A Computerized, Gamified Intervention Training Visual Perspective-Taking. Theoretical Rationale and Proposal of a Randomized Controlled Trial.
A Computerized, Gamified Intervention Training Visual Perspective-Taking. Theoretical Rationale and Proposal of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Summary/Abstract: Perspective-taking is a core theory of mind process, entailing the ability to understand and predict others' mental states. While the literature suggests that priming a perspective-taking stance increases empathic concern and intergroup cohesion and reduces implicit negative attitudes such as racial bias and prejudice, no study up to date has attempted to foster perspective-taking implicitly, by training visual perspective-taking in a computerized task. In the current paper, we propose a computerized, gamified intervention for visual perspective-taking in adolescents and young adults. The intervention is an adapted version of extant visual perspective-taking assessment protocols and is envisioned to train participants to selectively attend to the visual perspective of an animated avatar, instead of their own. By training an allocentric bias, the intervention aims to increase empathic and theory of mind abilities and to foster interpersonal communication and cohesion. An additionally hypothesized benefit of the intervention is a decrease in self-focused attention, a marker of social anxiety disorder. As such, the intervention is suited to address two different, but inter-related needs: optimizing social functioning and managing social anxiety symptomatology. Introducing users to gamification elements, such as earning badges, advancing through increasing difficulty levels, receiving feedback and leaderboards highlighting achievements, is intended to increase the intervention's efficacy and to promote adherence. Design considerations for testing the intervention in an experimental trial will additionally be proposed, with the intervention contrasted against a sham control condition that will equally train egocentric and allocentric biases in visual perspective-taking. Theoretical and practical implications for educational settings will be discussed.

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