Monthly Archives: December 2016

FA16-Project 10-Final Week

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Abstract:

It’s easy for one to get distracted, but there are ways you can help keep ones focus. In the game Attention Span of a Snail or Speedboat? the specific cognitive process we would be focusing on is sustaining attention. The participants were separated into two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The experimental groups were those who had short attention span. They attended a debate round with the 6 audience member present. They were shown videos and afterwards require answering questions. The primary objective of this is to see whether those who have short attention spans can maintain the same focus and concentration level, compared to those who have long attention spans. For the control group, those with long attention spans were asked to watch the same videos shown to those with short attention spans, except they were asked to refrain from answering questions, unless those with short attention spans were unable to.  In the end, those with high attention spans were able to pay attention no matter what. Those who had short attention spans were distracted easily, making it harder for them to retain information.

Introduction:

Games can help test ones attention span. In the game Attention Span of a Snail or Speedboat? the specific cognitive process is sustaining attention.  The primary objective of this is to see whether those who have short attention spans can maintain the same focus and concentration level, compared to those who have long attention spans. The game objective does reinforce the learning objective, because all the questions ask and topics ask, are questions the participants should be able to answer. This game is all about learning and testing their skills to see how aware they are and whether they can stay on track. The participants are learning how to memorize information from the videos they watch. The amount of information they remembered can explain how long or short they have been paying attention. The participants would be asked questions from the beginning to end. The game is trying to teach the players and the audience the amount of information that can be retained once they get shown a video. The primary objective of this is to see whether those who have short attention spans can maintain the same focus and concentration level, compared to those who have long attention spans. They attended a debate round  where those with long term attention span and short term attention span answer questions based on the video they just saw. The learning experience in the game is for players to try to gain as much information as possible from just by watching a video. It’s going to test them on how long the subject can stay interested without entering their own world. Two players are trying to prove that their focus isn’t affected by what they watch. Their attention span isn’t going to change, while the other two participants, who aren’t being asked questions, try to prove that their concentration skills are above average compared to those who had to answer questions without being timed. The objects used this game are a board that is similar to the Monopoly board. You would then need index cards and  markers to label the board. Short term (ST) and Long term (LT) would be labeled on the board with objects. A red Christmas present sticker represents short term memory, while the blue Christmas present box represents long time memory. Those would be based on who answered those questions asked. In total 20 questions was asked, and the participants got to choose from 4 sections. One set of index cards would consist of questions that needs to be asked, while the back of the index cards will have the answers to the questions being asked.  Representing the participants will also be fun stickers. The Christmas tree would represent the female participants, while the candy cane represented the male participants.

Thesis as a prediction:

Games can either be detrimental to attention spans or it can be a means of improving and sustaining attention. I predict games are the main problem and not the age of a child. Certain games need more attention than others. Certain games need more time to be completed. Some games are very strategic. Board games and card games are more efficient unlike computer games. With board games and card games you are interact with other people, unlike with computer games where its just a computer and an individual.

Methods:

Subjects

  1. My populations of interest are kids who are about to teenagers. In total 4 subjects would be the main participants. There would be 2 males and 2 females. The 2 females would be in their 20’s and the 2 males would be around 17 years old. The subjects are kids who have long term and short term memory. They are also sampled based on how well their attention span is. If someone is easily distracted or can completely focus, they would definitely be a part of this process. These kids were recruited from my family household. The participants were separated into two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The experimental groups were those who had short attention span. They attended a debate round with the other two participants from the control group. They were shown videos and afterwards require answering questions. The primary objective of this is to see whether those who have short attention spans can maintain the same focus and concentration level, compared to those who have long attention spans. For the control group, those with long attention spans were asked to watch the same videos shown to those with short attention spans, except they were asked to refrain from answering questions, unless those with short attention spans were unable to.  One day per week, each participant was asked to repeat this same experiment to see if the attention span was getting worse or better.Males and females who had different attention spans and have a different type of thinking were included. These subjects were chosen, because they have a different attention span, whether it being long term or short term. They also have a different strategy in how they memorize information.Any children under 17 was excluded from this experiment.The average age was kids who range from ages17-25. They were both genders. High school education and college education was required. These kids were from all over the world.The subjects being paid in food or college credits for each session they attended.
  2. Apparatus: The materials I used to collect data were questionnaires, along with the 2 days a week sessions. The game was presented, when kids came into a regular classroom. Those who zone out quickly had to respond to questions based on what they had watched earlier. Responses were measured by questionnaires given to the participants, and they were measured based on responses given out loud. They were also measured by numbers to see how well focused they were and how well information was being retained.In total 4 subjects were used. There are four main subjects. Two subjects were being tested on how well their attention was being sustained after playing games. The other two subjects, who had no involvement in games, their attention span were also being tested. The subjects were recruited from my household. Two participants were high school students, while the other two were college students.  The participants were promised $100 dollars for every session they attended. Based on the responses from the questionnaire, favorable candidates, regardless of ethnicity and background, who showed clear signs of short attention span and those who showed long attention spans, were chosen. They would have to participant in question rounds that they were require to attend for 1 months, with 1 sessions per week. The participants were separated into two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The experimental groups were those who had short attention span. They attended a debate round with the other two participants. They were shown a movie called Snow White and the Seven Dwarf and afterwards required to answer  questions. The primary objective of this is to see whether those who have short attention spans can maintain the same focus and concentration level, compared to those who have long attention spans. For the control group, those with long attention spans were asked to watch the same videos shown to those with short attention spans, except they were asked to refrain from answering questions, unless those with short attention spans were unable to.  One day per week, each participant was asked to repeat this same experiment to see if the attention span was getting worse or better.
  3. Procedures:In this experiment there were two groups which both consist of 2 main subjects each. Both groups were required to fill out questionnaires that asked them to answer questions based of how well they think their focusing skills are. How well they focus after watching t.v? How well they focus after playing games for a certain amount of hours? Participants in one group were presented films to watch and afterwards required to ask questions, while participants in group two just watched films and weren’t required to answer questions. Subjects in each condition were asked to attend their sessions. This experiment lasted 1 month, and data was collected every week. At the end of every week, participants were given questions to answer based on what they experience that week. The data was shown how many questions were answered for group one, while for group two, the data shown was simply how focused they were. All participants were asked to answer a set of questions at the end of each week to evaluate their progress. Each participant’s questionnaire score was averaged using a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 indicating that the individual had a more positive reflection based on how well they concentrated.

