Leveraging the immersive capabilities of VR, the virtual environment seeks to adapt these social media elements to examine their potential in boosting engagement and learning. The VR experience will be used in an experiment featuring a controlled design, varying levels of interaction and sensory feedback to evaluate their influence on participants’ understanding of scientific concepts. By integrating these engaging elements, the experiment anticipates enhancing the educational utility of VR, guiding the development of more effective VR educational tools and broadening the appeal and accessibility of science learning for diverse audiences.
... In contrast, ample scientific work highlights that difficulty can be the driving factor for balancing PvE scenarios and/or single-player games [1]. The field of dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) -sometimes also referred to as dynamic difficulty balancing -mainly pushes the understanding of balancing as the adequate (automatic) regulation of difficulty (parameters) in order to keep players within the desirable flow state between mental under-and overload [25,48], or ideally between "too hard" and "too boring" [63]. In this respect, if perfect matches are not attainable, mental overload is still seen as producing higher enjoyment than boredom [54]. ...
Balancing is, especially among players, a highly debated topic of video games. Whether a game is sufficiently balanced greatly influences its reception, player satisfaction, churn rates and success. Yet, conceptions about the definition of balance diverge across industry, academia and players, and different understandings of designing balance can lead to worse player experiences than actual imbalances. This work accumulates concepts of balancing video games from industry and academia and introduces a player-driven approach to optimize player experience and satisfaction. Using survey data from 680 participants and empirically recorded data of over 4 million in-game fights of Guild Wars 2, we aggregate player opinions and requirements, contrast them to the status quo and approach a democratized quantitative technique to approximate closer configurations of balance. We contribute a strategy of refining balancing notions, a methodology of tailoring balance to the actual player base and point to an exemplary artifact that realizes this process.
... Diversity is another generally important aspect of recommendations (Castells et al. 2021). Previous research in the educational setting shows that a suitable degree of novelty may sometimes be more important for motivation than difficulty factors (Lomas et al. 2017). ...
Personalization in online learning environments has been extensively studied at various levels, ranging from adaptive hints during task-solving to recommending whole courses. In this study, we focus on recommending learning activities (sequences of homogeneous tasks). We argue that this is an important yet insufficiently explored area, particularly when considering the requirements of large-scale online learning environments used in practice. To address this gap, we propose a modular rule-based framework for recommendations and thoroughly explain the rationale behind the proposal. We also discuss a specific application of the framework.
... Most basically, those could be twofold, for example, winning or losing a game, whereas winning typically inherits a higher value than losing. Apart from inducing effects on engagement (Lomas et al., 2013(Lomas et al., , 2017, such outcomes can also be perceived as a form of feedback classifying learners' performance (Nebel, Beege, et al., 2016;Nebel, Schneider, Schledjewski, et al., 2017). Losing a game could indicate a difficult environment, whereas winning could indicate a comparably easy condition. ...
... These denote a task or problem rather than a specific experience. Lomas et al. (2017) define difficulty as "the probability of failing the task", which can be objectively measured in the video game. Contrarily, "challenging" and "difficult", are considered relational attributes concerning how challenges and difficulties are experienced by the player. ...
The challenge is a fundamental aspect of almost every gameplay, and immersion is one of the most widely recognized concepts in the video game industry. Since this is currently a work in progress, this study aims to preliminary research how player's perceived level of challenge affects narrative immersion during gameplay in the role-playing game (RPG) genre. This study will outline the procedures that will be undertaken, including the utilization of the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale (CORGIS) instrument and a questionnaire to measure player immersion. These instruments will enable the assessment of the impact of the perceived challenge on narrative immersion in each use case.
... This may strengthen the notion that parents and children adapt to each other based on condition. That is, the complexity of the competitive condition, combined with the novel social interaction (Lomas et al., 2017) resonates with evolutionarybased behavioral patterns driven to increase the likelihood of survival (Flinn et al., 2005). Findings show that indeed in a play context, a novel competitive circumstance creates an even more potent situation that possibly signals both parent and child to adapt and elicits more strongly a parent-led synchrony, where the parent initiates the movement and the child follows. ...
Social interactions involve both cooperation to achieve a shared goal and competition over shared resources and rewards. The ability to engage in inter-personal coordination is an important measure of socio-emotional and cognitive well-being. Both cooperation and competition require interpersonal coordination, however with different motivational backgrounds. Competition is defined by a higher level of extrinsic motivation, while cooperation is related to more intrinsic motivation. In the context of the parent-child dyad, each individual has different motivations and contributions to the dyad. The parent’s and child’s sense of competitiveness and contribution to inter-personal synchrony will presumably differ from each other and adapt to one another. The current research employed Motion Energy Analysis, an objective measure of coordination of movements between individuals, to measure motor in-phase and anti-phase synchrony during parent-child cooperative and competitive play, with a focus on parent and child-led synchrony. Findings highlight that parents rate themselves as less competitive than their children rate themselves; with no such difference noted in cooperation. Further, parent-led motor synchrony is defined more by in-phase coordination in competition, especially when the interaction is novel. Alternatively, child-led motor synchrony is more anti-phase during competition. In cooperation parents and children lead synchrony to the same extent and in the same phase. Current findings highlight that parent’s and children uniquely adjust their leading behaviors in synchrony in competition, presumably adjusting their behavior to accommodate a complex situation. Given the importance of cooperative and competitive interactions to overall social well-being, and the parent’s role of modeling behaviors for their child, findings may direct future guidance and treatment plans that will promote social development.
... In contrast, ample scientific work highlights that difficulty can be the driving factor for balancing PvE scenarios and/or single-player games [1]. The field of dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) -sometimes also referred to as dynamic difficulty balancing -mainly pushes the understanding of balancing as the adequate (automatic) regulation of difficulty (parameters) in order to keep players within the desirable flow state between mental under-and overload [17,31], or ideally between "too hard" and "too boring" [40]. In this respect, if perfect matches are not attainable, mental overload is still seen as producing higher enjoyment than boredom [34]. ...
Balancing is, especially among players, a highly debated topic of video games. Whether a game is sufficiently balanced greatly influences its reception, player satisfaction, churn rates and success. Yet, conceptions about the definition of balance diverge across industry, academia and players, and different understandings of designing balance can lead to worse player experiences than actual imbalances. This work accumulates concepts of balancing video games from industry and academia and introduces a player-driven approach to optimize player experience and satisfaction. Using survey data from 680 participants and empirically recorded data of over 4 million in-game fights of Guild Wars 2, we aggregate player opinions and requirements, contrast them to the status quo and approach a democratized quantitative technique to approximate closer configurations of balance. We contribute a strategy of refining balancing notions, a methodology of tailoring balance to the actual player base and point to an exemplary artifact that realizes this process.
... The genre of idle/clicker games is perhaps the best example of this, as games that usually have no failure or success states at all [16]. Indeed, games being trivially easy is motivating to players even if they don't believe it themselves [34,49]. Non-League Football Supporter, as an inscrutable game, muddies this water further. ...
