In this dissertation, the relationship between flow state, serious games, and learning was examined. Serious games, which are games that convey something other than enjoyment (e.g., learning), are increasingly popular platforms for research, training, and advertisement. The elements that make serious games useful to researchers, trainers, and practitioners are closely linked to those that make up the positive psychology construct of flow state. Flow state describes an optimum experience that is encountered when a variety of factors are met, and is characterized by high focus, engagement, motivation, and immersion. While flow state is often discussed in the serious games literature, in-depth empirical examinations of flow state remain elusive. In this dissertation I addressed this need by conducting a thorough literature review of flow, serious games, and game-based learning in order to propose a new model of flow in games. Two studies were conducted in support of this model. The first experiment consisted of the creation and validation of a play experience scale. Based on the data from 203 Study 1 participants, the Play Experience Scale was validated for use with video games. The 14-item version of the Play Experience Scale was composed of the components of freedom, lack of extrinsic motivation, autotelic experience, and direct assessment of play. The scale was reliable, with a calculated α of .86. In the second study, the newly developed scale was used alongside an immune system serious game to examine the impact of play, in-game performance, and emotional experience on flow in games. In an effort to provide a more symmetrical version of the scale, two items were added to the scale, iii resulting in a 16-item revision. Based on the empirical results obtained from Study 2’s 77 participants, the proposed model of flow in games was revised slightly. Though Study 2 only examined a subset of the overall model of flow in games, the evidence suggested the model was a good theoretical match. Further, the two added items of the Play Experience Scale were valid, providing a final 16-item version of the scale. Play and in-game performance were key predictors of game-based learning. Additionally, play, video game self-efficacy, and emotional experience exhibited a reciprocal relationship with flow state. Implications for serious game development, scientific research into games and learning, and industry testing of game playability were provided. Following these implications, conclusions were presented alongside suggestions for further research.

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A study of the relationship between playfulness and creativity was conducted with a sample of Japanese children who attended a preschool that emphasized whole-group orientation. Playfulness was assessed using The Child Behaviors Inventory, teacher interviews, and observations. Creativity was measured using The Creativity Thinking-Drawing Production Test (Jellen & Urban, 1986), The Drawing Test (Acharyulu & Yasodhara, 1984), teacher interviews, and observations. Although the statistical data analysis indicated no significant relationship between playfulness and creativity, the qualitative data analysis indicated that such a relationship may exist. However, conclusions must be qualified because analysis of the qualitative data revealed confounding factors in the concepts of playfulness and creativity. Some children who were rated by their teachers as non playful were described as internally playful and this internal playfulness was more evident in a one-to-one interaction and was manifest as joy, sense of humor, and active involvement. The internally playful child was described by the teachers as the child who possesses a lot of imagination inside but may not be able to express it externally in a group situation. Although the study focused on artistic creativity, the teachers in this study discussed a global view of creativity rather than artistic creativity. Thus, the results of qualitative data analysis appeared to contradict those of quantitative analysis. Further research on the relationship between playfulness and creativity is needed to understand such a relationship. / Ph. D.

This study was conducted to examine Csikszentmihalyi's (1975a) Model of Flow among a sample of 4-year-old children engaged in a cognitive activity. Twenty-eight children undertook a pattern-making task with beads of different colors and shapes under three conditions. In the assigned-easy condition the children were given only the easiest patterns; in the assigned-difficult condition they were given the most difficult patterns; and in the choice condition they were free to choose the level of difficulty of the pattern. It was hypothesized, on the basis of the Flow Model, that the intrinsic motivation to continue an activity, as measured by the number of attempts and time spent on the activity, would be highest when children were free to choose the degree of difficulty. The results of the study supported the hypothesis. The children spent significantly more time on the activity in the choice condition, as compared to both the assigned-easy and the assigned-difficult conditions. The number of attempts were greater in the choice condition, as compared to the assigned-difficult condition. However, the number of attempts in the choice condition were not significantly greater than in the assigned-easy condition. / Master of Science

The purpose of this project is to examine the power of play, guided discovery, and hands-on experiences in the early childhood classroom, specifically as it relates to early childhood science experience. This paper will also propose a science curriculum encompassing a hands-on, guided discovery, play-based approach.

This study investigated the self-concepts of five, six, and seven year old children after participation in organized and nonorganized play programs. The subjects were sixty boys and girls participating in Little League Tee-Ball programs and sixty boys and girls participating in the City Playground Program in the Fort Worth, Texas, area during the 1979 spring and summer season. The instrument used to measure self-concept was the Purdue Self-Concept Scale, Results indicated that the type of organization has little effect upon the self-concept of the children in this study.