Results:

All participants were asked to answer a set of questions at the end of each week to evaluate their progress. Each participant’s questionnaire score was averaged using a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 indicating that the individual had a more positive result based on how well they concentrated.  The control group, which consisted of the two participants who received little to no questioning after watching the film, demonstrated no improvement during the 1 month session. At first boring films were shown to the first experimental group to see how long it would take before they become distracted. Both participants with high attention span scored top notch from the beginning of the experiment.  Those with high attention spans were able to retain information faster than those with short attention spans. They were strongly attentive. The experimental group in which participants had to watch videos and were sure to be asked questions afterwards showed little to no improvement. The highest score for these particular individuals only managed to come out to a 2 to 3, which meant the individuals were either bored by the films shown and had no interest. Progress for these participants was much slower compared to the individuals who had high attention spans. Those with high attention spans were able to pay attention no matter what. Those who had short attention spans were distracted easily, making it harder for them to retain information.

Participants Week 1 Week2 Week 3 Week 4
1 1 1 2 3
2 2 2 3 3
Mean 1.5 1.5 2.5 3

Short Term Memory Chart

Long Term Memory Chart

Participants Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
1 3 2 4 3
2 3 4 4 5
Mean: 3 3 4 4

Comparing and Contrasting Long Term and Short  Term Memory

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Short Term Memory 1.5 1.5 2.5 3
Long Term Memory 3 3 4 4

 

Discussion:

Games can help test ones attention span. In the game Attention Span of a Snail or Speedboat? the specific cognitive process is sustaining attention.  The primary objective of this is to see whether those who have short attention spans can maintain the same focus and concentration level, compared to those who have long attention spans. The game objective does reinforce the learning objective, because all the questions ask and topics ask, are questions the participants should be able to answer. This game is all about learning and testing their skills to see how aware they are and whether they can stay on track. The participants are learning how to memorize information from the videos they watch. The amount of information they remembered can explain how long or short they have been paying attention. The participants would be asked questions from the beginning to end.

Some people have a short attention span while playing games, while others may continue being able to have the same long attention span they have had before. Visual the way they perceive things and think about things. Playing board games and card games are completely different from video games. Some games would cause one to think faster, while other games would cause others to just freeze. Solving this problem further would advance in this field because it would answer certain questions such as, Does it depend on a certain age whether a kid suffers from a shorter attention span? Does attention span deficiency depend on the game being played? Those who struggle with short term attention, a game would be created to help them be able to focus more. Once they find that game they are interested in, they wouldn’t want to stop playing it. The main point of this work is to test the attention span of others.  My game was testing to see whether or not the game will  be able to sustain ones attention or completely make them disregard the game. As the game went on week after week, those who had short attention spans was able to improve weekly. They would answer more and more questions each week. This week the game ended up in a tie, which is pretty impressive.

This work can be related to other studies because I am trying to find a solution to how having a short attention span or a long attention span can affects one life. This study relates to real life because for example, if you are a journalist, you have to make sure the work you are publishing is facts, because if it’s not, you can be sued. This game does exist as an economy, because the people are playing a role in deciding whether having a long attention span or a short attention span should determine how much information one truly memorizes. The ability to stay focused is an important factor. This can go under working in reality. In the work place you need to be very attentive to what you are doing. Picking the correct video for both the control group and experimental group would be a challenge. If you pick a movie that’s interesting and what those with short attention spans may like to watch along with if the participants already seen that specific video , it can cause problems leading to defective results.

References:

  • Chan, P. A., &Rabinowitz, T. (2006). A cross-sectional analysis of video games and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adolescents. Annals Of General Psychiatry, 5
  • Lawrence, V., Houghton, S., Douglas, G., Durkin, K., Whiting, K., &Tannock, R. (2004). Executive function and ADHD: a comparison of children’s performance during neuropsychological testing and real-world activities. Journal Of Attention Disorders, 7(3), 137-149.
  • Tahiroglu, A. Y., Celik, G. G., Avci, A., Seydaoglu, G., Uzel, M., &Altunbas, H. (2010). Short-term effects of playing computer games on attention. Journal Of Attention Disorders, 13(6), 668-676. doi:10.1177/1087054709347205
  • Bioulac, S., Lallemand, S., Fabrigoule, C., Thoumy, A., Philip, P., &Bouvard, M. P. (2014). Video game performances are preserved in ADHD children compared with controls. Journal Of Attention Disorders, 18(6), 542-550. doi:10.1177/1087054712443702

PSY 200 Data-Memory  Final Project

FA16- Project 11 week 17

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Introduction

The general topic of interest is that social cognition can help a child develop better socially by applying a board game that will help children recognize their different strengths and when to positively engage socially with others. Natalie I. Berger and Brooke Ingersoll, expressed that children with autism spectrum disorder demonstrate increased social attention in response to contingent imitation by an adult (Berger & Ingersoll, 2013). When children age, they depend on adults, like parents, to express correct and positive ways of life. They are very observant, and mock the way adults do things. Without correction, this will become something that the children learned. Behaviors such as learning how to share or communicate properly, are great behaviors learned from adults.

“Instructional learning… is inseparable from an understanding that other people have the communicative intent to teach or convey information (Agnetta, B., & Rochat, P. 2004).” The authors clearly state that people have communicative intent to teach (Agnetta, B., & Rochat, P. 2004), Use quotation only as a last resort. Always use your own words in scientific writing. or they have an innate capacity to teach or relay information to others. With disorders, such as cerebral palsy, children need constant physical and occupational therapy (Sandlund, M. et al 2012). A study done by E. O’Connor et al, expresses that massively multiplayer online games, are viewed as a virtual world, and players use it as a role-playing game (2015) Role playing games are created to give a more directed or influenced feel. The gamer is the actual person in the game in which he or she can express themselves in ways they cannot in real life. What does this have in common with children that have disabilities? Children with disabilities may not have the means to communicate effectively. This is where gaming comes in. Gaming is a way to express oneself by learning different concepts and using them to complete levels in games. Children tend to focus on face like patterns when viewing images (Csibra, G., & Gergely, G  2006). The work that needs to be conducted to further our knowledge, is examining the effects of gaming and teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, how to effectively socialize with others. This is very important because if the child has siblings, then it would be great for the child to learn how to socialize positively with them ( Dyson, Liley L. 1996). The questions remaining are: How will I create a game, in which someone with a disorder like Autism Spectrum Disorder, to effectively socialize with others? Will my game have any downfall or repercussions when I produce it in front of a experimental population?

To test my theory, I will develop a board game like a puzzle. The name of this board game “Feed the Monster”. The game consists of a cardboard monster named Willie who’s very hungry. The monster and cardboard food, are very colorful with different shapes on them. Willie has holes that are shaped differently than each other. For example, Willie will have a square, and the child must place the appropriate shape into the square space. My study will satisfy the needs of effectively socializing with others by pairing a child with autism with a child without any disorders. This will create productivity in socialization and learning fundamentally, by working together to complete the task at hand. It is predicted that, through acquisition of a board game, children with disabilities will be able to learn and perceive better social skill.