... Flow theory [149] posits that activities should provide a continuously optimal (intermediate) level of difficulty for the learner [93]. However, recent work has shown that easy difficulty levels in educational games can be most motivating [89]. Making the tasks easy can increase SCCT's self-efficacy, thereby having a positive cascade effect on SCCT and CSM variables. ...
... Yet, we take this opportunity to ask whether this is where CSGs would ultimately like to be positioned in the space of gaming. This level of difficulty can lead to disengagement or low performance (Lomas et al. 2017(Lomas et al. , 2013. Moreover, difficulty is a cognitive barrier, much like the logistical barriers of participation that already muddy citizen science participation ( However, how much can feasibly be done to make these games easier? ...
... While the group-size discrepancies may affect the results, it could also be that the young participants found the training less challenging, and they may have had lower motivation as their memory was better to begin with. Level of novelty and suspense has been observed to affect motivation in educational video games 55 , which suggests that these factors could be of importance to maintain the interest in the young participants, possibly both in terms of type of task or memory process measured, and in structure of the intervention, between-level goals or environment, or similar. As the older participants show great variation in trajectory and amount of improvement, such factors may also be beneficial for those that perform the best amongst also the elderly, offering an additional possibility for individual adaptations beyond mere age-related adjustments of difficulty. ...
While immediate effects of memory-training are widely reported in young and older adults, less is known regarding training-dependent hippocampal plasticity across multiple intervention phases, and long-term maintenance of such. Here, 157 healthy young and older adults underwent a training-intervention including two 10 weeks periods of episodic-memory training, separated by two 2 weeks periods of no training. Both age groups showed improvements on a criterion task, which prevailed after 3 years. When compared to the reference condition of no training, relative increases in hippocampal volume were observed after the training across age groups, which were maintained after 10 weeks periods of no training. However, there was age-group dependent temporal variation with respect to timing of effects. Hippocampal volume of the training group did not differ from that of a passive control-group 3 years after the intervention. The young showed an immediate near-transfer effect on a word-association task. We show that training-gains on memory performance can prevail for at least 3 years. Memory training can induce increases in hippocampal volume immediately after the intervention and after months. Episodic-memory training can produce transfer effects to a non-trained memory task in young adults. However, maintained effects on hippocampal volume beyond 10 weeks are uncertain, and likely require continuous training.
... Manipulating Demand. We manipulated demand through the game's difficulty, following earlier work that conceptualized difficulty as an increased opportunity for failures [85]. In our game, we implemented this by inclusion of the possibility of losing a game or not (life system vs no life system) and additional opportunities for failures, through the inclusion of bombs or no bombs as elements that resulted in failures, similar to difficulty manipulation through the number of obstacles in earlier work [43]. ...
Social anxiety is a prevalent problem that affects many people with varying severity; digital exposure therapy-which involves controlled exposure to simulations of feared social situations alongside cognitive restructuring-can help treat patients with anxieties. However, the need to personalize exposure scenarios and simulate audiences are barriers to treating social anxieties through digital exposure. In this paper, we propose game streaming as an exposure therapy paradigm for social anxiety, supporting it with data from two studies. We first propose a framework describing requirements for exposure therapy and how game streaming can fulfill them. We select demand and performance visibility from these characteristics to showcase how to manipulate them for experiences of gradual exposure. With Study 1, we provide evidence for these characteristics and support for the framework by showing that a game's demand affected expected fear of streaming games. In Study 2, we show that the prospect of streaming led to elevated fear, a necessary property for effective exposure therapy. Further, we show that the effect of streaming on expected fear was similar for participants who can be considered socially anxious. These findings provide evidence for the essential effect of exposure therapy, which serves as a first step towards the validation of streaming as a social anxiety treatment. Our paper provides an initial, important step towards a novel, broadly applicable, and widely accessible digital approach for the treatment of social anxiety.
... Engagement with games has been studied thoroughly and goes by many names, including flow, GameFlow, presence, immersion, motivation, enjoyment, and fun [3,7,9,58,61]. Dependent on the type of game, even more factors are involved, such as suspense in the case of match-based games [36] or body image in the case of health games [16]. While a complete review of these terms would be superfluous, understanding the main theme is crucial for the current research. ...
For citizen science games (CSGs) to be successful in advancing scientific research, they must effectively train players. Designing tutorials for training can be aided through developing a skill chain of required skills and their dependencies, but skill chain development is an intensive process. In this work, we hypothesized that free recall may be a simpler yet effective method of directly eliciting skill chains. We elicited 23 skill chains from players and developers and augmented our reflexive thematic analysis with 11 semi-structured interviews in order to determine how players and developers conceptualize skill trees and whether free recall can be used as an alternative to more resource-intensive cognitive task analyses. We provide three main contributions: (1) a comparison of skill chain conceptualizations between players and developers and across prior literature; (2) insights to the process of free recall in eliciting CSG skill chains; and (3) a preliminary toolkit of CSG skill-based design recommendations based on our findings. We conclude CSG developers should: give the big picture up front; embrace social learning and paratext use; reinforce the intended structure of knowledge; situate learning within applicable, meaningful contexts; design for discovery and self-reflection; and encourage practice and learning beyond the tutorial. Free recall was ineffective for determining a traditional skill chain but was able to elicit the core gameplay loops, tutorial overviews, and some expert insights.
... As different learners show different learning curves, the individual customization of motor training can ensure that each learner receives an appropriate next exercise to maximize the amount of learning taking place in a given amount of time. Additionally, maintaining appropriate difficulty levels seems to be an important factor in determining intrinsic motivation for a task [12]. Further, our learning infrastructure can be extended for measuring the effect of factors such as augmented feedback [13] and reward [1] on motor learning at an individual level, and for determining the optimal presentation of feedback and reward for improving motor learning. ...
A typical part of learning to play the piano is the progression through a series of practice units that focus on individual dimensions of the skill, such as hand coordination, correct posture, or correct timing. Ideally, a focus on a particular practice method should be made in a way to maximize the learner's progress in learning to play the piano. Because we each learn differently, and because there are many choices for possible piano practice tasks and methods, the set of practice tasks should be dynamically adapted to the human learner. However, having a human teacher guide individual practice is not always feasible since it is time consuming, expensive, and not always available. Instead, we suggest to optimize in the space of practice methods, the so-called practice modes. The proposed optimization process takes into account the skills of the individual learner and their history of learning. In this work we present a modeling framework to guide the human learner through the learning process by choosing practice modes that have the highest expected utility (i.e., improvement in piano playing skill). To this end, we propose a human learner utility model based on a Gaussian process, and exemplify the model training and its application for practice scaffolding on an example of simulated human learners.
