Good Newbie or Poor Newbie? Determinants of Video Game Skill Acquisition at an Early Stage

Objective. Multi-patient care is important among medical trainees in an emergency department (ED). While resident efficiency is a typically measured metric, multi-patient care involves both efficiency and diagnostic / treatment accuracy. Multi-patient care ability is difficult to assess, though simulation is a potential alternative. Our objective was to generate validity evidence for a serious game in assessing multi-patient care skills among a variety of learners. Methods. This was a cross-sectional validation study using a digital serious game VitalSignsTM simulating multi-patient care within a pediatric ED. Subjects completed 5 virtual “shifts,” triaging, stabilizing, and discharging or admitting patients within a fixed time period; patients arrived at cascading intervals with pre-programmed deterioration if neglected. Predictor variables included generic multi-tasking ability, video game experience, medical knowledge, and clinical efficiency with real patients. Outcome metrics in 3 domains measured diagnostic accuracy (i.e. critical orders, diagnoses), efficiency (i.e. number of patients, time-to-order) and critical thinking (number of differential diagnoses); MANOVA determined differences between novice learners and expected expert physicians. Spearman Rank correlation determined associations between levels of expertise. Results. Ninety-five subjects’ gameplays were analyzed. Diagnostic accuracy and efficiency distinguished skill level between residency trained (residents, fellows and attendings) and pre-residency trained (medical students and undergraduate) subjects, particularly for critical orders, patients seen, and correct diagnoses (p < 0.003). There were moderate to strong correlations between the game’s diagnostic accuracy and efficiency metrics compared to level of training, including patients seen (rho = 0.47, p < 0.001); critical orders (rho = 0.80, p < 0.001); time-to-order (rho = −0.24, p = 0.025); and correct diagnoses (rho = 0.69, p < 0.001). Video game experience also correlated with patients seen (rho = 0.24, p = 0.003). Conclusion. A digital serious game depicting a busy virtual ED can distinguish between expected experts in multi-patient care at the pre- vs. post-residency level. Further study can focus on whether the game appropriately assesses skill acquisition during residency.

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Striatal Volume Predicts Level of Video Game Skill Acquisition

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhp293 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 20 (11) ◽

pp. 2522-2530 ◽

Cited By ~ 87

Author(s):

K. I. Erickson ◽

W. R. Boot ◽

C. Basak ◽

M. B. Neider ◽

R. S. Prakash ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Skill Acquisition ◽

Video Game

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Long-term Motor Learning in the Wild with High Volume Video Game Data

10.1101/2021.09.15.460516 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer B Listman ◽

Jonathan Tsay ◽

Hyosub E Kim ◽

Wayne E Mackey ◽

David J Heeger

Keyword(s):

Motor Learning ◽

Time Scales ◽

Skill Acquisition ◽

Video Game ◽

Motor Skill ◽

Nonlinear Function ◽

High Volume ◽

Daily Practice ◽

Time Frame ◽

Large Sample Size

Motor learning occurs over long periods of practice during which motor acuity (the ability to execute actions more accurately, precisely, and within a shorter amount of time) improves. Laboratory-based motor learning studies are typically limited to a small number of participants and a time frame of minutes to several hours per participant. Thus, there is a need to assess the generalizability of theories and findings from lab-based motor learning studies on much larger samples across longer time scales. In addition, laboratory-based studies of motor learning use relatively simple motor tasks which participants are unlikely to be intrinsically motivated to learn, limiting the interpretation of their findings in more ecologically valid settings. We studied the acquisition and longitudinal refinement of a complex sensorimotor skill embodied in a first-person shooter video game scenario, with a large sample size (N = 7174 participants, 682,564 repeats of the 60 sec game) over a period of months. Participants voluntarily practiced the gaming scenario for as much as several hours per day up to 100 days. We found improvement in performance accuracy (quantified as hit rate) was modest over time but motor acuity (quantified as hits per second) improved considerably, with 40-60% retention from one day to the next. We observed steady improvements in motor acuity across multiple days of video game practice, unlike most motor learning tasks studied in the lab that hit a performance ceiling rather quickly. Learning rate was a nonlinear function of baseline performance level, amount of daily practice, and to a lesser extent, number of days between practice sessions. In addition, we found that the benefit of additional practice on any given day was non-monotonic; the greatest improvements in motor acuity were evident with about an hour of practice and 90% of the learning benefit was achieved by practicing 30 minutes per day. Taken together, these results provide a proof-of-concept in studying motor skill acquisition outside the confines of the traditional laboratory and provide new insights into how a complex motor skill is acquired in an ecologically valid setting and refined across much longer time scales than typically explored.

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Three Aspects of Skill Acquisition

10.31234/osf.io/rh6zt ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

John Anderson ◽

Shawn Betts ◽

Daniel Bothell ◽

Ryan M. Hope ◽

Christian Lebiere

Keyword(s):

Skill Acquisition ◽

Video Game ◽

Computational Models ◽

Human Learning ◽

Control Parameters ◽

The Third ◽

Complex Skill ◽

Play Space ◽

Three Components

A theory is presented about how instruction and experience combine to produce competence in a complex skill. The theory depends critically on three components of the ACT-R architecture. The first component interprets declarative representations of instruction so that they lead to action. The second component converts this knowledge into procedural form so that appropriate actions can be quickly executed. The third component, newly added to the architecture, learns the setting of control parameters for actions through a process similar to reinforcement learning.. These three components are intermingled throughout the course of skill acquisition, providing an instantiation of Fitts’ (1964) original characterization of skill acquisition as involving gradual shifts in the factor structure of skills. The overall theory is implemented in computational models that are capable of simulating human learning in different versions of the video game Space Fortress. Other than humans, these models are the only agents, natural or artificial, capable of learning to play Space Fortress.

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Neuroanatomical Correlates of Motor Acquisition and Motor Transfer

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.01187.2007 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 99 (4) ◽

pp. 1836-1845 ◽

Cited By ~ 69

Author(s):

R. D. Seidler ◽

D. C. Noll

Keyword(s):

Skill Acquisition ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Early Stage ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Brain Activation ◽

Visuomotor Adaptation ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Parietal Lobule ◽

The Right ◽

Motor Transfer

The acquisition of new motor skills is dependent on task practice. In the case of motor transfer, learning can be facilitated by prior practice of a similar skill. Although a multitude of studies have investigated the brain regions contributing to skill acquisition, the neural bases associated with the savings seen at transfer have yet to be determined. In the current study, we used functional MRI to examine how brain activation differs during acquisition and transfer of a visuomotor adaptation task. Two groups of participants adapted manual aiming movements to three different rotations of the feedback display in a sequential fashion, with a return to baseline display conditions between each rotation. Subjects showed a savings in the rate of adaptation when they had prior adaptive experiences (i.e., positive transfer of learning). This savings was associated with a reduction in activity of brain regions typically recruited early in the adaptation process, including the right inferior frontal gyrus, primary motor cortex, inferior temporal gyrus, and the cerebellum (medial HIII). Moreover, although these regions exhibit activation that is correlated across subjects with the rate of acquisition, the degree of savings at transfer was correlated with activity in the right cingulate gyrus, left superior parietal lobule, right inferior parietal lobule, left middle occipital gyrus, and bilaterally in the cerebellum (HV/VI). The cerebellar activation was in the regions surrounding the posterior superior fissure, which is thought to be the site of storage for acquired internal models. Thus we found that motor transfer is associated with brain activation that typically characterizes late learning and storage. Transfer seems to involve retrieval of a previously formed motor memory, allowing the learner to move more quickly through the early stage of learning.

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“Learning by Design”: What Sports Coaches can Learn from Video Game Designs

Sports Medicine - Open ◽

10.1186/s40798-021-00329-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sam Robertson ◽

Carl T. Woods

Keyword(s):

Skill Acquisition ◽

Video Game ◽

Interdisciplinary Approach ◽

Science Literature ◽

Learning By Design ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Sport Science ◽

Sport Practice ◽

Sports Coaches ◽

Made In

AbstractThere have been multiple calls made in the sport science literature for the promotion of interdisciplinarity to progress some of sports’ most prevailing challenges. Designing practice environments that support learning represents one such challenge, particularly given contemporary perspectives of skill acquisition and motor learning calls for coaches to realign their role—progressing toward the designers of practice tasks that promote athlete-environment interactions. In doing so, performers learn through exploration, deepening a relationship with their performance environment as they solve problems based on changing and interacting constraints. This paper illustrates an interdisciplinary approach to the area of learning through sport practice by adapting established principles embedded in video game designs. Specifically, 13 principles common to good video game designs are described, with practical examples of each provided across different sports. Fundamentally, this paper aims to offer sports practitioners with an overview and application of key principles that could support learning by design. Beyond this, the ideas presented here should further illustrate the value of interdisciplinarity in sports research and practice.