Methods

Subjects

Subjects will be recruited from a school research subject pool at Brooklyn Autism Center in Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn Autism Center (2016) is a school that deals with data- based scientific research, Applied Behavior Analysis. Volunteers will be between the ages of 12-18 years old. These volunteers were recruited through a brief survey asking parents about any behavioral problems they are going through, that they may need help with.  Per Autism Speaks, everyone who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder are significantly different (2016). Many individuals have developed special abilities in visual skills, music, and academic skills. Some individuals have significant disability and are unable to live alone. Students were chosen based on their “special abilities”. The children with great visual skills were chosen to be the control. The children that had great abilities in music were the experimental group. The subjects were assigned to each group by a simple test of completing a puzzle and the amount of time it took them to complete it, if they completed it at all. The visual skills group tended to easily group shapes together, in which the children skilled in music had difficulty. The average age of the subjects were 15 years old. Other demographics were that the children were male and female, of any ethnicity, but American born. They must attend and American school or any disability programs. The subjects were motivated to participate by receiving movie tickets for a new ASD movie.

Apparatus

The materials that I used to collect data were recording behaviors through a two-way mirror. The collection of data was then recorded on a spreadsheet that showed how long a subject took to place the shapes in the right place. It also showed the different behaviors and how often they occurred throughout the game. It would be the first time this game would be used. The subjects were motivated to participate by receiving movie tickets for a new ASD movie.

This game is a proto-type; in which it is the first time it would be used. Participants will play a board game, “Willie the Monster”. That is designed to fit shapes into the correct space to feed the monster. In the first part, participants will be asked to match the different shapes with the appropriate spaces. Their results will then be recorded, by charting the amount they got right and the amount they got wrong. The second part of the experiment, is for the participant to take the shapes and place them in their original spaces with the help of a child without ASD. Behaviors are then recorded. Doing this will help provide a contrast in behavior relating to their performance.

The game is being developed using a data-based scientific research. The game will take place in a classroom setting. The experimental group are the students who will play the game with a child that does not have ASD, a typically developing child. The control group are the kids that will play the same game without a typically developing child to help. Subjects were told that they will be playing a game in which they had to feed the monster, by placing the appropriate shapes in the spaces. If they did not complete the game in time, then the monster will be hungry. The collection of data was recorded on a bar- graph to show the ranges of behavior when working with another child. There were 10 trials for the game.

Procedure

At one time, there are 4 groups with 4 players in each group, engaged in the game. The players act competitive in the game. The primary objective of the game is to place all the shapes in their appropriate space in the given time. The game objective reinforces the learning objective. The rules of the game are: select a beginning shape. (ex. Circle, square, rectangle, etc.) Then the timer starts for 30 seconds. The objective is to place all the shapes in their appropriate spaces. Whoever complete the game first wins. These rules complement the game. It creates a fun, competitive way to learn different shapes, make new friends, and to enjoy an activity during your free time. After each segment of the game, the winner will receive letters to complete the name “Willie”. Once a player receives all the letters, they will be crowned winner, with a “Willie Crown”. Each player will receive cookies to enjoy, while playing the game.

Results

The outcome of my experiment, was that the children that played with the typically developing child, experienced a great change in their social ability. The whole study was to see if a child with ASD can develop better social skills by working with a typically developing child to finish the game. The children that played the game without a typically developing child, were looked at as the control, because they had higher visual skills than the other kids. It was fact that they can look at something and figure it out very quickly. The mean reaction times for the children in the Typically Developing group were 23.25 sec (SD=3.0 sec), the reaction times for the autistic group were 28.69 sec (SD=5.5 sec). My results indicate that the children in the Typically Developing group were faster that the students in the Autistic Group.

Discussion

Through acquisition of a board game, children with disabilities will be able to learn and perceive better social skills. My results supported my thesis because the children with autism learned to better social skills, and learned to understand the difference between negative and positive behaviors. The autism children that played the board game with the typically developing child experienced a great change in their social ability. The children that played the game without a typically developing child, were the control, because of their higher visual skills that the other children. My experiment might treat certain children to communicate effectively with others. Gaming is a way to express oneself by learning different concepts and using them to complete levels in games.

Further advances in this field can help examine the effects of gaming and teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, how to effectively socialize with others. Per Imitative Games by Agnetta & Rochat, Instructional learning is inseparable from an understanding that other people have the communicative intent to teach or convey information. Sandlund also stated that children need constant physical and occupational therapy. A potential problem with my study is that it may be too easy for children to play. It is very fun to play. Conflict between players may occur when a person completes each segment of the game first. Implications of my study is that the game was chosen to be played by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. There is also Typically Developing children that also play the game. In which this will prevent players from behaving in inappropriate ways, by having them work together to complete the levels. Once the players place each shape in its appropriate space, completing it in the given time.  There may be challenges that may be presented to the player in the game is making sure each piece fit correctly. Future experiment can be to shorten the time from 30 seconds to 15 seconds to see if the time can change their play time, and correct shape placement.

References

Berger, N. I., & Ingersoll, B. (2015). An evaluation of imitation recognition abilities in typically developing children and young children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research, 8(4), 442-453.

Agnetta, B., & Rochat, P. (2004). Imitative games by 9-, 14-, and 18-month-old infants. Infancy, 6(1), 1-36.

Sandlund, M., Lindh Waterworth, E., & Häger, C. (2011). Using motion interactive games to promote physical activity and enhance motor performance in children with cerebral palsy. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 14(1), 15-21.

Csibra, G., & Gergely, G. (2006). Social learning and social cognition: The case for pedagogy. Processes of change in brain and cognitive development. Attention and performance XXI, 21, 249-274.

Dyson, L. L. (1996). The experiences of families of children with learning disabilities: Parental stress, family functioning, and sibling self-concept. Journal of learning disabilities, 29(3), 280-286.

Brooklyn Autism Center. (2016). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from https://www.brooklynautismcenter.org/

fa16-project13-final

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All children have a different way of learning, it all depends on the child and if the child has incapability’s that do not let them develop learning skills as other children would.

Speech delay is when a child’s language is developing in the right sequence, but at a slower rate. Delayed speech is the most common developmental problem. It affects five to ten percent of preschool kids. Many children develop a speech delay because of medical conditions as well, such as ear infections. In doing my research many sites like kidshealth.com and asha.org explain how children may develop these delays and how it may be improved.

In these articles they explain how important it is to detect these delays as early as 9 months. The signs to look for and what steps to take if your child falls into this category.