... While difficulty can be broken down into multiple sub-components (e.g. cognitive, emotional, etc. [6]), in scenarios where it is necessary to operationalise difficulty, such as for dynamic difficulty adjustment or automated playtesting, it is common to use the probability of task success as an objective measure of difficulty [5], [7], [9], [13], [15], [17]. This interpretation is supported by Pedersen et al. [16] where the correlation between player emotions and level characteristics in a Super Mario Bros is investigated. ...
Successful and accurate modelling of level difficulty is a fundamental component of the operationalisation of player experience as difficulty is one of the most important and commonly used signals for content design and adaptation. In games that feature intermediate milestones, such as completable areas or levels, difficulty is often defined by the probability of completion or completion rate; however, this operationalisation is limited in that it does not describe the behaviour of the player within the area. In this research work, we formalise a model of level difficulty for puzzle games that goes beyond the classical probability of success. We accomplish this by describing the distribution of actions performed within a game level using a parametric statistical model thus creating a richer descriptor of difficulty. The model is fitted and evaluated on a dataset collected from the game Lily's Garden by Tactile Games, and the results of the evaluation show that the it is able to describe and explain difficulty in a vast majority of the levels.
... The results showed that significantly higher learning outcomes were achieved by the group that played the game with difficulty adjustment. Similarly, Lomas et al. sought to clarify whether difficulty indeed affects learners' motivation [32]. They found that difficulty decreased motivation when it was not balanced with the learner's skills. ...
In a world where algorithms are ubiquitous, the development of computational thinking competencies is becoming progressively important among students, technology professionals, and 21st-century citizens in general. Educational games as a means of promoting computational thinking skills have gained popularity in recent years. Offering efficient educational games that promote computational thinking competencies requires personalized learning paths through adaptive difficulty. The research presented herein is a first attempt to define a difficulty function for maze-based programming challenges using log data obtained from Kodetu, which is a block-based maze game. Specifically, we conducted three studies with 9- to 16-year-old students who were asked to solve sequences of maze-based programming challenges. Using log data from these studies, we investigated the maze characteristics and the coding limitations that affect performance in the challenges and calculated the performance obtained by the participants using a fuzzy rule-based system. The results showed that the turns in a maze, the number of total steps of a maze, and the blocks provided affect student performance. Using regression analysis, we defined a difficulty function for maze-based programming challenges that considers the weights of these factors and provides a first step towards the design of adaptive learning paths for computational thinking-related educational games.
... For example, in video games, competence can be reflected in the controls being "intuitive", meaning that the controls should be easily mastered and not interfere with one's gaming experience [73]. Competence is also reflected in the perceived difficulty or novelty of a game, suggesting that designs should offer new difficulty levels that promise opportunities for learning [52,62]. ...
Bringing positive experiences to users is one of the key goals when designing conversational agents (CAs). Yet we still lack an understanding of users' underlying needs to achieve positive experiences and how to support them in design. This research first applies Self-Determination Theory in an interview study to explore how users' needs of competence, autonomy and relatedness could be supported or undermined in CA experiences. Ten guidelines are then derived from the interview findings. The key findings demonstrate that: competence is affected by users' knowledge of the CA capabilities and effectiveness of the conversation; autonomy is influenced by flexibility of the conversation, personalisation of the experiences, and control over user data; regarding relatedness, users still have concerns over integrating social features into CAs. The guidelines recommend how to inform users about the system capabilities, design effective and socially appropriate conversations, and support increased system intelligence, customisation, and data transparency. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing~Human computer interaction (HCI)
... In recent years, a variety of exciting research has focused on the videogame player experience [4][5] [7] [29][43] [44]. These works have sought to identify and categorize player traits, preferences [44], play styles [43], and motivations [26][42] [47]. Other research has examined the forms and functions of player identity construction and expression within videogame spaces, highlighting how playercharacter relationships [4] [19] [35], avatars [2][17] [31] [45], character names [7][9] [17] [18] and usernames (also called gamertags) [9] are involved in such processes. ...
... Research in gaming shows that games that are too hard to play results in the loss of competence and ultimately, engagement (Lomas et al., 2017). In healthcare contexts, users with different cognitive, sensory, and physical abilities will inherently be affected by such abilities when interacting with VR. ...
Despite the substantial research interest in using Virtual Reality (VR) in healthcare in general and in Psychological, Cognitive, and Behavioral (PC&B) interventions in specific, as well as emerging research supporting the efficacy of VR in healthcare, the design process of translating therapies into VR to meet the needs of critical stakeholders such as users and clinicians is rarely addressed. In this paper, we aim to shed light onto the design needs, opportunities and challenges in designing efficient and effective PC&B-VR interventions. Through analyzing the co-design processes of four user-centered PC&B-VR interventions, we examined how therapies were adapted into VR to meet stakeholders’ requirements, explored design elements for meaningful experiences, and investigated how the understanding of healthcare contexts contribute to the VR intervention design. This paper presents the HCI research community with design opportunities and challenges as well as future directions for PC&B-VR intervention design.
This study analyses how game-based learning motivates Malaysian ESL students. The mixed-method research employed questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with students and teachers. Students were in favour of the game-based lessons, suggesting that game-based learning might solve motivational issues. However, several obstacles prevented teachers from delivering a game-based lesson. The study stresses the need of motivation in ESL classes since disengaged students may hinder learning. To promote learning, teachers must inspire and meet student needs. The findings suggest that game-based learning may motivate and engage students, but educators must be flexible to overcome its challenges. This research helps educators, policymakers, and administrators improve ESL education and student motivation.
Self-determination theory (SDT), a psychological theory of human motivation, is a prominent paradigm in human-computer interaction (HCI) research on games. However, our prior literature review observed a trend towards shallow applications of the theory. This follow-up work takes a broader view – examining SDT scholarship on games, a wider corpus of SDT-based HCI games research (N=259), and perspectives from a games industry practitioner conference – to help explain current applications of SDT. Our findings suggest that perfunctory applications of the theory in HCI games research originate in part from within SDT scholarship on games, which itself exhibits limited engagement with theoretical tenets. Against this backdrop, we unpack the popularity of SDT in HCI games research and identify conditions underlying the theory's current use as an oft-unquestioned paradigm. Finally, we outline avenues for more productive SDT-informed games research and consider ways towards more intentional practices of theory use in HCI.
Need for novelty has been proposed as a potential candidate to be a basic psychological need, in addition to autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the Self-Determination Theory literature. In this paper, we investigate the need for novelty in the video gaming domain, and examine whether it differentiates as a distinct construct from the other three basic needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. To be able to test this, we examined whether novelty uniquely predicts context specific outcomes, such as concentration, satisfaction and commitment in games. We conducted an online survey with 390 online video game players. Regression analyses showed that need for novelty indeed emerges as a distinct construct, and uniquely predicts positive outcomes. This study provides initial support for novelty as a basic psychological need that is needed for players' intrinsic motivation, and shows the importance of novelty in online video gaming. We discuss new avenues for research related to need for novelty and how consideration of novelty may impact game design.
