The Gamification Report Blog

What Makes Story So Powerful? (Part 2) behavioral science gamification motivation narrative Nov 05, 2018

By Jonathan Peters, PhD
Chief Motivation Officer, Sententia Gamification

When we hear someone else telling a story or sharing a metaphor, our brain quickly searches for similar experiences we’ve already had.

You probably haven’t been to Kakadu National Park. You probably haven’t even been to Austra...

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What Makes Story So Powerful? (Part 1) gamification instructional design motivation narrative Nov 02, 2018

By Jonathan Peters, PhD
Chief Motivation Officer, Sententia Gamification

A few years ago, I was exploring petroglyphs and ancient dwelling sites in Kakadu National Park in Northern Territories, Australia. In my usual fashion, I didn’t follow a prescribed path, and I didn’t take the time to read any ...

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A Long View of Gamification and Learning adult learning behavioral science gamification Aug 27, 2018

When you mention your intention to gamify of learning program, have you ever run into resistance? Have you ever had a higher-up say, “We’re serious people doing serious work,” or “We don’t pay them to have fun”? (Have you asked to go to a gamification conference, say, GamiCon, and struggled to get i...

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Awards and Motivation adult learning gamification motivation narrative Aug 24, 2018

A lot has been written about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in popular books and articles, but scientists are not so sure such a differentiation exists. There is no part of the brain dedicated to extrinsic awards and another part that comes from within. Dopamine, for instance, is released, regar...

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The Reiss Motivation Profile and Gamification adult learning behavioral science motivation narrative Jun 12, 2018

Think of how much you played as a child. You exerted a tremendous amount of energy, and spent as much time as possible, playing games. Why such a commitment? Because it was fun!

Ultimately, we were motivated by "fun," though we differ in our definitions of fun. Our brains have receptors for differe...

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The Pitfalls of Motivational Interviews behavioral science business objectives corporate training motivation Feb 08, 2018

Beginning Warning

What motivates your learner? The answer is more complex and complicated than you may think, certainly more complex and more complicated than popular business books would lead you to believe. 

When it comes to assessing the motivational profile of learners, the first and biggest h...

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Four Types of Gamification for Learning adult learning business objectives corporate training e-learning gamification Jan 27, 2018

With a nod to Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle, it’s important to know WHY we are gamifying a program or process before we begin to actually gamify it. If I could anticipate what he would say (at least a few years ago) about the WHY of gamification, I believe Sinek would say our WHY will determine HOW we...

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