The effectiveness of intervention with board games: a systematic review

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Abstract

To examine the effectiveness of board games and programs that use board games, the present study conducted a systematic review using the PsycINFO and PubMed databases with the keywords “board game” AND “trial;” in total, 71 studies were identified. Of these 71 studies, 27 satisfied the inclusion criteria in terms of program content, intervention style, and pre–post comparisons and were subsequently reviewed. These 27 studies were divided into the following three categories regarding the effects of board games and programs that use board games: educational knowledge (11 articles), cognitive functions (11 articles), and other conditions (five articles). The effect sizes between pre- and post-tests or pre-tests and follow-up tests were 0.12–1.81 for educational knowledge, 0.04–2.60 and − 1.14 – − 0.02 for cognitive functions, 0.06–0.65 for physical activity, and − 0.87 – − 0.61 for symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present findings showed that, as a tool, board games can be expected to improve the understanding of knowledge, enhance interpersonal interactions among participants, and increase the motivation of participants. However, because the number of published studies in this area remains limited, the possibility of using board games as treatment for clinical symptoms requires further discussion.

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Near and Far Transfer in Cognitive Training: A Second-Order Meta-Analysis

Giovanni Sala, N. Aksayli, K Semir Tatlidil … (2019)

Theory building in science requires replication and integration of findings regarding a particular research question. Second-order meta-analysis (i.e., a meta-analysis of meta-analyses) offers a powerful tool for achieving this aim, and we use this technique to illuminate the controversial field of cognitive training. Recent replication attempts and large meta-analytic investigations have shown that the benefits of cognitive-training programs hardly go beyond the trained task and similar tasks. However, it is yet to be established whether the effects differ across cognitive-training programs and populations (children, adults, and older adults). We addressed this issue by using second-order meta-analysis. In Models 1 (k = 99) and 2 (k = 119), we investigated the impact of working-memory training on near-transfer (i.e., memory) and far-transfer (e.g., reasoning, speed, and language) measures, respectively, and whether it is mediated by the type of population. Model 3 (k = 233) extended Model 2 by adding six meta-analyses assessing the far-transfer effects of other cognitive-training programs (video-games, music, chess, and exergames). Model 1 showed that working-memory training does induce near transfer, and that the size of this effect is moderated by the type of population. By contrast, Models 2 and 3 highlighted that far-transfer effects are small or null. Crucially, when placebo effects and publication bias were controlled for, the overall effect size and true variance equaled zero. That is, no impact on far-transfer measures was observed regardless of the type of population and cognitive-training program. The lack of generalization of skills acquired by training is thus an invariant of human cognition.

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Kalèdo, a new educational board-game, gives nutritional rudiments and encourages healthy eating in children: a pilot cluster randomized trial.

Emanuela Viggiano, Maddalena Raia, Sunil Deepak … (2006)

Prevention of obesity and overweight is an important target for health promotion. Early prevention requires an intervention during childhood and adolescence. At these stages, the game could be an appropriate means to teach nutrition knowledge and to influence dietary behaviour. To this end, the authors developed Kalèdo, a new board-game. The aim of the present study was to test the efficacy of Kalèdo on changes in nutrition knowledge and dietary behaviour in a pilot study conducted in three middle schools in Naples, Italy. A simple two-group design (treatment and control) with pre- and post-assessment was employed. The classroom was the unit of recruitment and random assignment to groups. All students (307) in the participating schools were invited to participate. Data analysis was performed on 241 subjects. During 24 weeks, a group of 153 children from 8 classrooms (11-14 year old Caucasian subjects; 78 male, 75 female) was involved in 15-30 minute-long play sessions once a week. A questionnaire was given to the participants at the beginning and at the end of the study to evaluate nutrition knowledge (31 questions), physical activity (8 questions) and food intake (34 questions). Anthropometric measurements were also carried out. A second group of 88 children from 5 classrooms (same age and ethnicity; 55 male, 33 female) was investigated at the same times with the same questionnaire and anthropometric measures but they did not receive any play sessions with Kalèdo. Children playing Kalèdo showed a significant increase in nutrition knowledge (p<0.05) and in weekly vegetable intake (p<0.01) with respect to the control. The results suggest that Kalèdo could be an effective instrument to teach children about healthy diet. More research is needed to study the long term effect of this intervention.

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The relationship between cognitive ability and chess skill: A comprehensive meta-analysis

Alexander P. Burgoyne, Giovanni Sala, Fernand Gobet … (2016)

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Author and article information

Contributors

Shota Noda:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7376-7630

03-5530-7624 , norashouta@outlook.jp

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Biopsychosoc Med

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Biopsychosoc Med

Title: Biopsychosocial Medicine

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1751-0759

Publication date (Electronic): 21 October 2019

Publication date PMC-release: 21 October 2019

Publication date Collection: 2019

Volume: 13

Electronic Location Identifier: 22

Affiliations

[1 ]ISNI 0000 0001 0356 8417, GRID grid.411867.d, Graduate School of Human and Social Sciences, Musashino University, ; 3-3-3 Ariake, Koutouku, Tokyo, 135-8181 Japan

[2 ]ISNI 0000 0001 0356 8417, GRID grid.411867.d, Faculty of Human Sciences, , Musashino University, ; Tokyo, Japan

[3 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0531 3030, GRID grid.411731.1, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, School of Medicine, , International University of Health and Welfare, ; Chiba, Japan

Author information

Shota Noda http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7376-7630

Article

Publisher ID: 164

DOI: 10.1186/s13030-019-0164-1

PMC ID: 6802304

PubMed ID: 31641371

SO-VID: 5c154536-d41b-4291-92ea-4eee5b777f5c

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.