Emerging practice with games-based learning - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 66

However, behaviourist theories (Skinner 1953) also provide an explanation as
players have to work out cause-and-effect relationships. The classic ABC relations of
'antecedent, behaviour and consequence' are clearly in play during a complex game.
Just as in the classic behaviourist experiments, the rats had to find their way through
the maze to receive a reward of food, so too players explore the environment and
work out how to reach the end of the game. Making a choice of which action to take,
under the pressure of time constraints, processing several thoughts very quickly and
multi-tasking, requires players to respond precisely and swiftly. These processes are
highly motivational and engaging and require self-direction, generating ownership
and active participation.
Gaming and socio-cultural theories
According to Miller and Robertson (2010), socio-cultural theories that account for the
popularity of game playing can be found in the writings of Prensky (2001), Gee (2003)
and Sandford et al. (2006). Enthusiastic game players (like any subculture where like-
minded individuals identify with one another) have shared norms, values and beliefs,
about the value of gaming, and what counts as worthwhile knowledge. This can be
understood as acquiring 'social capital' (Bourdieu 1974); this insider knowledge or
social epistemology is what Gee (2003) refers to as 'semiotic domains' - that is, sets
of practices that 'communicate distinctive types of meaning' about what constitutes
good performance in a game and thereby bestows social status in the group, which is
an individual's kudos within the subculture of serious games players.
Critical consideration, however, needs to be given to the dominance in the gam-
ing market by multinational companies and issues of cultural globalization. This
relates to the wider debate pertaining to notions of 'childhood', commercialization
and digital culture (Buckingham 2007).
Gaming as playing: psycho-developmental theories of learning
If we conceptualize gaming as playing, we need to understand why these activities
are so compelling. How do psychologists account for children's love of playing as a
spontaneous, carefree activity and what theories aid our analysis of the key drivers
and motives for playing, such that they can be applied better to learning activities?
To answer this we need to examine psychological theories of play.
The importance of play as a process that enables children and young people to
learn was discovered by psychologists, in particular Piaget (1963), who argues about
the importance of discovery learning, to aid the development of internal mental
schemas, and Vygotsky (1978), who highlights the importance of interactivity with
others to facilitate meaning making. Both the constructivism of Piaget and social
constructivism of Vygotsky can be applied to gaming, as a form of play that aids
development in children. As Foreman (2003, cited in Douch 2010: 7) argues: 'learn-
ing through performance requires active discovery, analysis, interpretation, problem
solving, memory and physical activity which results in the sort of extensive cognitive
processing that deeply roots learning in a well-developed neural network.'