Student impulsivity in decision making with computer simulations

Abstract

A series of decision-making activities in real-life and life-like situations were undertaken by a class of year six primary school students over a period of three months. Students played the computer simulation Shipwreck before and after the activities. During the simulation sessions, interactions between pairs of students were audio taped. Other data recorded included the survival scores generated by the program, the time of play for each pair and responses to questions at the end of the game sessions and at the end of the experiment. A control class played the game at the same times and the same data were recorded. Results suggest that while the treatment group showed no reduction in impulsivity in decision making, they remained stable in this respect compared to the control group.