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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. [This is the online version of an article published in "Learning and Instruction."]

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. [This paper was published in "Cognitive Development" v49 p56-67 2019.]

"Executive function" (EF), critical for many developmental outcomes, emerge in childhood and continue developing into early adulthood (Blakemore & Choudhury, 2006). During adolescence there are important developments in "Hot EF," which involves using EF in emotionally salient contexts (Zelazo & Carlson, 2012). The current study used an "emotional design" approach (Um, Plass, Hayward, & Homer, 2012) to study hot EF in adolescents playing a digital game designed to train the EF subskill of shifting. Participants (N = 233; aged 12 to 16, M = 13.8, SD = 1.1) played one of two version of the game: "hot" (with emotional design), or "cool" (with more emotionally neutral design). There was a main effect of condition, with higher posttest scores on shifting in the hot condition. Condition significantly interacted with age: older adolescents had better outcomes in the hot condition than in the cool condition. A three-way interaction between age, prior EF and condition was found, indicating that the age by condition interaction was affected by prior EF. These results indicate that the higher emotional arousal in the hot condition is more effective for enhancing EF skills, particularly for older adolescents, and argue for developing learning and training games that account for developmental changes such as the growth of hot EF in adolescence. [This paper was published in "Cognitive Development" v49 p20-32 2019.]