Gamification of an n-back working memory task – Is it worth the effort? An EEG and eye-tracking study

Gamification of cognitive tasks might positively affect emotional-motivational factors (emotional design perspective) or negatively affect cognitive factors like working memory load (minimalistic design perspective). The current study examined the effects of gamification in a spatial n-back working memory task on task performance, task load (i.e., working memory load and effort), and subjective task experience. Task load was assessed by the physiological process measures pupil dilation and EEG theta (4–6 Hz) and alpha (8–13 Hz) frequency band power. Gamification was achieved by elements of emotional design (i.e., the visual screen design using, e.g., color, cartoon figures as n-back stimuli, and a narrative embedding of the task). While EEG and eye-tracking were recorded, participants conducted gamified and non-gamified 1-back and 2-back load levels. The gamification resulted in positive effects on subjective task experience and affect. Despite these effects, gamification did not affect task performance and task load. However, exploratory analyses revealed increased EEG theta power at right-parietal electrodes for gamified task versions compared to non-gamified ones. Potentially, this effect might indicate participants' increased effort or concentration in the gamified n-back task. In line with an emotional design perspective, gamification positively altered subjective task experience and affect without hampering task performance and therefore justify the extra effort of implementing game elements

Exploring cognitive pathways to sustainability – development and validation of personas for sustainable behavior

Over the last years, we could observe increasing awareness of sustainability and climate change in society. Individual sustainable behavior emerges by various influencing factors, resulting in different degrees of sustainable behavior. An important factor is the intention behind pro-environmental behavior, which can be goal-directed, motivated by other goals, or habitual. At the same time, good intentions do not always translate into sustainable actions. To develop interventions that promote pro-environmental behavior, we need to shed light on cognitive mechanisms underneath sustainable thoughts and how they stimulate actions. We conducted ten semi-structured interviews with representative individuals asking about their intentions, influencing factors of sustainability and examples from everyday life. Based on their scope of reflection, knowledge, and predominant intention, we could identify five different sustainability personas: sustainability-oriented, open-minded, opportunistic, careless, and dismissive. We present characteristics of these personas, discuss the validation process, and investigate cognitive mechanisms of reflection in the context of sustainable behavior