Game-Based Promotion of Motivation and Attention for Socio-Emotional Training in Autism: Exploring the Secrets of Facial Expressions by Combining Minecraft and a Mobile App

Abstract

aused by a deviance of their reward system, autistic people show attention deficits for learning content outside their special fields of interest. This can lead to significant problems, especially in formal learning situations. A promising approach to increase attention is the use of game-based learning concepts. The effect of individual playful aspects could be shown in existing learning systems. However, these do not provide consistent game experiences, which may result in a decreasing motivation for training. Therefore, this paper presents requirements as well as a related game concept to integrate the learning content with a playful narrative in order to promote motivation and attention for socio-emotional training.