Folkins, J. W., Brackenbury, T., Krause, M., &
Haviland, A. (2016). Enhancing the Therapy Experience Using Principles of Video
Game Design. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology / American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 25(1), 111–121.
Gamers around the world, on average,
spend eight hours per week playing video games. Although games are played at
one’s own leisure, sometimes it is difficult to put the game down even when
mentally fatigued. Such attraction to video games can be explained by six key
principles: essential experience, discovery, risk-taking, generalization,
reward system, and identity. Folkins et al. discuss these key principles and explain
how they can be incorporated into future therapies among speech language
pathologists.
The essential experience principle
is the idea of positive experience felt from playing the game itself. Minecraft is an example of a game where
gamers can freely roam and create massive structures using their own
imagination. This game has no specific goal or purpose, but the positive
experience of exploring and creating structures compels gamers to continue
playing. Clinicians can apply this principle in their therapy sessions by
addressing their client’s negative experiences and finding ways to improve
future experiences.
The discovery principle promotes
learning, discovering and unlocking skills or secrets to increase gamers’ level
of engagement. In a clinical perspective, environmental manipulation can be a
form of discovery learning. Children who have expressive impairments may
request a toy that is locked in a jar, but will not necessarily receive it until
the clinician elicits the production at the targeted level. If unsuccessful, the
child can request the toy multiple times and discover what form/level of
communication seems to work.
The risk-taking principle and the
reward system principle have the common theme of being challenging-yet-rewarding.
Challenging games that create the feeling of “pleasantly frustrated”, often
promote gamers to continue playing and re-trying unsuccessful levels. In
addition, if the reward has an intrinsic value (e.g. the ability to travel to a
different world), this further enhances their motivation and engagement. Applying
these principles to a clinical setting could mean creating an environment where
risk-taking is encouraged. Extrinsic rewards such as verbal reinforcement and
small prizes are a good use of the reward principle. However, rewards that have
intrinsic properties (e.g. successful communication, improved self-image) are
highly encouraged as this is a primary motivator to clients.
These key principles in game design
are highly effective in motivating gamers to continue playing. Clinicians are
encouraged to reflect on these principles when designing their therapy sessions
to increase their clients’ motivation and engagement.
Blogger: Joel Kang is an undergraduate
student in neuroscience and completed this honours thesis under Lisa
Archibald’s supervision
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