In general, individuals with low levels of coercive power are at greater risk of victimization than those who are more powerful. However, in some circumstances, superior coercive power increases an individual's vulnerability. In this paper, I show how coercive power can increase vulnerability (offsetting its protective effect) by its effects on targeting and tactics. Individuals with greater coercive power can increase their risk of getting targeted because they tend to be less vigilant and more likely to behave in ways that provoke others. They generate more grievances and have more enemies because they are less compliant and more verbally aggressive and confrontational. Powerful parties are also at greater risk of being targeted by adversaries seeking to gain status. An attack on a strong adversary is more likely to enhance status than an attack on a weaker adversary since it is a greater achievement. Individuals with coercive power are also at greater risk because of the tactics used by their weaker adversaries. Weaker parties are more likely to engage in pre-emptive attack and use weapons. They are better able to attract and rely on allies because of the norm of social responsibility, that is, the tendency to protect those in need. Finally, they are more likely to attempt to kill more power adversaries in order to incapacitate them and, thereby, avoid retaliation.
Measuring perceived challenge and demand in video games is crucial as these player experiences are essential to creating enjoyable games. Two recent measures that identified seemingly distinct structures of challenge (Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale (CORGIS) - cognitive, emotional, performative, decision-making) and demand (Video Game Demand Scale (VGDS) - cognitive, emotional, controller, exertional, social) have been theorised to overlap, reflecting the five-factor demand structure. To investigate the overlap between these two scales we compared a five (complete overlap) and nine-factor (no overlap) model by surveying 1,101 players asking them to recall their last gaming experience before completing CORGIS and VGDS. After failing to confirm both models, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis. Our findings reveal seven dimensions, where the five-factor VGDS model holds alongside two additional CORGIS dimensions of performative and decision-making, ultimately providing a more holistic understanding of the concepts whilst highlighting unique aspects of each approach.
Public media and researchers in different areas have recently focused on perhaps unexpected problems that derive from an excessive and frequent use of technology, giving rise to a new kind of psychological “digital” wellbeing. Such a novel and pressing topic has fostered, both in the academia and in the industry, the emergence of a variety of digital self-control tools allowing users to self-regulate their technology use through interventions like timers and lock-out mechanisms. While these emerging technologies for behavior change hold great promise to support people’s digital wellbeing, we still have a limited understanding of their real effectiveness, as well as of how to best design and evaluate them. Aiming to guide future research in this important domain, this article presents a systematic review and a meta-analysis of current work on tools for digital self-control. We surface motivations, strategies, design choices, and challenges that characterize the design, development, and evaluation of digital self-control tools. Furthermore, we estimate their overall effect size on reducing (unwanted) technology use through a meta-analysis. By discussing our findings, we provide insights on how to (i) overcome a limited perspective that exclusively focuses on technology overuse and self-monitoring tools, (ii) evaluate digital self-control tools through long-term studies and standardized measures, and (iii) bring ethics in the digital wellbeing discourse and deal with the business model of contemporary tech companies.
Challenge, and thus difficulty, is one of the main factors of enjoyment and motivation in video games. To enhance the players’ motivation, many studies rely on Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment model in order to follow a difficulty curve. However, few authors worked on the shape of the difficulty curve itself. Our goal in this paper is to evaluate how players react to different difficulty curves. We use four different difficulty curves, including two flat curves and two curves with different baseline and peak levels. We test those curves on 67 students of a video games school while playing a First-Person Shooter game. Our study shows that curves with peaks have the strongest impact on players’ motivation.
Research in learning technologies is often focused on optimizing some aspects of human learning. However, the usefulness of practical learning environments is heavily influenced by their weakest aspects, and, unfortunately, there are many things that can go wrong in the learning process. In this article, we argue that in many circumstances, it is more useful to focus on avoiding stupidity rather than seeking optimality. To make this perspective specific and actionable, we propose a definition of stupidity, a taxonomy of undesirable behaviors of learning environments, and an overview of data-driven techniques for finding defects. The provided overview is directly applicable in the development of learning environments and also provides inspiration for novel research directions and novel applications of existing techniques.
Video games are often designed around puzzles and problem-solving, leading to challenging yet engaging experiences for players. However, it is hard to measure or compare the challenge level of puzzles in video games. This can make designing appropriately challenging puzzles problematic. This study collates previous work to present refined definitions for challenge and difficulty within the context of video games. We present the Puzzle Challenge Analysis tool which can be used to determine the best metrics for analysing the challenge level of puzzles within video games. Previous research has focused on measuring the difficulty of simple action video games, such as Pac-Man, which can be easily modified for research purposes. Existing methods to measure challenge or difficulty include measuring player brain activity, examining game features and player scores. However, some of these approaches cannot be applied to puzzles or puzzle games. For example, approaches relying on game scores will not work for puzzle games with no scoring system, where puzzles are either solved or not. This paper describes the design and development of the Puzzle Challenge Analysis tool using two case studies of commercial video games The Witness and Untitled Goose Game. The tool is also tested for generalisability on a third commercial puzzle video game, Baba Is You. This proposed tool can help game designers and researchers to objectively analyse and compare puzzle challenge and produce more in-depth insights into the player experience. This has implications for designing challenging and engaging games for a range of player abilities.
Developing natural and intuitive Human Computer Interaction is a primary target of interaction design. The analysis of a user’s engagement to the task is an essential component for the assessment of the interaction for design efficiency. The investigation of task engagement requires considering users’ goal orientation since performance-oriented and learning-oriented individuals exhibit motivational differences. Learning-oriented individuals focus on progress and mastery, whereas performance-oriented individuals focus on their ability. We present an experimental investigation of users’ task engagement and its interaction with modalities to study the role of goal orientation in Human Computer Interaction tasks. Twenty-five participants participated in the study. They performed the same task with three alternative interaction modalities: a mouse, an eye tracker, and a Microsoft Kinect v2 sensor. The participants also filled in a goal orientation questionnaire and user engagement questionnaire. The findings revealed that different modalities resulted in different task completion times. The completion time was then used as a factor for the analysis of the efficiency of the interaction. Further analyses showed significant interactions among the participants’ goal orientation, their engagement scores, and the interaction modalities.
Digital learning games are designed to foster both student learning and enjoyment. Given this goal, an interesting research topic is whether game mechanics that promote learning and those that promote enjoyment have different effects on students’ experience and learning performance. We explored these questions in Decimal Point, a digital learning game that teaches decimal numbers and operations to 5th and 6th graders, through a classroom study with 159 students and two versions of the game. One version encouraged playing and learning through an open learner model (OLM, N = 55), while one encouraged playing for enjoyment through an analogous open enjoyment model (OEM, N = 54). We compared these versions to a control version that is neutral with respect to learning and enjoyment (N = 50). While students learned in all three conditions, our results indicated no significant condition differences in learning outcomes, enjoyment, or engagement. However, the learning-oriented group engaged more in re-practicing, while the enjoyment-oriented group demonstrated more exploration of different mini-games. Further analyses of students’ interactions with the open learner and enjoyment models revealed that students who followed the learner model demonstrated better in-game learning and test performance, while following the enjoyment model did not impact learning outcomes. These findings indicate that emphasizing learning or enjoyment can lead to distinctive game play behaviors, and that open learner models can be helpful in a learning game context. In turn, our analyses have led to preliminary ideas about how to use AI to provide recommendations that are more aligned with students’ dynamic learning and enjoyment states and preferences.
