Shiv on Learning

Games are motivating. No matter how many times their character gets killed or loses, players keep trying over and over again until they have overcome that particular challenge. Here is a theory explaining why.

Attitudes of Learners

Extensive research has taken place into the attitudes of learners, their approach to learning and its effect on their ability to learn. Dr Carol Dweck, a leading researcher into psychology at Stanford University, describes entity and incremental theories of intelligence.

In a very small nutshell:

• Entity Theorists believe their skill level at a task or discipline to be a fixed entity, something that cannot change.
• Incremental Theorists believe that their skill level improves step by step incrementally and with hard work skills can be mastered.

Dweck’s research shows that incremental theorists are far more likely to rise to difficult challenges while incremental theorists are prone to quit when the going gets tough. More interestingly, it is not intelligence that determines whether one is a Entity or Incremental theorist but social conditioning. Someone with a high IQ with the attitude of an Entity theorist is less likely to complete a very difficult challenge than someone with a low IQ and the Incremental Theorist attitude. The incremental theorist will say ‘I need to work really hard to do this’ while the entity theorist will say ‘I am not smart enough to do this’.

For more on Carol Dweck’s work see her books.

How are Learners attitudes determined?

The attitude to a particular task can be determined by social conditioning. A subtle, seemingly trivial, difference in the way a task is presented or perceived can determine which of the above attitudes the learner takes.

Tests have been done in influencing children’s learning strategy. In once such test two groups of students were told to solve the same set of problems. One group was told that they would be judged on the results, the second were told that solving the problems would help them in their future education. The first group adopted the entity theorist mindset, the second adopted the incremental theorist mindset. The second group got better results.

What does this have to with computer games?

Computer games condition people to be Incremental Theorists. The level & feedback structure present the challenges of the computer games in such a way as to create the Incremental Theorists attitude in the player.

Games are designed so that players learn new skills as the game progresses. Mastering the skill set required to complete a level or task is never seen as the end in itself. It is only a small step towards completing the game. Players are never judged on their last performance. There is no limit on time or number of attempts allowed to master a skill. Players proceed through a game at their own pace. The time it takes a player to complete a game is usually of no significance.

Feedback provided by computer games to players tells them if they persevere they can succeed. Far from being judged on failure in a task, failure at a task is considered normal. Every failure to complete a task is immediately followed by an immediate opportunity to try again and again until you succeed.

It is usually not necessary to wait until the completion of the task to receive feedback. A task is comprised of many actions, most games will instantly tell the player how well they performed each action. The high frequency of feedback while completing tasks stops a user from continuing along the wrong path for too long. Players know that they can course-correct at any moment and change the outcome of the activity.

Throughout the game the attitude is fostered that if you try again you can succeed.