Emotional Development
Emotional Skills Development and Emotional Intelligence
“ The increasing interest in the different types of Intelligence is not only noticed in the educational domain, but it is also noticed in other different domains” (Al-Rfou, 2012, p.268). Emotions form one important part of behavior and can be different from one person to another, but are integral in the formulation of emotional skills of the individual’s character, personality and achievement (Al-Rfou, 2012).
Emotional development is an area that often is intertwined with cognition and social development, but is rooted in the skills that are within the spectrum of growth and human development. From the time of Charles Darwin, who argues “emotional displays are products of evolution because they contributed to species survival” (Passer, & Smith, 2009, p.394) to the more recent Evolutionary Theorists, Izard (1982), Tomkins (1991), Plutchik (1994), all suggest through their research, that facial expressions are all biologically linked in all creatures (Passer & Smith, 2009). The ability to analyze facial expressions isan important skill under the umbrella of Emotional Intelligence emphasizing visual perception.
Facial Expressions Cues
In terms of facial expressions, ranging from anger to fear to happiness, facial expressions are evident in homo sapiens, monkeys and apes, all of whom have well-developed facial muscles. This does not mean that all humans’ facial expressions are the same for each emotion. There can be a large range of facial expressions as demonstrated by the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) that Ekman and Friesen (1987) developed. The range is influenced by personality and cultures (Zuckerman, 2005; Buss, 2007; Taylor et al., 2000). Video game players learn from various scenarios in the virtual world how to interpret visual facial cues. This is integral to understanding nonverbal cues as a life skill.
Empathy
Rosenthal (1977) found that people who were best at identifying others’ emotions were more successful in their work and their social lives, after studying subjects in his original research twenty years later. The research centered on Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and one aspect of it, empathy. Emotional intelligence becomes the foundation that is necessary for children to possess in order for them to learn and hone emotional skills, especially empathy (Cherniss, 2000). Davis (1994) argues that there are “two levels of empathy: parallel and reactive” (p. 726). Parallel means that a person experiences the same state of affectiveness as another; while reactive empathy means that a person experiences emotional reactions to the other’s affect (Peng, Lee, & Heeter, 2010). In a serious games such as Darfur is Dying, which elicits a willingness to help the Darfurians or the political game PeaceMaker, in which the player has the choice to be the Israeli Prime Minister or the Palestinian President, is faced with a variety of events presenting opportunities to help and influence attitudes and feelings for the other side. In games like these or other commercial games of virtual reality, the player becomes emotionally involved and internalizes and shares goals of the character (Peng, Lee, & Heeter, 2010). In Call of Duty, a more commercial type game, the same feeling of empathy is invoked as the player progresses and feels the presence of the realistic situation of war. He or she is forced to deal with the emotions as a motivating factor.
Emotions’ Role in Motivation and Achieving Flow
Emotions play an extremely large role in children’s motivation to play video games (Olsen, 2010). Children may play them to relax, but many use games to cope with anger. According to a survey, 45% of boys and 29% of girls use the games to regulate their feelings, to forget, or cope with problems, like anger or loneliness (Olsen, 2010). In contrast to negative reasons, some use games to promote a positive mood. This positive mood is accomplished by players becoming immersed and achieving flow (Nakamura, & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). As the child excels in playing the game, they experience a joy, or flow that acts as a motivator to continue playing due to achieving and experiencing the flow (Annetta, 2010; Kiili, 2005; Sherry, 2004;Csikszentmihalyi, 1997).
James Gee (2005) argues “good video games are good for your soul when you play them with thought, reflection, and engagement with the world around you” (p.1). This pertains to moral education and character education. These two types of education fall under the umbrella of prosocial learning (Koo, & Seider, 2009), but it can also be called Emotional Intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Moral Development
Emotional Intelligence (EI) involves moral development. Kohlberg (1981, 1984) built on the constructionist stage theory of Piaget to develop a stage theory of moral development that acts as an impetus to increase and deepen children’s moral reasoning skills through education and experience (Koo, & Seider, 2009). Another view in the mid-1980s of teaching moral development or what they termed virtues was by means of inspirational stories both fictional and biographical (Koo, & Seider, 2009). Morality in the world has always been an issue in all societies and ages from the time of Ancient Greece, to our present Digital Age (Ohler, 2010). Piaget viewed moral development as he result of interpersonal interactions through which individuals work on resolutions which all deem fair (Murray, nd.). Piaget’s theory is applicable today, although more complex. This can be seen in video games such as The Last of Us, Dying for Darfur, Final Fantasy and BioShock, all of which take the player into a deep narrative that allows for perceptions to be formed and moral dilemmas to develop that require the player to connect and make judgment calls based on moral decisions that reach a resolution.
