Game-influenced methodology: Addressing child data attrition in language development research

Research on human development can be challenging for many reasons, one of which is high attrition rates for infants and children. To address the issues of attention and engagement, we examined whether gamification of an experimental methodology improved preschoolers' participation on a task. The Primed Picture-Naming Task (PPNT) has been widely used to study language processing in adults; however, few studies have successfully implemented the methodology with children under 5 years of age, in part due to children's difficulty in completing the task. One version of the PPNT incorporated narrative and goal-directed game-like elements, while the control version was presented in a traditional format. The results showed that preschoolers' participated longer and completed more trials compared to children in the control version. Gamification is a valuable tool for creating assessments of preschoolers' language development and for improving young children's motivation and engagement in research. This study provides a beginning point for the development of Child-Computer Interactions which use children's verbal responses as an interactive tool.