The effectiveness of adaptive versus non-adaptive learning with digital educational games

For the training of academic skills, digital educational games with integrated adaptivity are promising. Adaptive games are considered superior to non-adaptive games, because they constantly assess children's performance, and accordingly adapt the difficulty of the tasks corresponding to the children's individual level. However, empirical evidence with regard to the effectivity of adaptive compared to non-adaptive games is limited. A study was conducted with 191 children from the third year of Kinder garten who were enrolled in one of three conditions, that is, playing an adaptive version of the reading game (RG), a non-adaptive version of the RG or training with pen-and-paper exercises. In all three conditions, children trained emergent reading (phonological awareness and letter knowledge) once a week for 30 min over a period of 5 weeks. Children's performance on cognitive (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, reading fluency) and non-cognitive (motivation, self-concept) factors was assessed. Results revealed a significant improvement in phonological awareness and letter knowledge in all conditions. However, no differences between the conditions were observed with respect to children's improvement on phonological awareness and letter knowledge or on their post-test scores for reading fluency. With regard to motivation and self-concept, again, no differences in these non-cognitive factors were observed across conditions.     

Context-dependent semantic priming in number naming.

Previous research has shown that time to name single-digit Arabic numbers is about 15 ms slower when naming trials are interleaved with simple multiplication (e.g., state product of 2 × 3) than when naming digits is interleaved with magnitude comparison (e.g., state larger; 2 ↑ 3). To explain this phenomenon, J. I. D. Campbell and A. W. S. Metcalfe (2008) proposed that the comparison context enables both semantic and asemantic pathways for digit naming but that number-fact retrieval inhibits the semantic route and slows digit naming relative to the comparison context. To test this hypothesis, the authors modified the naming context paradigm by introducing a semantic priming manipulation. They replicated the digit-naming response time advantage for comparison relative to the multiplication context and observed semantic priming only in the comparison context. In comparison blocks, digit naming was 8 ms faster immediately after naming near digit primes (±1) compared to far primes (≥3), but in multiplication blocks there was no priming. The results reinforce the theory that number-fact retrieval can inhibit the semantic route for digit naming (L. Cohen & S. Dehaene, 1995) and thereby reconfigure the cognitive architecture for naming digits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mechanisms of masked priming: A meta-analysis.

The extent to which unconscious information can influence behavior has been a topic of considerable debate throughout the history of psychology. A frequently used method for studying subliminal processing is the masked priming paradigm. The authors focused on studies in which this paradigm was used. Their aim was twofold: first, to assess the magnitude of subliminal priming across the literature and to determine whether subliminal primes are processed semantically, and second, to examine potential moderators of priming effects. The authors found significant priming in their analyses, indicating that unconsciously presented information can influence behavior. Furthermore, priming was observed under circumstances in which a nonsemantic interpretation could not fully explain the effects, suggesting that subliminally presented information can be processed semantically. Nonetheless, the nonsemantic processing of primes is enhanced and priming effects are boosted when the experimental context allows the formation of automatic stimulus–response mappings. This quantitative review also revealed several moderators that influence the strength of priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Numbers and space: A computational model of the SNARC effect.

The SNARC (spatial numerical associations of response codes) effect reflects the tendency to respond faster with the left hand to relatively small numbers and with the right hand to relatively large numbers (S. Dehaene, S. Bossini, & P. Giraux, 1993). Using computational modeling, the present article aims to provide a framework for conceptualizing the SNARC effect. In line with models of spatial stimulus-response congruency, the authors modeled the SNARC effect as the result of parallel activation of preexisting links between magnitude and spatial representation and short-term links created on the basis of task instructions. This basic dual-route model simulated all characteristics associated with the SNARC effect. In addition, 2 experiments tested and confirmed new predictions derived from the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unconscious Primes Activate Motor Codes Through Semantics.

Today, it is generally accepted that unconscious stimuli can activate a response code, which leads to a response congruency effect (RCE) on a subsequent target. However, it is not yet clear whether this is due to the semantic processing of the primes or to the formation of direct stimulus-response (S-R) associations bypassing the semantic system. Recently, it was shown that even novel primes, for which no direct S-R links exist, can also evoke an RCE that is in line with the activation of response codes through semantics. In these experiments, the authors examined 3 alternatives for this RCE from novel primes and report a novel effect in unconscious priming. First, the authors show that this effect is not limited to a small set of numerical stimuli but also extends to letter stimuli (Experiments 1-3). Second, the authors show that the RCE is not a side effect of the prime-target distance effect, as has been reported before (Experiments 1-2). Third, the authors found that, for RCE to occur, overlap at the motor level but not at the semantic level was crucial (Experiments 2-3). Finally, in addition, the results showed a category match priming effect independent of RCE. This last result is evidence that novel unconscious primes activate their semantic category prior to the target and might be considered a good marker for semantic processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)