Supporting Cognitive Adaptability Through Game Design.

Adaptability is a metacompetency critically important to the United States Department of Defense and is considered a key component of 21^st Century skills by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education). Video games are seen as learning environments supporting the acquisition of 21^st century skills. Can games, then, be used as components of an effective learning environment that support the development of adaptability? Initially this paper describes the metacompetency of adaptability. Next is how adaptability can be functionally and discretely measured by focusing on its most granular or micromomentary level which we describe as cognitive adaptability. Finally, the authors examine both the nature of cognitive adaptability, interventions that support its development, and how those interventions might be translated into game design features. Toward this end, the paper will also discuss how these features are exhibited in a popular commercially available video game and how it could be employed to test the hypothesis that a play frame of 12 consecutive hours, using a video game meeting the design criteria and example previously discussed, will increase cognitive adaptability in the players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]