A serious game prototype for preschool children with deficits in theory of mind and deception detection abilities: social cognition empowerment game (Preprint)

Abstract

Deficits in Theory of Mind and deception detection can lead to worsening problems and indirectly impact mental health. The Social Cognition Empowerment game is an app designed to enhance these skills in preschool-aged children.

The aim of this article was to design, develop, validate and test an app prototype using gamification principles to assist preschoolers in theory of mind and deception detection abilities.

The game's design, principles and contents were based on theoretical foundations and existing examples in the fields of theory of mind, deception detection and gamification. After developing the game, content validation of the application was conducted by experts' opinions. Then, the game was performed on a sample of 40 female preschoolers in 14 separate sessions. Finally, the data about the effectiveness of this serious game was obtained through interviews with players (n: 40) and their mothers (n: 40).

The results confirmed the overall acceptability of the application. The developed game had sufficient content validity and significantly improved the recognition of emotions and beliefs. However, its influence on deception detection wasn’t definite. In addition, interviews provided more detailed information about the game’s sections and components (rewards, instructions, difficulty level, etc)

The findings indicated that the social cognition empowerment game partially improved the cognitive and emotional theory of mind. Also, the inclusion of mothers was a helpful strategy for the initial evaluation of the game. Although the current results are still inconclusive as to whether “The Social Cognition Empowerment Game” is effective as a computer-based intervention tool, they warrant further research in this direction. Future studies should utilize quantitative methods under controlled conditions to obtain more definitive results.

the relevant Ethics Committee of Allameh Tabataba’i university approved the study. Our ethical code is: IR.ATU.REC.1399.036. The link of Research Ethics Committees Certificate is here: https://ethics.research.ac.ir/ProposalCertificateEn.php?id=156246&Print=true&NoPrintHeader=true&NoPrintFooter=true&NoPrintPageBorder=true&LetterPrint=true