I found in doing my research as well that children may develop a speech delay due to a frequent amount of ear infections. Children, who suffer from ear infections tend to hear things underwater, they also suffer vocabulary, sentence structure, and social structure and have a hard time speaking. The study that is going to be done is to have a child with speech delay play a word game with a child whose speech is normal. While playing a game like this not only is the child learning new words, but the child is learning how to pronounce words by listening to the child without the delay pronounce it correctly.

It is predicted that when a child with speech delay plays a game that encourages them to identify words and pronounce them, helps their speech skills, but it is better if they are playing with a child who does not have delays. If the child is playing with another child whose verbal skills are more advanced than theirs the child will want to pronounce the word correctly as well. This will bring in what is called reinforcement learning. When the child is playing this game they are constantly learning.

 

Methods Section

Subjects:

My population of interest is children with speech delays from the ages of 2-4 years of age, and children who have no delays from ages 4-8 years of age. The two subjects that were sampled was a 2-year-old female who recently has tubes placed in her ears, and also has speech delay, and the other was a 6-year-old female with no issues. The condition’s that were set is that one child has a speech delay and other doesn’t. The subjects that were selected were one from each group. The criteria I set were that one child had to have a speech delay and the other one to have one. Children fewer than 2 years old were excluded, and children over the age were excluded. The subjects were motivated to play, by ice cream. When the children finished the game, they would be served ice cream.

Apparatus:

I created a game board, and flash cards with color to match the items on the game board. I also had two shopkins characters that I used as game pieces. Each flash card had item, for example an apple, with the word spelled on the bottom. The items I used in the game were everyday things that we use or eat. The children each have a turn and are to try to pronounce the word on the card and if they pronounce the word correctly they are able to put their game piece on that item. Whichever child finishes first will then go to the last piece of the game which is ice cream and cake. The reason I incorporated everyday items/words is so that the child is familiar with the items and is able to pronounce the word in his/her everyday life. The responses were measured by how many words the child with the speech delay said correctly.

Procedures:

The conditions that were created were that if a child did not say the word correctly the other child is able to take that child’s turn to say the word correctly, by doing this, it will construct reinforcing learning for the child with the speech delay. I also did different trials I did one where the children played with an adult to see if the child with the speech delay would learn more or less from the adult, compared to playing alone with the other child. I explain to the children that they had to pick up the card and pronounce the item they say the item on the card, and if they pronounce the item correctly they are able to move on in the game, if not the child has to give up their turn and let the other child take over and if the other child gets it correct they are able to put their piece on the game board. The data I collect was the number of words that were said correct, and the number that were said incorrectly.

In the chart that I have provided in the power point it shows the results of when the children played six games 3 with an adult, and 3 on their own. By showing this, the results showed that the child with the speech delay learned more while playing with the child alone. The child had more correct words, and also repeated more words when they lost their turn to the other child then when playing with the adult. This study showed that children feel more comfortable learning from other children then when playing with adults.

Mean of child with speech delay

Mean of words pronounce correctly while playing with another child that didn’t have a speech delay.

6.33 of words correct, mean of words pronounced wrong 7.66.

results of child with speech delay while an adult playing

4.6 6 of words pronounced correctly 9.33 of words pronounce wrong.

The mean reaction for correct words while playing with a child is

6.33 (SD=2)

the variance is 9.5

Mean reaction for correct words while playing with an adult

4.66 (SD=2)

the variance is 7

Limitations the games have are the following:

  • There is no progress after they have learned all the words in the game.
  • The other child without the delay may get bored and not want to play with the other child anymore.
  • The game can only benefit a child if they want to play.
  • The child may not may not understand the rules and just want to take over the game, and not help the child with the speech delay.

Children, who have speech delay, can learn how to pronounce words when playing games with children who have no speech delay. Having a child who has speech delay play a word game with a child who doesn’t would help the child pronounce words better if they hear it from another child. It is also fun when they are learning and playing with another child. This experiment will help children with speech delays; enhance their vocabulary while also learning to play a game with other children. Many children who have speech delays don’t have a reinforcing way to learn how to pronounce words. By playing this game with other children not only will they be learning new words as they play, but hear the other child say the word correctly and the child will mimic exactly what the other child is saying. Helping children with speech delays by playing this game can help speech therapist; enhance their teaching by introducing this game while having a session. Speech therapist already includes games and blocks while in their session, why not introduce this to help the child with the delay enhance their vocabulary. Sometimes getting through to a child as an adult is hard. This game can make it easier for the child to pronounce words hearing it from another child.

 

Activities to develop Speech and Language Skills. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2016, from http://www.icommunicatetherapy.com/child-speech-language/child-speech-language-development/activities-strategies-help-develop-speech-language-skills/

ALEXANDER K.C. LEUNG, M.B.B.S., Alberta Children’s Hospital and University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, & C. PION KAO, M.D., Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (n.d.). Evaluation and Management of the Child with Speech Delay. Retrieved December 10, 2016, from http://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/0601/p3121.html

project powerpoint

 

 

 

 

FA 16- Project 2: Final

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PSY 200-Poster ( click the link to see the full poster) 

This stimulus has really helped children and I am so thankful I decided to create it. This class has opened my eyes to the possibilities of helping others. Below in full detail is the complete explanation of how I went about my creation and the outcome that has come about.

Many individuals believe that games have no educational background for children but after much testing and research the results were outstanding. Games of all kind serve a great purpose for many children. Not all games are educational but many serve the same purpose, they enforce socialization, eye-hand coordination, as well as critical thinking. The stimulus, Smarty Pants was created to prove that games are beneficial to the individuals that play them. Most children zone out and become unfocused when sitting in a classroom learning a topic they are unsure of. When a child is not paying attention to the topic at hand, they are making it harder on themselves to retain the knowledge needed to succeed. It is predicted that the study will help children learn while having fun. The stimulus forces the children to answer trivia questions based on subjects they are currently learning. The players must answer the questions correctly to win the game. The stimulus enforces children to socialize with other children as well as critical thinking to answer the questions asked throughout the game.

Methods- Subjects

The participants in this study were all between the ages of 7 and 9 years old. Boys and girls were both used to make sure there was a fair range of participates throughout the 16-week period. The subjects were recruited based on age and gender; they were children part of a first grade class that welcomed me with open arms. The subjects were randomly selected and were put into two groups, the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group played the stimulus created while the control group played a non-educational game. The participants were voluntary and were not paid. When the study was over they received cupcakes as a thank you.

