Challenge, motivation, and effort: Neural and behavioral correlates of self-control of difficulty during practice.

Self-control of task-relevant parameters during practice results in superior learning. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. To investigate these effects, we collected frontal alpha asymmetry (ΔFAS) and midline frontal theta (ΔMFT). Sixty novice participants were randomized into a self-controlled group, controlling difficulty for each block in a videogame task, or a yoked group, with difficulty matched to a self-controlled counterpart. ΔMFT decreased with better performance and increased at higher levels of difficulty, but the effect of difficulty was moderated by group. There was also a Block x Group interaction for ΔMFT. Changing difficulty depended on a participant's group and score, and participant engagement in the self-controlled group. This pattern of results suggests that self-controlled participants were better prepared to deal with more difficult environments. These data provide insight into the physiological factors that might explain self-controlled learning effects.

The effects of autonomous difficulty selection on engagement, motivation, and learning in a motion-controlled video game task.

This experiment investigated the relationship between motivation, engagement, and learning in a video game task. Previous studies have shown increased autonomy during practice leads to superior retention of motor skills, but it is not clear why this benefit occurs. Some studies suggest this benefit arises from increased motivation during practice; others suggest the benefit arises from better information processing. Sixty novice participants were randomly assigned to a self-controlled group, who chose the progression of difficulty during practice, or to a yoked group, who experienced the same difficulty progression but did not have choice. At the end of practice, participants completed surveys measuring intrinsic motivation and engagement. One week later, participants returned for a series of retention tests at three different difficulty levels. RM-ANCOVA (controlling for pre-test) showed that the self-controlled group had improved retention compared to the yoked group, on average, ß=46.78, 95% CI=[2.68, 90.87], p=0.04, but this difference was only statistically significant on the moderate difficulty post-test (p=0.004). The self-controlled group also showed greater intrinsic motivation during practice, t(58)=2.61, p=0.01. However, there was no evidence that individual differences in engagement (p=0.20) or motivation (p=0.87) were associated with learning, which was the relationship this experiment was powered to detect. These data are inconsistent with strictly motivational accounts of how autonomy benefits learning, instead suggesting the benefits of autonomy may be mediated through other mechanisms. For instance, within the information processing framework, the learning benefits may emerge from learners appropriately adjusting difficulty to maintain an appropriate level of challenge (i.e., maintaining the relationship between task demands and cognitive resources).

The Relationship Between Engagement and Neurophysiological Measures of Attention in Motion-Controlled Video Games: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Video games and virtual environments continue to be the subject of research in health sciences for their capacity to augment practice through user engagement. Creating game mechanics that increase user engagement may have indirect benefits on learning (ie, engaged learners are likely to practice more) and may also have direct benefits on learning (ie, for a fixed amount of practice, engaged learners show superior retention of information or skills). OBJECTIVE: To manipulate engagement through the aesthetic features of a motion-controlled video game and measure engagement's influence on learning. METHODS: A group of 40 right-handed participants played the game under two different conditions (game condition or sterile condition). The mechanics of the game and the amount of practice were constant. During practice, event-related potentials (ERPs) to task-irrelevant probe tones were recorded during practice as an index of participants' attentional reserve. Participants returned for retention and transfer testing one week later. RESULTS: Although both groups improved in the task, there was no difference in the amount of learning between the game and sterile groups, countering previous research. A new finding was a statistically significant relationship between self-reported engagement and the amplitude of the early-P3a (eP3a) component of the ERP waveform, such that participants who reported higher levels of engagement showed a smaller eP3a (beta=-.08, P=.02). CONCLUSIONS: This finding provides physiological data showing that engagement elicits increased information processing (reducing attentional reserve), which yields new insight into engagement and its underlying neurophysiological properties. Future studies may objectively index engagement by quantifying ERPs (specifically the eP3a) to task-irrelevant probes.

Why self-controlled feedback enhances motor learning: Answers from electroencephalography and indices of motivation.

It was tested whether learners who choose when to receive augmented feedback while practicing a motor skill exhibit enhanced augmented feedback processing and intrinsic motivation, along with superior learning, relative to learners who do not control their feedback. Accordingly, participants were assigned to either self-control (Self) or yoked groups and asked to practice a non-dominant arm beanbag toss. Self participants received augmented feedback at their discretion, whereas Yoked participants were given feedback schedules matched to Self counterparts. Participants' visual feedback was occluded, and when they received augmented feedback, their processing of it was indexed with the electroencephalography-derived feedback-related negativity (FRN). Participants self-reported intrinsic motivation via the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) after practice, and completed a retention and transfer test the next day to index learning. Results partially support the hypothesis. Specifically, Self participants reported higher IMI scores, exhibited larger FRNs, and demonstrated better accuracy on the transfer test, but not on the retention test, nor did they exhibit greater consistency on the retention or transfer tests. Additionally, post-hoc multiple regression analysis indicated FRN amplitude predicted transfer test accuracy (accounting for IMI score). Results suggest self-controlled feedback schedules enhance feedback processing, which enhances the transfer of a newly acquired motor skill.

The efficacy of auditory probes in indexing cognitive workload is dependent on stimulus complexity.

We examined whether the utility of a recently developed auditory probe technique for indexing cognitive workload was dependent on the stimulus properties of the probes. EEG was recorded while participants played a videogame under various levels of cognitive workload. At each level of workload, participants were probed with one of four different types of auditory stimuli: novel complex, repeated complex, novel simple, or repeated simple sounds. Probe efficacy at indexing cognitive workload was assessed by determining which probes elicited ERP components that decreased monotonically as a function of workload. Results suggest that complex auditory stimuli were significantly more effective in indexing cognitive workload than simple stimuli. The efficacy of complex stimuli was due to their ability to elicit a robust orienting response, indexed by the early P3a component of the ERP, which decreased monotonically as a function of cognitive workload.