Este trabalho analisou a pesquisa realizada na última década a respeito do uso de jogos para promover o engajamento na aprendizagem de conteúdos teóricos. A utilização desse tipo de abordagem está presente no meio educacional há muitos anos, devido às deficiências notadas no ensino tradicional no que se refere à motivação dos alunos. Isto porque é comum oestudante não conseguir perceber a aplicação prática de muitos dos conteúdos, principalmente os de cunho teórico. Estes alunos também consideram a atividade escolar como algo tedioso e pouco agradável. Através de uma revisão sistemática, este artigo aponta algumas das vantagens da utilização de jogos para o ensino de disciplinas teóricas, bem como recomendaçõespara um melhor aproveitamento deste recurso e também as limitações encontradas neste campo de pesquisa.
Background and Context
Block-based programming is a popular approach to teaching introductory programming. Block-based programming often works in the context of microworlds, where students solve specific puzzles. It is used, for example, within the Hour of Code event, which targets millions of students.
Objective
To identify design guidelines and data analysis methods for the iterative development of microworlds and puzzles for block-based programming.
Method
To achieve the objective, we provide a review of the literature, discussion of specific examples of microworlds and puzzles, and an analysis of extensive student data.
Findings
A wide range of programming microworlds share common elements. The analysis of data is useful for iterative improvement of microworlds and puzzles, serving several specific purposes.
Implications
Provided design guidelines and analysis methods can be directly used for the development and improvement of tools for introductory programming.
The study examines the relationship of challenge-skill balance and the player experience through evaluation of competence, autonomy, presence, interest/enjoyment, and positive and negative affect states. To manipulate challenge-skill balance, three video game modes -- boredom (low challenge), balance (medium challenge), and overload (high challenge) -- were developed and experimentally tested (n = 45). The study showed that self-reported positive affect, autonomy, presence, and interest/enjoyment differed between the levels. The balance condition generally performed well in terms of positive player experiences, confirming the key role challenge-skill balance plays in designing for optimal play experiences. Interestingly, the study found significantly lower negative affect scores when playing the boredom condition. Greater feelings of competence were also reported for the boredom condition than the balance and overload conditions. Finally, some measures point to overload as a more enjoyable experience than boredom, suggesting possible player preference for challenge > skill imbalance over skill > challenge imbalance. Implications for design and future research are presented.
In this chapter a theory of motivation and emotion developed from an attributional perspective is presented. Before undertaking this central task, it might be beneficial to review the progression of the book. In Chapter 1 it was suggested that causal attributions have been prevalent throughout history and in disparate cultures. Studies reviewed in Chapter 2 revealed a large number of causal ascriptions within motivational domains, and different ascriptions in disparate domains. Yet some attributions, particularly ability and effort in the achievement area, dominate causal thinking. To compare and contrast causes such as ability and effort, their common denominators or shared properties were identified. Three causal dimensions, examined in Chapter 3, are locus, stability, and controllability, with intentionality and globality as other possible causal properties. As documented in Chapter 4, the perceived stability of a cause influences the subjective probability of success following a previous success or failure; causes perceived as enduring increase the certainty that the prior outcome will be repeated in the future. And all the causal dimensions, as well as the outcome of an activity and specific causes, influence the emotions experienced after attainment or nonattainment of a goal. The affects linked to causal dimensions include pride (with locus), hopelessness and resignation (with stability), and anger, gratitude, guilt, pity, and shame (with controllability).
This chapter reviews the recent research on motivation, beliefs, values, and goals, focusing on developmental and educational psychology. The authors divide the chapter into four major sections: theories focused on expectancies for success (self-efficacy theory and control theory), theories focused on task value (theories focused on intrinsic motivation, self-determination, flow, interest, and goals), theories that integrate expectancies and values (attribution theory, the expectancy-value models of Eccles et al., Feather, and Heckhausen, and self-worth theory), and theories integrating motivation and cognition (social cognitive theories of self-regulation and motivation, the work by Winne & Marx, Borkowski et al., Pintrich et al., and theories of motivation and volition). The authors end the chapter with a discussion of how to integrate theories of self-regulation and expectancy-value models of motivation and suggest new directions for future research.
Although scholars of video game enjoyment propose that games are meant to present a reasonable and appropriate challenge to players, not enough research has tested the effects of difficulty on enjoyment or the psychological mechanisms driving this relationship. In an experimental study involving college students (N = 121) playing a casual online tower defense game, we tested the relationship between difficulty and enjoyment and the possible mediating roles played by competency, as specified by self-determination theory, and challenge-skill balance, as specified by flow theory. Path analysis suggested that feelings of competency contribute to enjoyment by helping players obtain a balance between challenge and skill, and that competency is enhanced when players are assigned an easier game mode. This paper then addresses implications for theory, game design, and laboratory studies.
A chapter to appear in Aarts, H. and Elliot, A. Goal-directed behavior. Psychology Press.
Novelty and surprise play significant roles in animal behavior and in attempts to understand the neural mechanisms underlying it. They also play important roles in technology, where detecting observations that are novel or surprising is central to many applications, such as medical diagnosis, text processing, surveillance, and security. Theories of motivation, particularly of intrinsic motivation, place novelty and surprise among the primary factors that arouse interest, motivate exploratory or avoidance behavior, and drive learning. In many of these studies, novelty and surprise are not distinguished from one another: the words are used more-or-less interchangeably. However, while undeniably closely related, novelty and surprise are very different. The purpose of this article is first to highlight the differences between novelty and surprise and to discuss how they are related by presenting an extensive review of mathematical and computational proposals related to them, and then to explore the implications of this for understanding behavioral and neuroscience data. We argue that opportunities for improved understanding of behavior and its neural basis are likely being missed by failing to distinguish between novelty and surprise.
Why does performing certain tasks cause the aversive experience of mental effort and concomitant deterioration in task performance? One explanation posits a physical resource that is depleted over time. We propose an alternative explanation that centers on mental representations of the costs and benefits associated with task performance. Specifically, certain computational mechanisms, especially those associated with executive function, can be deployed for only a limited number of simultaneous tasks at any given moment. Consequently, the deployment of these computational mechanisms carries an opportunity cost - that is, the next-best use to which these systems might be put. We argue that the phenomenology of effort can be understood as the felt output of these cost/benefit computations. In turn, the subjective experience of effort motivates reduced deployment of these computational mechanisms in the service of the present task. These opportunity cost representations, then, together with other cost/benefit calculations, determine effort expended and, everything else equal, result in performance reductions. In making our case for this position, we review alternative explanations for both the phenomenology of effort associated with these tasks and for performance reductions over time. Likewise, we review the broad range of relevant empirical results from across sub-disciplines, especially psychology and neuroscience. We hope that our proposal will help to build links among the diverse fields that have been addressing similar questions from different perspectives, and we emphasize ways in which alternative models might be empirically distinguished.