Methods- Apparatus

Smarty Pants was a board game that had a start and an end. A spinner was used to determine how many places to move each player’s game piece when a question was answered correct. Questions varied based on the subjects the players were currently learning. The questions also varied based on the children’s age group. Each player had to answer a question in order to move his or her game piece. If the participant answered the question correctly they were then asked to spin the spinner and move their game piece the correct number of places. If they answered a question wrong, the player did not move their game piece. The stimulus was presented like any other game; the directions were read to each participant to make sure they understood the rules and what was asked of them. The participants were unsure of the questions until it was their turn to answer a question. Participant responses were measured based on number of questions each player had to answer versus the number of questions they answered correctly. The behavior of each player was documented in a notebook as well as academic grades after playing the stimulus. I was able to have the participants take a quiz after playing a full game of Smarty Pants to see how the game worked. Majority of the children did outstanding on the quiz and believed that the game was the cause for their high scores. The game was able to keep their attention and focus.

Methods- Procedure

The conditions created were educational vs. non-educational. Both groups were compared based on behaviors and performance on the quiz. The experimental group always seemed to score higher on the quiz then the control group. The two groups were unaware of the documenting so there was no fear of the participants changing their behavior. The game was tested many times with this group and each time the results benefitted the participants.

Results

The outcome was as predicted, the game benefitted the participants and helped them learn the material needed while having fun. The first grade class was broken into 5 groups to play the stimulus. Group 1 answered 10 questions and answered 5 correctly. Group 2 answered 10 questions and answered 8 correct. Group 3 answered 10 questions and answered 8 correct. Group 4 answered 9 questions and answered 7 correctly and Group 5 answered 9 questions and answered 8 correct. The total correct answers total 36 questions, therefore the average of correct answers were 7. When the participants worked individually the number of correct answers were higher which the quiz scores supported. I believe the number of correct answers were lower when working in a group because the other participants easily influenced each other. At times the correct answers were mentioned in the group but then the final answer was given and it was wrong. The children seemed to second-guess themselves when another participant seemed more confident in their answer. Regardless of the participants working in groups or individually, the stimulus did what it was supposed to and benefitted each player.

Discussion

The results support the thesis because each week the stimulus was tested on participants and the results were documented. The stimulus encouraged socialization and critical thinking. The children could not answer the questions without first thinking about the topic. Some questions were harder then others and used more thought while others were easily answered. Games have been used in many different studies, one study in particular was done by Mark Griffiths where games were used to help children receiving chemotherapy, undergoing psychotherapy or even struggling with emotions and behavioral problems. The results in this study stated that children benefitted greatly from the games. “Videogame therapy has been therapeutically successful in a wide range of childhood and adolescent disorders” (Griffiths, 1996, para 1) Nausea seemed to decrease when children were not focused on the environment around them. The games distracted the children from the bad in the world and helped them get through the rough times ahead of them. Another study stated that board games teach values, ethics, academic skills and the importance of playing by the rules (Parents, 2016, para 6). Articles that influenced this decision to focus on the importance of board games were Board games for kids: Do they have educational benefits? Written by Gwen Dewar and The Five Reasons to Use Games In The Classroom. Games are very beneficial and should have a chance to help more children

Conclusion

After much research and testing it is concluded that board games are beneficial to young children. Educational games helped the children focus their attention on the subjects at hand while having fun. Smarty Pants helped children study for a test while having fun and socializing with other participants. Much more testing, the stimulus could be perfected and published to help other children. Toward the end of my study I noticed that the non-educational game was a distraction because at times the children were loud and argumentative. The non-educational game was stopped and only the educational game continued being tested. The children responded very well to the stimulus and were eager to participant in the study. More positive research should be done to help children in so many ways. Games are very beneficial to children of all ages and should be seen as positive.

Reference

Dewar, Gwen. (n.d.). Board games for kids: Do they have educational benefits?     Retrieved December 10, 2016, from http://www.parentingscience.com/board-       games-for-kids.html

Griffiths, Mark. (2003). The Therapeutic Use of Videogames in Childhood and      Adolescence. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8(4), 547-554.

Five Reasons to Use Games in the Classroom. (2016). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reasons-to-play-games-in-the-  classroom.shtml

The Benefits of Board Games. (2016). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from             http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/creativity-play/benefits-  board-games

 

FA16-Project 1: Final Week

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INTRODUCTION

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of all cases (Alzheimer’s Association , 2016). Alzheimer’s disease patients experience gradual disturbance in several cognitive functions such as language, reasoning, memory, and visuospatial skills. Visuospatial skills refer to our ability to process and interpret visual and spatial information in our environment. These skills enable us to complete essential everyday tasks such as reading a map, driving a car, giving directions, recognizing and manipulating shapes and object. Deficits in visuospatial performance can be detected in the very mildest stage of clinically diagnosed Alzheimer patients (Storandt, 1995). Visuospatial dysfunction in Alzheimer disease is reflected in perceptual impairments as well as in deficits in higher order aspects of spatial orientation (Alice, 2014).

  • An experiment conducted in 2012 found that visuospatial training through video games can not only impact performance on measures of spatial functioning, but can also affect performance in content areas in which these abilities are utilized (Sanchez, 2012).
  • In 2014 Erin Connors, Elizabeth Chrastil, Jamie Sánchez, & Merabet Lotfi conducted an experiment that ultimately concluded that a game based learning approach can facilitate the transfer of spatial knowledge and further, can be used by individuals who are blind for the purposes of navigation in real-world environments (Connors, Chrastil, Sánchez, & Merabet, 2014).

OBJECTIVE

Whiles there has been many research conducted exploring whether video games can improve visuospatial skills, there has been only a few resent studies that has directly investigated whether games can enhance visuospatial skills in individuals with Alzheimer’s. To explore this topic this research, would take a different approach and focus on table top games.

  • This study would explore whether table games can improve the visuospatial skills of individuals with Alzheimer’s.
  • The current study aims to test this notion by assessing the visuospatial skill of individuals with Alzheimer’s in an experimental setting.
  • I predict that table game usage can improve the visuospatial skill of men and women with Alzheimer disease

METHODS

Subjects

African American, Hispanics and Caucasian individuals between the age of 60 to 70 with Alzheimer’s disease is the population of interest in this study. Individuals with any other types of dementia or any other neurological brain disorder were excluded from this study.

  • Participants for this study were recruited by ads placed in nursing homes, retirement homes, hospitals and counseling centers. Participants were offered compensation for their involvement in this study.
  • Individuals who responded to the Ads and met the specific criteria were randomly assigned into three groups. In group one individuals were given the easy PINGO cards to play. In group two individuals were given the medium PINGO cards to play. In group three individuals were given the hard PINGO card to play. After the completion of the games participants were asked to complete a measures of visuospatial abilities, the paper folding test.

