Goals,Attention,and Video Game Performance Among Gifted Children

Abstract

Gifted children's goals for learning on their video game performance and patterns of attention were examined. Before playing a game, second- and fifth-graders were instructed to adopt an evaluative, process, outcome, or no specific goal focus while playing. Children were then asked about the game strategies and game features they attended to while playing. Older children showed better performance overall and their best performance when instructed to adopt an evaluative goal. Younger children showed their worst performance in the same condition. This developmental pattern of findings was reversed among children instructed to adopt an outcome goal. Postgame responses indicated developmental differences in game features, strategies, and evaluative assessments. Most children across both grades made reference to process goals. These findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that gifted children's goals for learning impact their performance and attention and that this impact may be influenced by their developmental level.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alexander, J. , Carr, M. , & Schwanenflugel, P. (1995). Development of metacognition in gifted children: Directions for future research. Developmental Review, 15, 1-37.

Blumberg, F. C. (1998). Developmental differences at play: Children's selective attention and performance in video games. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19, 615-624.

Blumberg, F. C. (1999, April). The effects of children's process goals on video game performance. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Albuquerque, NM.

Bouffard-Bouchard, T. , Parent, S. , & Larivee, S. (1993). Self-regulation on a concept-formation task among average and gifted students. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 56, 115-134.

Cheng, P. (1993). Metacognition and giftedness: The state of the relationship. Gifted Child Quarterly, 37, 105-112.

Dai, D. Y. , Moon, S. M. , & Feldhusen, J. F. (1998). Achievement motivation and gifted students: A social cognitive perspective. Educational Psychologist, 33, 45-63.

Dover, A. , & Shore, B. M. (1991). Giftedness and flexibility on a mathematical set breaking task. Gifted Child Quarterly, 35, 99-105.

Fliess, J. L. (1981). Statistical methods for rates and proportions. New York: Wiley.

Frey, K. S. , & Ruble, D. N. (1990). Strategies for comparative evaluation: Maintaining a sense of competence across the life span. In R. J. Sternberg & J. Kolligan, Jr. (Eds.), Competence considered (pp. 167-189). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

10.

Greenfield, P. M. (1994). Video games as cultural artifacts. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 3-12.

11.

Greenfield, P. M. , Brannon, C. , & Lohr, D. (1994). Two-dimensional representation of movement through three-dimensional space: The role of video game expertise. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 87-103.

12.

Okagaki, L. , & Frensch, P. (1994). Effects of video game playing on measures of spatial performance: Gender effects in late adolescence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 33-58.

13.

Olszewski-Kubilius, P. M. , Kulieke, M. J. , & Krasney, N. (1988). Personality dimensions of gifted adolescents: A review of the empirical literature. Gifted Child Quarterly, 32, 347-352.

14.

Robinson, A. , & Clinkenbeard, P. R. (1998). Giftedness: An exceptionality examined. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 117-139.

15.

Schunk, D. H. (1996). Goal and self-evaluative influences during children's cognitive skill learning. American Educational Research Journal, 33, 359-382.

16.

Schunk, D. H. , & Swartz, C. W. (1993). Goals and progress feedback: Effects on self-efficacy and writing achievement. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 18, 337-354.

17.

Schunk, D. H. , & Zimmerman, B. J. (1997). Social origins of self-regulatory competence. Educational Psychologist, 32, 195-208.

18.

Zimmerman, B. J. (1998a). Academic studying and the development of personal skill: A self-regulatory perspective. Educational Psychologist, 33, 73-86

19.

Zimmerman, B. J. (1998b). Developing self-fulfilling cycles of academic regulation: An analysis of exemplary instructional models. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Self-regulated learning: From teaching to self-reflective practice (pp. 1-19). New York: Guilford Press.

20.

Zimmerman, B. J. , & Kitsantas, A. (1997). Developmental phases in self-regulation: Shifting from process goals to outcome goals. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 29-36.

21.

Zimmerman, B. J. , & Martinez-Pons, M. (1990). Student differences in self-regulated learning: Relating grade, sex, and giftedness to self-efficacy and strategy use. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 51-59.