The Use of Player-centered Positive Reinforcement to Schedule In-game Rewards Increases Enjoyment and Performance in a Serious Game

Among the methods used to increase enjoyment and performance in serious games, reward schedules, i.e., determining when in-game rewards should be given, have not been sufficiently explored. In the present study, we designed a simple memory training serious game and compared two methods of scheduling rewards, both based on the paradigm of positive reinforcement: fixed ratio schedule, in which rewards were given after a fixed number of correct responses, and variable ratio schedule, in which rewards were given after an unpredictable number of correct responses. To account for the variability in player preference for rewards, a player-centered sub-mode was included in both schedules by adjusting the schedule ratio according to player preference for rewards. The effectiveness of this approach was tested by comparing it against two more sub-modes: one which used a predetermined ratio, and another which set the ratio to the opposite of player preference. The game was put online and tested with 210 participants. Enjoyment, performance, duration of gameplay, and likelihood to play again were significantly higher in the player-centered sub-mode than the other sub-modes. On average, the variable-ratio schedule was better in the outcome measures than the fixed-ratio schedule. The results highlight the importance of in-game rewards, and indicate that giving rewards according to a player-centered variable-ratio schedule has the potential to make serious games more effective.

Students' Expectations Involving Parents' Contact Comfort, Duration of Child's Appropriate Behavior, and Child's Age

College students (24 men, 24 women) expected parents to wait a longer time for a child to continue to exhibit an appropriate response before initiating contact comfort with the child as the child grows older. If college students' expectations reflect reality, the obtained result supports the suggestion that appropriate behavior by a child is followed by parents initiating contact comfort on a variable-ratio schedule in which the size of the mean ratio increases with an increase in the child's age. This suggestion is of considerable importance, mainly because gradually increasing the response requirement for a ratio schedule is an excellent way first to establish and then maintain a response in the long-term absence of primary reinforcement.

Reserpine and the Partial Reinforcement Effect in the Fish Tilapia H. Macrocephala

A strong partial reinforcement effect was produced in 20 fish trained to a free operant striking response by injection of reserpine before extinction of the response. This was interpreted as a result of inhibition of responding during extinction of 20 Ss trained on a consistent schedule of reinforcement rather than facilitation of responding in Ss trained on a .4 variable ratio schedule of reinforcement.