School-researcher partnerships and large in vivo experiments help focus on useful, effective, instruction.
In this paper, we discuss the interest and the need to evaluate the difficulty of single player video games. We first show the importance of difficulty, drawing from semiotics to explain the link between tension-resolution cycles and challenge with the player’s enjoyment. Then, we report related work on automatic gameplay analysis. We show through a simple experimentation that automatic video game analysis is both practicable and can lead to interesting results. We argue that automatic analysis tools are limited if they do not consider difficulty from the player point of view. The last two sections provide a player and Game Design oriented definition of the challenge and difficulty notions in games. As a consequence we derive the property that must fulfil a measurable definition of difficulty.
The paper traces the vicissitudes of the Yerkes-Dodson law from 1908 to the present. In its original form, the law was intended to describe the relation between stimulus strength and habit-formation for tasks varying in discrimination difficultness. But later generations of investigations and textbook authors have rendered it variously as the effects of punishment, reward, motivation, drive, arousal, anxiety, tension or stress upon learning, performance, problem-solving, coping or memory; while the task variable has been commonly referred to as difficulty, complexity or novelty, when it is not omitted altogether. These changes are seldom explicitly discussed, and are often misattributed to Yerkes and Dodson themselves. The various reformulations are seen as reflecting conceptual changes and current developments in the areas of learning, motivation and emotion, and it is argued that the plasticity of the law also reflects the vagueness of basic psychological concepts in these areas.
An imbalance exists between the role of curiosity as a motivational force in nearly all human endeavors and the lack of scientific attention given to the topic. In recent years, however, there has been a proliferation of concepts that capture the essence of curiosity-recognizing, seeking out, and showing a preference for the new. In this chapter, we combine this work to address the nature of curiosity, where it fits in the larger scheme of positive emotions, the advantages of being curious in social relationships, links between curiosity and elements of well-being, and how it has been used in interventions to improve people's quality of life. Our emphasis is on methodologically sophisticated findings that show how curiosity operates in the laboratory and everyday life, and how, under certain conditions, curiosity can be a profound source of strength or a liability. People who are regularly curious and willing to embrace the novelty, uncertainty, and challenges that are inevitable as we navigate the shoals of everyday life are at an advantage in creating a fulfilling existence compared with their less curious peers. Our brief review is designed to bring further attention to this neglected, underappreciated, human universal.
This experiment examined the effects on the learning process of 3 complementary strategies—contextualization, personalization, and provision of choices—for enhancing students' intrinsic motivation. Elementary school children in 1 control and 4 experimental conditions worked with educational computer activities designed to teach arithmetical order of operations rules. In the control condition, this material was presented abstractly. In the experimental conditions, identical material was presented in meaningful and appealing learning contexts, in either generic or individually personalized form. Half of the students in each group were also offered choices concerning instructionally incidental aspects of the learning contexts; the remainder were not. Contextualization, personalization, and choice all produced dramatic increases, not only in students' motivation but also in their depth of engagement in learning, the amount they learned in a fixed time period, and their perceived competence and levels of aspiration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This research sought to integrate C. S. Dweck and E. L. Leggett's (1988) model with attribution theory. Three studies tested the hypothesis that theories of intelligence—the belief that intelligence is malleable (incremental theory) versus fixed (entity theory)—would predict (and create) effort versus ability attributions, which would then mediate mastery-oriented coping. Study 1 revealed that, when given negative feedback, incremental theorists were more likely than entity theorists to attribute to effort. Studies 2 and 3 showed that incremental theorists were more likely than entity theorists to take remedial action if performance was unsatisfactory. Study 3, in which an entity or incremental theory was induced, showed that incremental theorists' remedial action was mediated by their effort attributions. These results suggest that implicit theories create the meaning framework in which attributions occur and are important for understanding motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Video Games are boring when they are too easy and frustrating when they are too hard. While most single-player games allow players to adjust basic difficulty (easy, medium, hard, insane), their overall level of challenge is often static in the face of individual player input. This lack of flexibility can lead to mismatches between player ability and overall game difficulty. In this paper, we explore the computational and design requirements for a dynamic difficulty adjustment system. We present a probabilistic method (drawn predominantly from Inventory Theory) for representing and reasoning about uncertainty in games. We describe the implementation of these techniques, and discuss how the resulting system can be applied to create flexible interactive experiences that adjust on the fly.
Computer and video games are a prevalent form of entertainment in which the purpose of the design is to engage players. Game
designers incorporate a number of strategies and tactics for engaging players in “gameplay.” These strategies and tactics
may provide instructional designers with new methods for engaging learners. This investigation presents a review of game design
strategies and the implications of appropriating these strategies for instructional design. Specifically, this study presents
an overview of the trajectory of player positioning or point of view, the role of narrative, and methods of interactive design.
A comparison of engagement strategies in popular games and characteristics of engaged learning is also presented to examine
how strategies of game design might be integrated into the existing framework of engaged learning.
The web provides an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate ideas quickly using controlled experiments, also called randomized experiments, A/B tests (and their generalizations), split tests, Control/Treatment tests, MultiVariable Tests (MVT) and parallel flights. Controlled experiments embody the best scientific design for establishing a causal relationship between changes and their influence on user-observable behavior. We provide a practical guide to conducting online experiments, where end-users can help guide the development of features. Our experience indicates that significant learning and return-on-investment (ROI) are seen when development teams listen to their customers, not to the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion (HiPPO). We provide several examples of controlled experiments with surprising results. We review the important ingredients of running controlled experiments, and discuss their limitations (both technical and organizational). We focus on several areas that are critical to experimentation, including statistical power, sample size, and techniques for variance reduction. We describe common architectures for experimentation systems and analyze their advantages and disadvantages. We evaluate randomization and hashing techniques, which we show are not as simple in practice as is often assumed. Controlled experiments typically generate large amounts of data, which can be analyzed using data mining techniques to gain deeper understanding of the factors influencing the outcome of interest, leading to new hypotheses and creating a virtuous cycle of improvements. Organizations that embrace controlled experiments with clear evaluation criteria can evolve their systems with automated optimizations and real-time analyses. Based on our extensive practical experience with multiple systems and organizations, we share key lessons that will help practitioners in running trustworthy controlled experiments.
As consumers and business increasingly use the Internet, understanding how and why users choose website links or email links becomes correspondingly important. Two recent articles report a monotonic effect of link order and clicking on a link; this means that the higher a link’s position in a list of links, the greater the probability that visitors will click on that link. The difference in probability of clicking has important implications for designing webpage navigation for visitors.
