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To be optimally effective, digital technologies should be adaptive to specific learners’ needs. Two examples are presented of data-informed approaches to developing digital games that support the development of executive functions (EF) in neurodiverse populations. The first is an experiment with younger and older adolescents that compared two versions of a video game designed to train the EF skill of inhibition. Based on developmental neurocognitive differences, one version focused on the speed of learners’ responses, while the other focused on the accuracy of responses. Results indicated that, as hypothesized, younger adolescents benefited more from the focus on speed, while the older adolescents benefited more from the focus on accuracy. In the second example, ongoing work on adapting an EF game designed to train the EF skill of shifting for high-functioning adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is presented. A detailed analysis of game log data, specifically data on speed and accuracy of responses in the game, revealed that although accuracy was near ceiling, there was greater variability in speed of responses. This suggests that for high-functioning adolescents with ASD, a version of the EF game that focuses on speed of response would be most beneficial. Next steps for the project are discussed, as are broader implications for data-driven approaches to designing adaptive digital tools for learning.

A contentious issue in contemporary psycholinguistics is whether bilingualism enhances executive functions. Here, we report a meta-analysis of 80 studies (253 effect sizes) comparing performance of monolinguals and bilinguals on non-verbal interference-control tasks, while examining potential moderators of effects on two dependent variables (DVs): global reaction time (RT) and interference cost. We used a multiverse approach to determine how robust conclusions were to several dataset construction and analysis decisions. In our "preferred" analysis, using a broad definition of bilinguals and standard versions of interference-control tasks, there was a very small but significant bilingual advantage for global RT (g =.13), which became non-significant once corrected for publication bias. For interference cost, there was a very small but significant bilingual advantage (g =.11). Effects were not significantly moderated by task or participant age, but were moderated by an interaction between age of second language acquisition (AoA) and the DV. Unexpectedly, larger effect sizes for interference cost were observed for studies involving bilinguals with late as opposed to early AoA. The multiverse analysis produced results largely consistent with the preferred analysis, confirming our conclusion that evidence for a bilingual advantage on interference-control tasks is weak.

Research suggests that gains in executive function (EF) skills training are strongest when task difficulty increases progressively, yet findings on the effectiveness of adaptive approaches for EF training are inconsistent. This study compared the effectiveness of an adaptive vs a non-adaptive version of a digital game designed to train the EF sub-skill of shifting. Results showed increases in shifting skills for all learners between pretest and posttest measures, with adolescents scoring higher than pre-adolescents and early adolescents on posttest measures. Data analysis uncovered a trend suggesting that the adaptive treatment may be more effective than the non-adaptive treatment for adolescents. User logs showed that adaptivity helped customize players’ gameplay based on their performance, by making game play easier for younger learners, and making game play more difficult for older learners. Results support the use of digital games to train EF for a broad range of learners.

The objective of the present study was to determine whether it is possible to design a video game that could help students improve their executive function skill of shifting between competing tasks and the conditions under which playing the game would lead to improvements on cognitive tests of shifting. College students played a custom video game, Alien Game, which required the executive function skill of shifting between competing tasks. When students played for 2 h over 4 sessions they developed significantly better performance on cognitive shifting tests compared to a control group that played a different game (d = 0.62), but not when they played for 1 h over 2 sessions. Students who played Alien Game at a high level of challenge (i.e., reaching a high level in the game) developed significantly better performance on cognitive shifting tests compared to controls when they played for 2 h (Experiment 1, d = 1.44), but not when they played for 1 h (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 replicated the results of Experiment 1 using an inactive control group, showing that playing Alien Game for 2 h resulted in significant improvements in shifting skills (d = 0.78). Results show the effectiveness of playing a custom-made game that focuses on a specific executive function skill for sufficient time at an appropriate level of challenge. Results support the specific transfer of general skills theory, in which practice of a cognitive skill in a game context transferred to performance on the same skill in a non-game context.

What is the affective quality of specific design features of game characters? The Integrative Model of Emotion in Game-based Learning (EmoGBL) describes common mechanisms of how emotion and learning processes interact to foster specific learning outcomes. In the present paper, we asked how color, shape, expression, and dimensionality of game characters induce emotions in digital games for learning. We investigated learners' perception of the affective quality of these four different visual design features for adults and adolescents using a forced choice paradigm (studies 1–3), as well as the PANAS-X and qualitative measures (study 4). Participants were shown a series of game characters and were asked to report their emotional response. Results show the relative contribution of the four visual attributes on players’ perception of affective quality, with the visual design features of expression and dimensionality having the strongest effect, color a medium-sized effect, and shape a small to medium-sized effect.