M.Ed. / Educational psychology honours students and Theraplay: a relational case inquiry. The South African community is moving towards fundamental socio-and-political restructuring. Part of the restructuring process is establishing suitable psychological intervention for the needy black child. From the researcher's understanding of the black child's need and knowledge of the different types of play therapies, the research question pertaining to how black students would relate to Theraplay emerged. The aim of the study was to investigate how black students relate to the proposed Theraplay principles. The method of investigation entailed superimposing a training model onto a research format in order to train and simultaneously observe the students relating to Theraplay. The five training phases of the model served as template to five observation opportunities for data collection. The data were analysed and consolidated in order to arrive at eight final categories. These eight categories were interpreted in relation to the proposed Theraplay principles, and black philosophy, in order to draw conclusions on how the students related to Theraplay. The research found that the students related well to the Theraplay principles of nurturing, intrusion, structuring and using the child as play object. The students related poorly, however, to the Theraplay principles of challenging, differentiating, playing in the "here-and-now" and controlling the sessions. Implications ofthe findings for practice, for educational psychology and for research are stated in conclusion to the inquiry.

This study offers a detailed exploration of the personal narrative of a nine year old boy diagnosed with a learning disability, and explains how the nature of the therapeutic relationship facilitated shifts in his personal understandings of himself, others and the world. Children diagnosed with learning disabilities experience a range of challenges in their different life contexts, and particularly within the school context. This is often because of constant evaluation and surveillance from teachers, family members and peers, who define the child within rigid and limiting frameworks. Soon enough children diagnosed with learning disabilities develop problem-saturated narratives that can significantly influence their relationship with themselves and others. This is because the individualising effects of having a disability cause them to feel different or isolated from their peers. This study illustrates an eight session case study, facilitated by a narrative play therapy approach, between a counsellor, a child and his parents. The therapeutic encounters were intended to assist the child in moving away from problem-saturated narratives of incompetence and inferiority towards more preferred narratives that would positively influence his self esteem. Key words: learning disability, dyslexia, narrative, narrative therapy, identity, self esteem. Children Diagnosed with a Learning Disability Children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability often experience themselves and their world very differently from other children (Rodis, Garrod, & Boscardin, 2001). Within the educational system a considerable amount of pressure is placed on children to succeed. The educational discourse of achievement that professes itself to be the only direction from which a successful future can be attained, marginalizes and rejects those children whose knowledge and skills exist outside this rigid and oftentimes insensitive system of evaluation. As a result, children soon create problem saturated narratives, believing themselves to be the problem. However, in the last two decades there has been a move from reductionism to constructivism and as a result research in the field of learning disabilities has started to focus on children’s non-traditional strengths and talents, which are often misunderstood and ignored by schools. Armstrong (1987) sums it up as follows: The schools allow millions of imaginative kids to go unrecognised

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between exposure to prosocial and antisocial toys and the subsequent effects on children's short-term prosocial and antisocial behavior. The behaviors examined were physical antisocial behavior, verbal antisocial behavior, physical prosocial behavior, and verbal prosocial behavior. The dependent measures for these behaviors were constructed based upon Turner and Goldsmith's (1976) measures for antisocial behavior, Potts, Huston, and Wright's (1986) measures for prosocial behavior, and Radke- Yarrow, Zahn-Waxler, and Chapman's (1983) description of prosocial behavior. The theoretical basis for this study lies in the social learning theories offered by Bandura (1977) and Berkowitz (1974). Multivariate Analyses of Variance and Wilcoxon's Signed-rank tests were used to test the hypotheses. Main effects were found for toy condition and for gender. The antisocial toy condition yielded the highest rates of antisocial behavior. The prosocial toy condition yielded the highest rates of prosocial behavior. The girls' behaviors tended to be of a verbal nature, and the boy's behaviors tended to be of a physical nature. / Master of Science

This research project attempted to determine whether play therapy used to treat elementary and junior high school children in a School-Based Counseling program is effective. There is conflicting evidence in the literature as to the effectiveness of therapy with children, especially play therapy. This project used a qualitative design to evaluate play therapy used in a School-Base Counseling program (SBC). Randomly selected case files from the 1998-99 academic year were analyzed using questions considering demographic information for each child, the reason the child was referred to the program, the intervention used by the therapist, and the outcomes of therapy. The results of this project are inconclusive, but support the need for more research to be conducted in the area of play therapy.