Procedure and Apparatus

  •  For this study, PINGO a game focused on visuospatial skills were created. The game created focused on an individual’s ability to identify rotated representation of three dimensional objects. The materials included in this game are easy, medium and hard playing cards, chips, and image cards. The image cards consist of pictures of three dimensional non rotated objects. The playing cards each consist of 20 images. The images presented on the playing cards are rotated representation of the ones displayed in the image cards. Individuals who identified five rotated images vertically, horizontally, or diagonally wins the game.
  • The instructions for each of the three different groups were verbally presented to its participants at the beginning of the experiment. All games were conducted in separate room and were administered by investigators and played in private and separate rooms. The games were played three times with15 minute intervals after each completion. Once the games were finish individuals were escorted into a different room to complete the paper folding test. The results from the paper folding test would be manually collected and analyze.

RESULTS

  • The results showed that individuals in the hard playing card group were significantly more accurate than in the easy plaguing card group (p= .003).
  • The results showed that individuals in the hard playing card were not significantly more accurate than in the medium playing card group (p= 0.124).
  • The results showed that individuals in the medium playing card were not significantly more accurate than in the easy playing card group (p= 0.196).

CONCLUSION

  • It is predict that table top game usage can improve the visuospatial skill of men and women with Alzheimer disease.
  • The results from this experiment offers a solution to the visuospatial impairment found in previous research.
  • The results showed that individual’s visuospatial skill improved with usage of a table top game.
  • This study bridge the gap in research involving the use of table top games as a learning tool for visuospatial skills.
  • Previous experiments conducted found that visuospatial training through video games can impact performance on measures of spatial functioning in individuals with visuospatial impairment (Sanchez, 2012; Connors, Chrastil, Sánchez, & Merabet, 2014). Similar to these experiments this study found that visuospatial training through a table top game can impact performance on measures of spatial functioning in a group of individuals with visuospatial impairment such as, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.
  • The small size is one potential problem of this study because the results from this study may not be generalize. Another potential problem with this study is that the participants included were volunteers, this can led to a potential bias.
  • Future experiments can included a larger and more random sample, which will control for the potential confounds included in this study. In addition, longer playing time and different measure of visuospatial skills can be included in future studies.

REFERENCES

  • Alzheimer’s Association. (2016). What Is Alzheimer’s. Retrieved from Alzheimer’s Association: http://www.alz.org
  • Feng, J., Spence, I., & Pratt, J. (2007). Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition. Psychological    Science, 18(10), 850-855. Doi:10.1111/j.1467
  • Kaskie, B., & Storandt, M. (1995). Visuospatial deficit in dementia of the Alzheimer type.              Archives of Neurology, 52(4), 422-425.Doi:10.1001/archneur.1995.00540280120025
  • Sanchez, C. A. (2012). Enhancing visuospatial performance through video game training to increase learning in visuospatial science domains.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19(1), 58-65. Doi:10.3758/s13423-011-0177-7
  • Frédérick Imbeault, B. B. (2011). Serious games in cognitive training for Alzheimer’s patients. Serious Games and Applications for Health (SeGAH),2011 IEEE 1st International Conference on, 1-8.
  • Connors, E. C., Chrastil, E. R., Sánchez, J., & Merabet, L. B. (2014). Action video game play and transfer of navigation and spatial cognition       skills in adolescents who are blind. Frontiers in   Human Neuroscience, 8.Doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00133 

Final Poster

FA16-Project19 Final Week

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Introduction

Stress is your body’s way to responding to and kind of demand or threat. Imagine being a teenager or adult in this day in age with all the social media and cyber bulling stress can be overwhelming. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed your reaction time, and enhance your focus. This is known as “fight or flight” or the mobilization stress response and is your body’s way of protecting you. There is also a “freeze” or immobilization response that occurs if we become traumatized. Chronic stress interrupts nearly every system in your body. It can shut down your immune system, upset your digestive and reproductive systems, raise blood pressure, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, speed up the aging process and leave you vulnerable to many mental and physical health problems. Many people don’t have outlets to deal with their stress, this can be problematic.  Stress can have effects on your sleep, eating behaviors, and creativity.

As I did some research I noticed that many people have done studies on stress. The American Psychology Association did a survey that found, teens and adults have similar patterns of unhealthy behavior when it comes to stress. Another study done by NYU, showing that there is growing awareness many subgroups of youth experience high levels of chronic stress, to the extent it impedes their abilities to succeed academically, compromises their mental health functioning, and fosters risk behavior. Another study done in Sweden showed one in three teenagers suffer from chronic stress. An article written by Riley (2012), called “Effects of stress on creativity,” says stress is the fastest way to damper creativity. She says “Another consequence of stress on creativity is during the fight-or flight response we become tunnel-vision. Our brains are programed to focus on the crisis at hand, which narrows our ability to see multiple viewpoints of a problem, an essential ingredient in the creative process” Riley (2012) and I completely agree.

There should be more studies that teach teenagers how to cope with stress in a positive way. Not to say that there aren’t any out there, but there should be more affective. My study is to create something that will help teens and adults to cope with their stress. When your brain is stuck in negative space it’s hard to be creative, but being creative is also a good stress reliever. Being creative helps your brain relax. Creativity comes in many different forms whether its drawing, writing, pottery, etc. Whatever you create doesn’t even have to be perfect, just a way to release your emotions.

I predict that my study will help people reduce their stress through creativity. This way it creates alternate outlets people can have when they have no one to talk to. Though it may not completely take their stress away it is something temporary to give them a piece of mind when they are having a tough time.

Objective

 

This game is trying to teach people positives ways to release stress. This game attempts to create an alternative creative approach for stress relief. The player has a lot of interaction because it was created for the player to be hands on in the experience. The cognitive processes that this game is most affecting is the cognitive processes.  I say this because his game is attempting to create new learning opportunities.