Reading to young children has a number of benefits, including supporting the acquisition of vocabulary and literacy skills. Digital reading games, including ones with new modes of interface such as the Kinect for Xbox, may provide similar benefits in part by allowing dynamic in-game activities. However, these activities may also be distracting and detract from learning. Children (ages 5-7 years, N = 39) were randomly assigned to either i) jointly read a story with an adult, ii) have the story read by a character in a Kinect game, or iii) have the story read by a character in a Kinect game plus in-game activities. Both Kinect-Activities and Book Reading groups had significant gains for High Frequency Words, Active Decoding, and Total Reading Score, but only Kinect-Activities group had significant gain for Sight words (p < .05). Overall, these findings are encouraging for the next generation of digital literacy games.

Research data have consistently shown that military veterans are more likely than the general U.S. population to experience mental health problems, as well as homelessness and unemployment. Additio...

The effects of language on symbolic functioning were examined using the boxes task, a new symbolic understanding task based on DeLoache's model task. Children (N = 32; ages 2;4–3;8) observed an object being hidden in a stack of four boxes and were then asked to retrieve a similar object in the same location from a set of four target boxes. Each box was identified with a different object sitting on a small ledge in front of it. Language use was manipulated by providing linguistic scaffolding (naming vs. standard) and by using objects to identify the boxes whose names were either known or unknown to the children (familiar vs. language control). Home language environment (monolingual vs. bilingual) and verbal age (measured via the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition) were also examined. Main effects were found for type of object (with familiar objects yielding better performance), home linguistic environment (with bilingualism resulting in better performance), and verbal age. There was also a verba...

Age-related changes in flexibility and automaticity of reasoning about social situations were investigated. Children (N = 101; age range = 7;8-17;7) were presented with the flexibility and automaticity of social cognition (FASC), a new measure of social cognition in which cartoon vignettes of social situations are presented and participants explain what is happening and why. Scenarios vary on whether the scenario is socially ambiguous and whether or not language is used. Flexibility is determined by the number of unique, plausible explanations, and automaticity is indicated by speed of response. Overall, both flexibility and automaticity increased significantly with age. Language and social ambiguity influenced performance. Future work should investigate differences in FASC in older populations and clinical groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores the relation among different characteristics of preadolescents and their video game habits and preferences. Specifically, the predictive power of age, gender, and psychological adjustment on time spent playing video games and game preference was explored. Children ages 10-15 were given two surveys: a video game habits survey and the BASC-II self-report assessment of personality. Results confirm previous findings of significant gender differences in both time spent playing video games and game type preference. For preadolescents, males were found to spend more time overall playing video games, but for both males and females time spent playing increased with age. No relation was found between time spent playing video games and negative psychological adjustment, as assessed by the BASC-II. Game type preference was predicted by several psychological characteristics. For example, females' positive feelings about the self were associated with increased likelihood of electing First Person Shooters as a favored game type, and males' internalizing difficulties were associated with decreased likelihood of electing Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs). The current findings confirm previous results with preadolescents, an under-studied age group, and lend novel insight into the psychological processes that contribute to video game preference.

Can multimedia learning environments be designed to foster positive emotions that will improve learning and related affective outcomes? College students (N 118) were randomly assigned to 4 conditions created by 2 factors related to learners’ emotion: external mood induction (positive vs. neutral emotions) and emotional design induction (positive vs. neutral emotions). A computer-based lesson on the topic of immunization was used as multimedia learning material. Results indicate that applying emotional design principles to learning materials can induce positive emotions and that positive emotions in multimedia-based learning facilitate cognitive processes and learning. Controlling for the germane load of the materials, the internal induction of positive emotions through design of the materials increased comprehension and transfer, whereas the external induction of positive emotions through mood induction enhanced transfer but not comprehension. Positive emotions induced through mood induction significantly increased the amount of learners’ reported mental effort, whereas positive emotional design reduced the perceived difficulty of the learning task. Positive emotions increased motivation, satisfaction, and perception toward the materials. Mediation analyses suggest that the effect of positive emotions induced externally was mediated by both motivation and mental effort but found no mediators for emotion induced via emotional design, suggesting that positive emotional design has a more direct impact on learning than externally induced emotions. The study suggests that emotions should be considered an important factor in the design of multimedia learning materials.