We report on two field experiments that confirm and extend these studies, showing the efficacy of the first link, a primacy effect. Visitors to a site, however, also show an increased tendency to click on links at the end of the list, a recency effect that previous studies failed to note. This article discusses the potential reasons for recency effects, and the implications of serial position effects more generally.
Mainly motivated by the current lack of a qualitative and quantitative entertainment formulation of computer games and the procedures to generate it, this article covers the following issues: It presents the features—extracted primarily from the opponent behavior—that make a predator/prey game appealing; provides the qualitative and quantitative means for measuring player entertainment in real time, and introduces a successful methodology for obtaining games of high satisfaction. This methodology is based on online (during play) learning opponents who demonstrate cooperative action. By testing the game against humans, we confirm our hypothesis that the proposed entertainment measure is consistent with the judgment of human players. As far as learning in real time against human players is concerned, results suggest that longer games are required for humans to notice some sort of change in their entertainment.
"Multi-armed bandits" offer a new paradigm for the AI-assisted design of user interfaces. To help designers understand the potential, we present the results of two experimental comparisons between bandit algorithms and random assignment. Our studies are intended to show designers how bandits algorithms are able to rapidly explore an experimental design space and automatically select the optimal design configuration. Our present focus is on the optimization of a game design space. The results of our experiments show that bandits can make data-driven design more efficient and accessible to interface designers, but that human participation is essential to ensure that AI systems optimize for the right metric. Based on our results, we introduce several design lessons that help keep human design judgment in the loop. We also consider the future of human-technology teamwork in AI-assisted design and scientific inquiry. Finally, as bandits deploy fewer low-performing conditions than typical experiments, we discuss ethical implications for bandits in large-scale experiments in education.
We use Bayesian optimization methods to design games that maximize user engagement. Participants are paid to try a game for several minutes, at which point they can quit or continue to play voluntarily with no further compensation. Engagement is measured by player persistence, projections of how long others will play, and a post-game survey. Using Gaussian process surrogate-based optimization, we conduct efficient experiments to identify game design characteristics---specifically those influencing difficulty---that lead to maximal engagement. We study two games requiring trajectory planning, the difficulty of each is determined by a three-dimensional continuous design space. Two of the design dimensions manipulate the game in user-transparent manner (e.g., the spacing of obstacles), the third in a subtle and possibly covert manner (incremental trajectory corrections). Converging results indicate that overt difficulty manipulations are effective in modulating engagement only when combined with the covert manipulation, suggesting the critical role of a user's self-perception of competence.
Student modeling techniques are evaluated mostly using historical data. Researchers typically do not pay attention to details of the origin of the used data sets. However, the way data are collected can have important impact on evaluation and interpretation of student models. We discuss in detail two ways how data collection in educational systems can influence results: mastery attrition bias and adaptive choice of items. We systematically discuss previous work related to these biases and illustrate the main points using both simulated and real data. We summarize specific consequences for practice -- not just for doing evaluation of student models, but also for data collection and publication of data sets.
In this work we try to connect research on student modeling and student motivation, particularly on the relation between task difficulty and engagement. We perform experiments within widely used adaptive practice system for geography learning. The results document the impact of the choice of a question construction algorithm and target difficulty on student perception of question suitability and on their willingness to use the system. We also propose and evaluate a mechanism for a dynamic difficulty adjustment.
This research sought to integrate C. S. Dweck and E. L. Leggett's (1988) model with attribution theory. Three studies tested the hypothesis that theories of intelligence-the belief that intelligence is malleable (incremental theory) versus fixed (entity theory)-would predict (and create) effort versus ability attributions, which would then mediate mastery-oriented coping. Study 1 revealed that, when given negative feedback, incremental theorists were more likely than entity theorists to attribute to effort. Studies 2 and 3 showed that incremental theorists were more likely than entity theorists to take remedial action if performance was unsatisfactory. Study 3, in which an entity or incremental theory was induced, showed that incremental theorists' remedial action was mediated by their effort attributions. These results suggest that implicit theories create the meaning framework in which attributions occur and are important for understanding motivation.
Online controlled experiments can serve as a powerful tool to facilitate theory building. The commercial software industry regularly uses online experimentation (e.g., A/B tests) to understand which of several interaction designs produce more optimal results. However, online controlled experiments can also be used to test generalizable theories about how and why interaction designs affect user behavior. To illustrate the opportunities for online theory testing, this paper describes a recent experiment designed to validate the hypothesis that " moderate challenge will produce optimal motivation ". This hypothesis was tested by deploying thousands of variations of an online educational game to >50,000 users. Surprisingly, the results showed that minimal challenge consistently produced superior motivation. One implication from these results is that a rapid growth in online theoretical experiments could lead to the rapid development of empirically-validated design theory and even an interaction design science.
Large-scale online experiments can test generalizable theories about how designs affect users. While online software companies run hundreds of thousands of experiments every day, nearly all of these experiments are simple A/B tests structured to identify which software design is better. In contrast, this thesis highlights opportunities for an “interaction design science” where online experiments can test generalizable theories explaining how and why different software designs affect user interactions.
To illustrate the basic scientific opportunities inherent within large-scale online design experiments, this thesis deploys over 10,000 variations of an online educational game to more than 100,000 learners in order to test basic psychological theories of motivation. In contrast to dominant theories of motivation, which predict that a moderate level of challenge maximizes motivation, these experiments find that difficulty has a consistently negative effect on motivation, unless accompanied by specific design factors. However, a series of parallel experiments provide evidence that a moderate level of novelty maximizes motivation, while also increasing difficulty. These results suggest that previous theoretical formulations of challenge may be conflating difficulty and novelty. These experiments are conducted within Battleship Numberline, a systematically designed learning game that has been played over three million times.
This thesis argues that accelerating the pace of online design experiments can accelerate basic science, particularly the scientific theory underlying interaction design. For instance, a testable taxonomy of motivational design elements is presented, which could be validated through a series of online experiments. Yet, while it may be feasible to run thousands of design experiments, analyzing and learning from this large-scale experimentation is a new and important scientific challenge. To address this issue, this thesis investigates the use of multi-armed bandit algorithms to automatically explore (and optimize) the design space of online software. To synthesize these results, this thesis provides a summary table of all 17 tested hypotheses, offers a design pattern for producing online experiments that contribute to generalizable theory and proposes a model that illustrates how online software experiments can accelerate both basic science and data-driven continuous improvement.
“Multi-armed bandits” offer a new paradigm for designing user interfaces in collaboration with AI and user data. To help designers understand the potential, we present the results of two experimental comparisons between bandit algorithms and random assignment. Our studies are intended to show designers how bandits algorithms are able to rapidly explore an experimental design space and then automatically select the optimal design configuration.