 

Methods

  1. Subjects
  2. What is your population of interest? My population of interest would be people in my family and friends.
  3. What subject were sampled from that population? How were they recruited? Subjects will be recruited at random to avoid bias selections.
  4. What were the conditions (e.g., experimental vs. control groups) and how did you assign subjects to the conditions? Experimental groups will be people using the simulation I created and the control group will be people not using the simulation I created. They will also be selected at random.
  5. What subjects were included? What screening criteria were used to determine if a subject was eligible for the study (e.g., include only subjects with Type 2 Diabetes)? Subjects that were included were any people going to school and working no matter the health condition.
  6. What people were excluded (e.g., exclude subjects with Type 1 Diabetes)? Subjects that were excluded were people not working or in school.
  7. What was the average age of the subjects? Describe the other relevant demographics like gender, ethnicity, education, etc. The average age of the subjects are 16-21, both male and female, any ethnicity, that are in school, work, or both.
  8. How were subjects motivated to participate? Were they paid? Did they receive course credit? No subjects were paid or receive course credit, but they were taken out to dinner.
  9. Apparatus
  10. What materials did you use? I will use blank canvas, pens, pencils, paints, oil pastels, and markers
  11. Describe your stimuli in detail. People will be asked to put whatever they would want on the blank canvas whether it be drawing, words, writing their feelings, etc using any tool they want and then be asked a series of questions after.
  12. How were stimuli presented? I asked people in the experimental group to partake in the stimulation and the people in the control group to do daily activities.
  13. How were responses measured? I asked a series of questions after responses were done.
  14. Other equipment? None
  15. Procedures
  16. What conditions did you create and compare? People using my stimulation vs people doing their daily activities.
  17. What were subjects in each condition asked to do? Experimental group will be asked to create whatever they wanted with the stimulation I gave and the Control group will be asked to daily activities
  18. How did you explain things to the subjects? I’ll have subject go do their daily routine and when they get home and settled in the experimental group is asked to create whatever they want on the canvas and they series of questions asked after will determine results.
  19. How did you collect data? Made a chart for the whole week to record data after they answer questions.

Results

Based on the data it seems like my simulation did help people deal with stress in a positive way. The experimental group seemed to have felt more relaxed after playing my game and the control group still felt stressed. In order to know if my game was truly affective I would need to experiment on a bigger level. According to the data, I collected 9/12 people in the experimental group had felt like they were significantly relaxed after using the simulation and 3/12 felt no change. In the control group, all of the people felt no change and said they experience the same amount of stress.

Discussion

Young adults have problems managing stress every day. According to my results stress does affect many young adults and they do look to many different outlets to help manage it. My assimilation seemed to provide some relief for people in the experimental as the survey and data says. Stress has a major impact on teens and young adults. My results show that nearly all of my test subjects in the experimental group benefited from my assimilation. My experiment could be a major break for this problem because stress is something that impacts everyone daily at different age ranges. This way it creates alternate outlets people can have when they have no one to talk to. Though it may not completely take their stress away it is something temporary to give them a piece of mind when they are having a tough time.

               

Conclusion

Young adults have problems managing stress every day. According to my results stress does affect many young adults and they do look to many different outlets to help manage it. My assimilation seemed to provide some relief for people in the experimental as the survey and data says. Stress has a major impact on teens and young adults. My results show that nearly all of my test subjects in the experimental group benefited from my assimilation. My experiment could be a major break for this problem because stress is something that impacts everyone daily at different age ranges. This way it creates alternate outlets people can have when they have no one to talk to. Though it may not completely take their stress away it is something temporary to give them a piece of mind when they are having a tough time.

References

“American Psychological Association Survey Shows Teen Stress Rivals That of Adults.” Apa.org. N.p., 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

Bethune, Sophie. “Teen Stress Rivals That of Adults.” Apa.org. N.p., Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

Jakosen, Hanne. “One in Three Teenagers Suffers Chronic Stress.” N.p., 17 May 2013. Web.

“NYU Study Examines Top High School Students’ Stress and Coping Mechanisms.” NYU Study Examines Top High School Students’ Stress and Coping Mechanisms. N.p., 11 Aug. 2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

FA-16 PROJ 9 FINAL WEEK

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intermediate poster                                                                 Introduction

  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly known as autism is a group of mental conditions of brain development disorders (Autism Speaks, 2016).
  • Sensory processing disorder (SPD) a condition in which the brain has troubles receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses (About SPD, 2016 ).
  • When someone is affected by this disorder they are only affected in one of the senses such as smell, touch etc (About SPD, 2016)
  • A study done in the field investigated perceptual and neural responses to affective tactile textures stimulation in adults with autism (Cascio, et al. 2012).
  • One recent study done investigated effectiveness of an aquatic playgroup on the playfulness of children between the ages 2-3 with autism disorder (Fabrizi, 2015).

Thesis:

Its predicted that textured playing cards help children with sensory processing disorder improve their sensory processing skills.

                                                              Methods

Subjects

  • Participants parents were motivated to let their children be part of the study by being told that the study will add more research to the field and help develop different ways to help their children overcome their sensory issues.
  • Participants were recruited from different daycare in long island.

Apparatus

  • Participants will play a card game and the cards have different textures.
  • Participants will be exposed to different textures such as soft, hard and rough textures.

Procedures

  • Children meet up once a wee one hour and for a total of six weeks.
  • Boys were divided into groups of threes there were a total of twelve boys.
  • Only two groups were to play the game the other two groups had to sit aside.
  • When the boys arrived to their section of playing card they were asked to choose from the cards which ones they liked.
  • Played game with their group members and had to tell the name of the animal on the card and how they felt about the textured.
  • Game went for two hours
  • At the end the children were asked again to choose from the cards which one they liked.

                                                                   RESULTS

  • Based on the results the groups that played the game for the six weeks improved more than the two groups that were not playing the game.
  • The average of group 1 was 1.16, group 2- 2.83, group 3- 1.57 and group 4- 2.57. the group with the highest average of improvement was group 2 which was the group with autism and sensory processing disorder.
  • Data was collected weekly
  • The results collected were the amount of cards the children would say the like.

                                                                   DISCUSSION

  • Textured card game can be a helpful technique to help the children in this population improve their skills.
  • Textured card game offers a different form of therapy like environment.
  • This study advances the field by adding additional research .
  • Potential problems with the study is that it wasn’t well administered since the people leading the study aren’t experienced.
  • One of the studies done in the field was done with adults that had autism instead of children. The adults were given three types of textures and they were to rate the textures by roughness or pleasantness (Cascio, et al. 2012).
  • Another study previously done investigated effectiveness of an aquatic playgroup on the playfulness of children between the ages 2-3 with autism disorder (Fabrizi, 2015). Two different test were used the test of playfulness and test of environmental supportiveness were used to measure playfulness, caregiver’s promotion of play, and adequacy of the sensory environment

–

                                                            REFERENCES

Bibliography

Autism Speaks. (2016). what is autism. Retrieved may 1st, 2016 from Autism speaks: https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

Cascio, C. J., Moana-Filho, E. J., Guest, S., Nebel, M. B., Weisner, J., Baranek, G. T., & Essiick, G. K. (2012, March 23). Perceptual and Neural Response to Affective Tactile Texture Stimulation in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In NCBI. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3517930/

 About SPD. (2016). In Spdstar.org. Retrieved December 6, 2016.