Are well-designed computer simulations an effective tool to support student understanding of complex concepts in chemistry when integrated into high school science classrooms? We investigated scaling up the use of a sequence of simulations of kinetic molecular theory and associated topics of diffusion, gas laws, and phase change, which we designed and experimentally tested. In the two effectiveness studies reported, one in a rural and the other in an urban context, chemistry teachers implemented two alternate versions of a curricular unit—an experimental version, incorporating simulations, and a control version, using text-based materials covering the same content. Participants were 718 high school students (357 rural and 361 urban), in a total of 25 classrooms. The implementation of the simulations was explored using criteria associated with fidelity of implementation (FOI). Each context provided insights into the role of FOI in affecting the effectiveness of the interventions when working with groups of teachers. Results supported the effectiveness of this sequence of simulations as a teaching tool in a classroom context, and confirmed the importance of FOI factors such as adherence and exposure in determining the specific environments in which these materials were most effective. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 394–419, 2012

This study sought to understand the patterns, methods of administration and contexts for methamphetamine use (MA) in a sample of racially diverse men who have sex with men (MSM). Inclusion into the study required participants to be classified as clinically dependent on MA, but indicate no other illicit substance use. Use was assessed using Timeline Followback for a period of 30 days. Of the 900 assessed days, MA use was reported on 217. Participants reported an average of seven days of use, with the majority of use occurring on the weekend. The weekend usage pattern suggests an incorporation of drugs into the lives of gay men as a means of socialization and recreation.

Two studies examined the use of video in multimedia learning environments. In Study 1, participants (N=26) viewed one of two versions of a computer-based multimedia presentation: video, which included a video of a lecture with synchronized slides, or no video, which included the slides but only an audio narration of the lecture. Learning, cognitive load and social presence were assessed, but a significant difference was found only for cognitive load, with video experiencing greater cognitive load, t (24)=2.45, p

The highly addictive drug methamphetamine has been associated with impairments in social cognitions as evidenced by changes in users' behaviors. Physiological changes in brain structure and functioning, particularly in the frontal lobe, have also been identified. The authors propose a biopsychosocial approach to understanding the effects of methamphetamine addiction by relating the physiological effects of the drug to the behaviors and social cognitions of its users, through the application of the theory of mind paradigm. Although onset of methamphetamine use has been linked to the desire for socialization, chronic use has been associated with an increase in depression, aggressiveness, and social isolation, behaviors that also implicate involvement of the frontal lobe. The reviewed literature provides strong circumstantial evidence that social-cognitive functioning is significantly impacted by methamphetamine use and that the social isolation, depression, and aggressiveness associated with chronic use is due to more than just the social withdrawal associated with addiction. Treatment considerations for methamphetamine must therefore consider the role of social cognition, and pharmacological responses must address the documented impact of the drug on frontal lobe functioning.

The study investigates the hypothesis that children's ability to attribute second-order beliefs facilitates their understanding of evidence, as seen in the ability to distinguish between causes and reasons. Seventy-four children 5–7 yr old were given belief and evidence tests. The belief tests assessed their ability to represent and reason from second-order false-beliefs, and the evidence tests assessed their ability to distinguish between the cause of a situation and a person's reason for believing it. The relation between performance on the two tests was determined, taking into account general language and non-verbal reasoning abilities. Results show that performance on the belief test and on the evidence part of the evidence test improved significantly over the age range, and that a significant proportion of variance in the evidence test scores is accounted for by second-order false-belief understanding, over and above that accounted for by general language and non-verbal abilities. The argument is made that second-order false-belief understanding is fundamental to children's epistemological development, underlying not just their understanding of evidence, but also their understanding of inference and truth.

Children's development of metalinguistic awareness has typically been portrayed as a product of more general development processes, or else as a natural consequence of speaking a language. In contrast, we suggest that, at least for certain properties of speech, literacy plays an essential role in the development of metalinguistic awareness by providing a model of the linguistic categories which are used to reflect on spoken language. This hypothesis was tested in two studies that examined the development of children's understanding of the concept of WORD. The first study investigated young children's understanding of the representational nature of writing. It was found that, even before they are functionally literate, children understand that writing represents the spoken word. The second study investigated the relationship of this early understanding of literacy to children's metalinguistic concept of word. It was found that children's understanding of word as a unit of speech was predicted by their awareness of word as a piece of written text. The results are discussed in relation to the MODEL hypothesis of literacy (Olson 1994), and are related to previous findings on children's metalinguistic understanding.

The principles for universal reading models proposed by Frost correspond to developmental theories, in which neurocognitive constraints and cultural experiences shape development. We question his contention that Hebrew word identification is fundamentally about roots, excluding verbal and nominal word-pattern morphemes; and we propose that readers use all information available in stimuli, adjusting for volume and usefulness.