Our experimental results show that bandits can make data- driven design more efficient and accessible to interface designers, but that human participation is essential to ensure that AI systems optimize for the right metric. Based on our results, we introduce several design lessons that help keep human design judgment “in the loop”. As bandits expose players to significantly fewer “low-performing” conditions, we discuss ethical implications for large-scale online experimentation in education. Finally, we consider the future for “Human-Technology Teamwork” in AI-assisted design and scientific inquiry.
Fatigue can have a major impact on an individual’s performance and wellbeing, yet is poorly understood, even within the scientific community. There is no developed theory of its origins or functions, and different types of fatigue (mental, physical, sleepiness) are routinely confused. The widespread interpretation of fatigue as a negative consequence of work may be true only for externally imposed goals; meaningful or self-initiated work is rarely tiring and often invigorating. In the fi rst book dedicated to the systematic treatment of fatigue for over sixty years, Robert Hockey examines its many aspects – social history, neuroscience, energetics, exercise physiology, sleep and clinical implications – and develops a new motivational control theory, in which fatigue is treated as an emotion having a fundamental adaptive role in the management of goals. He then uses this new perspective to explore the role of fatigue in relation to individual motivation, working life and wellbeing.
We model demand for noninstrumental information, drawing on the idea that people derive entertainment utility from suspense and surprise. A period has more suspense if the variance of the next period’s beliefs is greater. A period has more surprise if the current belief is further from the last period’s belief. Under these definitions, we analyze the optimal way to reveal information over time so as to maximize expected suspense or surprise experienced by a Bayesian audience. We apply our results to the design of mystery novels, political primaries, casinos, game shows, auctions, and sports.
There is great interest in leveraging video games to improve student engagement and motivation. However, educational games are not uniformly effective, and little is known about how in-game rewards affect children's learning-related behavior. In this work, we argue that educational games can be improved by fundamentally changing their incentive structures to promote the growth mindset, or the belief that intelligence is malleable. We present "brain points," a system that encourages the development of growth mindset behaviors by directly incentivizing effort, use of strategy, and incremental progress. Through a study of 15,000 children, we show that the "brain points" system encourages more low-performing students to persist in the educational game Refraction when compared to a control, and increases overall time played, strategy use, and perseverance after challenge. We believe that this growth mindset incentive structure has great potential in many educational environments.
Online games can serve as research instruments to explore the effects of game design elements on motivation and learning. In our research, we manipulated the design of an online math game to investigate the effect of challenge on player motivation and learning. To test the "Inverted-U Hypothesis", which predicts that maximum game engagement will occur with moderate challenge, we produced two large-scale (10K and 70K subjects), multi-factor (2x3 and 2x9x8x4x25) online experiments. We found that, in almost all cases, subjects were more engaged and played longer when the game was easier, which seems to contradict the generality of the Inverted-U Hypothesis. Troublingly, we also found that the most engaging design conditions produced the slowest rates of learning. Based on our findings, we describe several design implications that may increase challenge-seeking in games, such as providing feedforward about the anticipated degree of challenge.
Anyone can master the fundamentals of game design - no technological expertise is necessary. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses shows that the same basic principles of psychology that work for board games, card games and athletic games also are the keys to making top-quality videogames. Good game design happens when you view your game from many different perspectives, or lenses. While touring through the unusual territory that is game design, this book gives the reader one hundred of these lenses - one hundred sets of insightful questions to ask yourself that will help make your game better. These lenses are gathered from fields as diverse as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, writing, puzzle design, and anthropology. Anyone who reads this book will be inspired to become a better game designer - and will understand how to do it.
It is held that many of the current problems in the field of motivation arise from the acceptance of a conceptual nervous system of an earlier day. To develop this thesis, the author examines the concept of motivation as it relates to the conceptual nervous systems of the period before 1930, of the period 10 years ago, and of today. It is shown that today's physiology provides common ground for communication among the differing conceptions of motivation. 51 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
In order to examine the hypothesis that children derive maximum pleasure from optimally challenging tasks, sixth graders were given anagram problems at 4 difficulty levels. The results suggested that a curvilinear model may best describe the relationship between pleasure and task difficulty for correctly solved items where the subject has no choice of the problems to be solved. Active choice of optimally challenging items was also assessed in a second phase of the study, where half of the subjects were instructed that the task was a game and half were instructed that it was a school-type task for which they would receive letter grades. Under the game condition children chose and verbalized their preference for optimally challenging problems. Those children working for grades chose significantly easier anagrams to perform. Not only did the latter subjects respond below their optimal level, but they manifested less pleasure and verbalized more anxiety. The findings are discussed in terms of the need to refine existing models of the relationship between task difficulty and pleasure as well as to consider the effects which such extrinsic motivators as grades may have on attenuating intrinsic motivation.
In a task choice situation, why do some students spontaneously choose challenging tasks while others do not? In the study, 114 undergraduate students were first asked of their perceived competence and interest in solving number puzzles at both individual and situational levels, and then asked to choose one puzzle from four difficulty levels. They received no performance feedback throughout the session. Regression analyses indicated that the students with higher individual interest levels chose more challenging puzzles, while the students with higher levels of perceived competence and low levels of individual interest did not necessarily choose difficult puzzles. The students who chose more challenging puzzles attributed their choices to interest rather than perceived competence. The study suggests a limitation of relying on students' self-reported confidence in their ability and the importance of conceptualizing individual interest as the reason behind the choice of challenging tasks in a low-pressure task choice environment.
Two experiments, in which Ss were exposed to sequences of colored shapes, investigated effects on ratings of “pleasingness”
and “interestingness” of variables that had previously been shown to affect ratings of “novelty.” The results indicate, on
the whole, that both pleasingness and interestingness increase with novelty. These findings run counter to those of experiments
indicating an inverse relation between novelty and verbally expressed preference. Two further experiments examined effects
of some variables that might account for this apparent discrepancy. Homogeneous sequences declined in judged “pleasantness”
more than sequences in which several stimuli were interspersed, and simple stimuli became less pleasant as they became less
novel, while complex stimuli declined less or became more pleasant. The findings are related to hypotheses regarding mechanisms
of hedonic value. Two crucial predictions were confirmed in a fifth experiment.
First, a number of previous theories of intrinsic motivation are reviewed. Then, several studies of highly motivating computer games are described. These studies focus on what makes the games fun, not on what makes them educational. Finally, with this background, a rudimentary theory of intrinsically motivating instruction is developed, based on three categories: challenge, fantasy, and curiosity.
Challenge is hypothesized to depend on goals with uncertain outcomes. Several ways of making outcomes uncertain are discussed, including variable difficulty level, multiple level goals, hidden information, and randomness. Fantasy is claimed to have both cognitive and emotional advantages in designing instructional environments. A distinction is made between extrinsic fantasies that depend only weakly on the skill used in a game, and intrinsic fantasies that are intimately related to the use of the skill. Curiosity is separated into sensory and cognitive components, and it is suggested that cognitive curiosity can be aroused by making learners believe their knowledge structures are incomplete, inconsistent, or unparsimonious.