  Fabrizi, S. E. (2015, December 11). Splashing Our Way to Playfulness! An Aquatic Playgroup for Young Children With Autism, A Repeated Measures Design. Retrieved from journal of occupational therapy

 

 

Week 16

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Many college students partake in recreational drinking but somewhere down the road, many start to abuse it. Drinking has become a concern in the college community. According to Magrys and Olmstead (2015), “Risky drinking is a significant problem among undergraduate students, many of whom exhibit high rates of alcohol consumption” (as cited in Balodis et al., 2009). The drinking epidemic of college students can lead to problems down the road such as alcoholism.  Bacon, Blumenthal, and Cranford (2015) stated the following: College students report high rates of alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking (i.e,. Five or more drinks on one occasion), compared to same-aged peers not attending college as well as adolescent and adult samples, While this style of alcohol use presents obvious immediate health and safety concerns, the long-term consequences of drinking patterns established in college are an additional pressing issue. Though heavy drinking while in college often is perceived as normal, or at least acceptable, it is possible that some students may establish patterns of drinking during these years that may persist and lead to long-term problems. (as cited in Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2008; Borsari & Carey 2001, 2003; Gotham, Sher, & Wood, 1997) As the problem of drinking in college students is rising, it is pressing that it is understood why it is happening. Studies have suggested that stress may be a leading cause on why college students turn to drinking. Coughlan, Deasy, Jourdan, McNamara and Pironom (2014) states: Stress, defined as ‘a particular relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well-being’ is acknowledged as a major part of the student experience. ( as cited in Lazarus and Folkman, 1984; Wichianson et al., 2009) Magrys and Olmstead (2015), also stated  …Factors that contribute to excessive consumption of alcohol during college and university may indirectly confer risk for alcohol abuse. Stress is one of the most likely contributing factors in that stressful life events are associated with elevated alcohol use, as well as increased likelihood of alcohol abuse. (as cited in Enoch, 2011; Bonden et al., 2014) Stress, whether it be stress from school, work, or the many other things life can throw at a person, takes it’s toll on one’s well-being and health. Many students may turn to drinking as a way to cope or escape from whatever is bothering them. Although many studies have suggested that risky alcohol consumption is a growing epidemic in the college community, they have not tested the effect stress has on a college student as well as if it leads to alcohol consumption and or abuse. This study aims to make the connection between stress and risky alcohol consumption in college students. Not only does this study aim to make a connection but also aims to be an alternative stress reliever in hopes of reducing the alcohol consumption in the college community. It is predicted that stress negatively influences alcohol consumption among college students.

Methods

The population of interest in this experiment are college students. Two subjects were sampled from that population. The subjects were recruited through volunteering to participate. The subjects included in this experiment had to be college students. Also, the subjects had to be at or above the drinking age. If a participant was under the age of consent to drink and/or not in college they were not allowed to participate in the experiment. The subjects could be any gender and of any ethnic background. The average age of participants ranged from 23-28 years old. The subjects were motivated to participate by receiving a $5 Starbucks gift card after the experiment was over. The stimuli was presented as a  game. The game was a  table-top board game. Along with the board game were two stacks of cards, similar to the card game Uno, a pair of dice, and pieces that represent the subject to move around the board. The subject is unaware of what the cards say. (i.e. Go to the bar and take another drink or go home.) The subject has the choice of going to the bar or going home, based on that choice determines whether or not they win/lose the game. The subject’s objective is to make it through the game “sober”. Four or more drinks in the game constituted for the subject being drunk. The subject had to make it through different levels of the game, where they gained a new achievement. The conditions created for the game were that one subject had a stack of cards that included extremely stressful situations and the other subject had a stack of cards that did not include such stressful situations. The point of this is to see whether or not the stressful situation made the subject drink or not. The cards were chosen by the subject so no biased occurred. Each time the subject played the game the cards were randomly picked by the subject. The amount of trials conducted were six trials in total, three trials for each subject, conducted at the same time. The data that was collected was whether or not one subject drank, drank more than the other, or did not drink at all. The conditions were compared by who had which cards and how many times they drank. (i.e. Subject facing extremely stressful situations drank once).

Results

Subject 1, had the deck of cards with the extremely stressful scenarios during all three trials. Subject 2, did not end up with the deck of cards that contained extremely stressful scenarios. It was found that Subject 1 drank more than Subject 2. In the first trial Subject 1 drank 1 time, the second trial drank 2 times, and in the third trial drank 1 time. Subject 2 drank 1 time  in the first two trials and 0 times in the last trial.

Discussion

In conclusion, stress negatively influences alcohol consumption among college students. My results support my thesis in that whenever the subject 1 was presented with a stressful situation in they drank more in the three trials that were conducted. As  Magrys and Olmstead (2015), stated “…the immediate need for interventions focused on stress-reduction in order to diminish heavy episodic drinking among undergraduate students and, thereby reduce the risk for future alcohol use disorders”, was part of this experiment’s purpose. This experiment  allowed students to use it as an outlet to alleviate their stress rather than turning to drinking to cope with their stress. This can help reduce the risk of alcohol addiction in college students down the road. Potential problems with this study is that the experiment does not cover all the possible reasons why one may turn to drinking. The experiment focuses only on stressful situations and does not give insight to drinking because a person is happy. A future experiment could be to incorporate how positive life events can influence alcohol consumption in college students and whether or not that can lead to alcohol related issues down the road.

References

Bacon, K.A. , Blumenthal, H. , & Cranford, N. A. (2015). Effects of ostracism and sex on alcohol consumption in a clinical laboratory setting. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors,29(3), 664-672.

Coughlan, B. , Deasy, C. , Jourdan, D. , McNamara, M. P. , & Pironom, J. (2014). Psychological distress and lifestyle of students: Implications for health promotion. Health Promotion International, 30(1).

Magrys, A. S. , & Olmstead, C. M. (2015). Acute stress increases voluntary consumption of alcohol in undergraduates. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 50(2), 213-218.

Week 15

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Discussion

A stressor is the trigger of the recreational drug use –focusing mainly on alcohol use-among college students. My results support my thesis in that whenever the players were presented with a stressful situation in they were drank more. In the three playtests that I conducted there were more losses than wins. This was due to the decision the player made, which was to drink instead of finding another outlet for their stress. Using this game as an alternative for drinking when stressed can reduce the risk of drinking problems down the road. Also, by understanding what causes a person to drink, which the game attempts to do, will help to advance this study to better help solve the drinking epidemic. Potential problems with this study is that the experiment does not cover all the possible reasons why one may turn to drinking. The experiment focuses only on stressful situations and predominantly situations pertaining to school. It does not address other life stressors. A future experiment could be to incorporate other life stressors into the game and see how the game may or may not help.