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New Developments in Understanding Skilled Performance

Current Directions in Psychological Science ◽

10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00511.x ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. 235-239 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

Phillip L. Ackerman

Keyword(s):

Skill Acquisition ◽

Video Game ◽

Domain Knowledge ◽

Journal Article ◽

Extended Period ◽

Recent Theory ◽

New Developments ◽

Skilled Performance ◽

Motor Movements ◽

High Degree

Skilled performance, whether it involves rapid and accurate motor movements (such as playing a video game or using a scalpel in the operating room) or a high degree of domain knowledge (such as finding a small tumor in an X-ray or writing a journal article) typically involves learning and practice over an extended period of time. In light of recent theory and empirical research, I consider two enduring issues associated with skill acquisition: whether individuals become more alike in performance or more different over the course of skill acquisition, and what the determinants of individual differences in skilled performance are. Two broad classes of tasks are considered: tasks that involve speed and accuracy of motor movements and tasks that primarily involve domain knowledge. Issues of practice, ability, and other determinants of skilled performance such as gender and aging are discussed.

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Internal and External Imagery Effects on Tennis Skills Among Novices

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.1177/0031512517719611 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 124 (5) ◽

pp. 1022-1043 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Amir Dana ◽

Elmira Gozalzadeh

Keyword(s):

Skill Acquisition ◽

Visual Imagery ◽

Early Stage ◽

Young Male ◽

Control Group ◽

Performance Accuracy ◽

Imagery Group ◽

Post Test ◽

Imagery Perspective ◽

Tennis Skills

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of internal and external visual imagery perspectives on performance accuracy of open and closed tennis skills (i.e., serve, forehand, and backhand) among novices. Thirty-six young male novices, aged 15–18 years, from a summer tennis program participated. Following initial skill acquisition (12 sessions), baseline assessments of imagery ability and imagery perspective preference were used to assign participants to one of three groups: internal imagery ( n = 12), external imagery ( n = 12), or a no-imagery (mental math exercise) control group ( n = 12). The experimental interventions of 15 minutes of mental imagery (internal or external) or mental math exercises followed by 15 minutes of physical practice were held three times a week for six weeks. The performance accuracy of the groups on the serve, forehand, and backhand strokes was measured at pre- and post-test using videotaping. Results showed significant increases in the performance accuracy of all three tennis strokes in all three groups, but serve accuracy in the internal imagery group and forehand accuracy in the external imagery group showed greater improvements, while backhand accuracy was similarly improved in all three groups. These findings highlight differential efficacy of internal and external visual imagery for performance improvement on complex sport skills in early stage motor learning.

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A Dyadic Protocol for Training Complex Skills

Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ◽

10.1177/001872089203400309 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 369-374 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

Wayne L. Shebilskem ◽

J. Wesley Regian ◽

Winfred Arthur ◽

Jeffrey A. Jordan

Keyword(s):

Skill Acquisition ◽

Video Game ◽

Research Tool ◽

Complex Skill ◽

Social Theories ◽

Dyadic Group ◽

Complex Skills ◽

And Performance ◽

Training Efficiency ◽

Training Protocol

We tested a dyadic training protocol derived from cognitive and social theories of complex skill acquisition. Forty undergraduates practiced Space Fortress, a video game-like research tool, for 10 sessions of eight practice and two test games. Half of them practiced and tested alone; the others had identical tests but dyadic practice, in which they controlled part of each practice while being interlocked with a partner who controlled the rest. Subjects practiced both parts and their connections by alternating roles and by modeling their partners. Trainer time and resources were half for the dyadic group, and performance was equivalent. We discuss applied and basic implications of this 100% increase in training efficiency.

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