Emotional Intelligence relates to emotions and emotional reasoning. Video games like Zoo Tycoon, fosters Emotional Intelligence by having the players accept responsibility, promoting perception of others feelings and allowing the players to exhibit judgment calls of situations in maintaining animals and a zoo. A new version has been released (August 2013) with additional components dealing with collaboration and community but on a global scale. Also the game series of Mass Effect in which the player creates an avatar and plays through the tri-level series encourages decisions that can be coping mechanisms for attitudinal changes.
Virtual and Real Life Simulations and Moral Development
Video games offer the player complex virtual worlds that mimic real life and according to Jose P. Zagal, (2008) focuses on the moral aspects of violent video games, impacting moral demands on the players through presentation of moral dilemmas (Bergen & Davis, 2011). Role playing games (RPG) like Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age offer the challenge of good and evil, allowing the player’s choice of actions and decisions to affect the flow of the game and the outcome (Bergen, & Davis, 2011). Multiplayer games have the dual consequences of virtual and real world consequences. The Sims series affords the player the opportunity to create a virtual character, who interacts with the virtual world but with the dimension of the moral compass (Bergen, & Davis, 2011). Games of this genre challenge the player with moral dilemmas. They placethe player in situations where they must decide the fairness and goodness of their choices. This is preparation for the real world, where life is faced with good and evil choices.
Self-Efficacy
Another important skill under the umbrella of Emotional Intelligence, is the development of the skill of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a person’s belief that he or she has the ability to perform a task or behavior (Bandura, 1977). Bandura (1993) further argues, the description of self-efficacy as a “people’s belief about their ability to exercise control over their own level of functioning and over events that affect their lives” (p.118). Self-efficacy is viewed as both general and domain specific (Bandura, & Locke, 2003). The development of self-efficacy is the belief in success in difficult circumstances and of he ability to overcome challenging obstacles, which is important for building confidence in children (Schwarzer, 2009; Steyn, & Mynhardt, 2008; Rutledge, 2012b).
In developing self-efficacy, game-based learning has been significant as a predictor of performance (Meluso, Zheng, Spires, & Lester, 2012; Cherniss, Extein, Goleman, & Weissberg, 2006). Research by Meluso, Zheng, Spires, & Lester (2012) found that video games definitely have the potential to impact science efficacy in the STEM subjects. Video games such as Minecraft and Civilization stress many different Emotional Intelligence Skills but also the STEM subjects are vastly important, as the player builds the Lego type game of Minecraft and an actual civilization in the Civilization series. Games of these types form a foundation that encourages growth of self-efficacy and success because the player can see the progression as the game develops.
Self-Regulation
The skill of self-regulation or self-control is developed through play. Children that do not have the opportunity to play are at risk for “abnormal development and deviant behavior (Goldstein, 2003, p.2). This is confirmed by more than “40 studies that have concluded that play enhances development by 33%” (Goldstein, 2003, p.2). This is indeed important and translates as children grow older in a digital age that video game play enters into the development of self-control. Piaget and Vygotsky recognized that play influences the development of moral reasoning and self-control (Bergen, & Davis, 2011). In Vygotsky’s argument (1967) he states that play is a facilitator of moral behavior by its involvement in “imaginary situations, defined roles, implicit rules and language that fosters the ability to control behavior, negotiate and promote self-reflection
(Bergen, & Davis, 2011, p.82). Vygotsky’s argument is applicable to video game play by its virtual world, defined roles of the characters, the rules that must be followed and the language that indeed controls behavior, negotiates and promotes self-reflection.
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