Andrea Kuszewski on the Science of Motivation: Neurology, Psychology, and Gamification
What makes receiving a badge for completing a task so exciting? Why does seeing a progress bar almost full make us itch until we finish it? Gamification—the combination of game-design principles and elements—implements cognitive psychology and decision-making theory as its scientific foundation. If gamification were stuffed shells, science is the shell, and everything else is stuffing.
This is because science tells us that motivation is the number one driving factor of learning and changing behavior. Using motivation as the core idea, much of gamification research is exploring how to increase an individual’s desire to learn and achieve. Once that is solved, the stuffing can come in the form of badges, points, leaderboards, or even a virtual currency. These tangible components to gamification serve as visual indicators of progress, which in turn fuels motivation to progress further. However, what happens when a player loses interest in progressing further? How does motivational science account for human fatigue?
Join Andrea Kuszewski, Researcher and Manager of VORTEX Research Group, as she answers questions like the ones above in her talk, “Science of Motivation: Neurology, Psychology, and Gamification.” at GSummit SF 2013. This talk will be a non-technical discussion of psychology and neuroscience. Anyone interested in learning more about why the brain craves games should attend!
For a sample of some of Andrea’s expert knowledge, watch her recent appearance on our weekly webshow, the Gamification Revolution:
