The Gamification Report Blog

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 hear a char...

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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 r...

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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 stereotypically are less p...

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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 document. It turns out, we missed a whol...

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Play Makes You Smarter—Seriously adult learning behavioral science e-learning gamification motivation narrative Feb 18, 2019

by Jonathan Peters, PhD
Chief Motivation Officer, Sententia Gamification

Science shows that the bigger your brain, the more you play and the more complex your play is—at least compared with other animals. From dogs to dolphins, the bigger the brain, the more likely you are to play.

Neuroscientists ...

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Territory Exploration and Learning: Fortnite and Learning Programs adult learning e-learning gamification instructional design motivation narrative Feb 12, 2019

by Jonathan Peters, PhD
Sententia Gamification Chief Motivation Officer

I was in high school when Zork was available on the Commodore 64. My friends and I spent hours a day exploring the imaginary world with a notebook full of what we learned about the realm, the questions to ask, the instructions t...

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In Search of Fun adult learning corporate training e-learning gamification instructional design motivation narrative Jan 28, 2019

by Monica Cornetti
CEO, Sententia Gamification

Is it possible to make dull, difficult, tedious, or challenging tasks just a little more fun? 

What if you could make your employee learning experiences interesting, challenging, and FUN -- perhaps more game-like?

The reality is… you enjoy playing gam...

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