The Gamification Report Blog

Every Profession that Designs Experiences For Others Uses Personas... Except Learning and Development adult learning behavioral science corporate training gamification instructional design motivation narrative Jun 12, 2019

Pretty much every profession that designs experiences for other people uses personas… except the learning and development community. Game designers, app designers, web page designers all rely on personas to determine what will appeal to their target audiences and what things they should...

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What Can We Learn from the Marshmallow Tests for the Gamification of Learning? adult learning behavioral science corporate training e-learning gamification instructional design motivation May 14, 2019

by Jonathan Peters, PhD
Chief Motivation Officer, Sententia Gamification

In our efforts to make learning engaging through gamification, we may trip over some unintended consequences. It turns out that there are some advantages to dry, boring lectures. 

It goes back to the famous...

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A "Hold-Your-Pee" Game Mechanic? adult learning behavioral science e-learning game design gamification instructional design motivation Apr 29, 2019

by Jonathan Peters, PhD
Sententia Gamification Chief Motivation Officer

I recently read an article about creating engagement at events in a manner that people put the needs of the group ahead of their own. The author mentioned a bar in College Park, MD, that had an innovative beer special:...

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The Dark Side of Oxytocin adult learning behavioral science business objectives corporate training gamification motivation Apr 22, 2019

by Jonathan Peters, PhD
Chief Motivation Officer, Sententia Gamification

In several of my articles and webinars, I’ve noted the importance of story in learning programs. Specifically, I mentioned the work of Paul Zak who, with the help of the Department of Defense, has shown that when we...

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Raspberries, Learning, and a Dose of Dopamine adult learning behavioral science e-learning gamification instructional design motivation Apr 15, 2019

by Jonathan Peters, PhD
Chief Motivation Officer, Sententia Gamification

We LOVE dopamine. The release of this neurochemical in our brains rewards us when we do things that are/should be good for us and/or the passage of our DNA to the next generation. We feel pleasure, for instance, when we see a...

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Pushing Boundaries Through Play adult learning e-learning gamification motivation narrative Mar 25, 2019

Play, at least from an evolutionary psychological perspective, isn’t always smiles and unicorns. Watch any group of children playing, and you’ll see them push the boundaries. Boys will typically escalate “rough-and-tumble” play until someone expresses pain. And while girls...

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Espionage, Subterfuge, and Double Agents adult learning e-learning game design gamification instructional design Mar 11, 2019

by Jonathan Peters, PhD
Chief Motivation Officer, Sententia Gamification

The Navy SEALS have a saying, “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying. (And if you get caught, shame on you.)” 

This week, we added ten new game mechanics to Sententia’s Game Mechanics...

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