The need for reflection
Reflection, either consciously or subconsciously, is the process where people consolidate daily information into memories and skills. Without reflection, retention is unlikely to occur to a great extent. Reflection allows an individual to contemplate their actions and produce new strategies for similar situations and generally improve in their basic skills. This important concept is enforced in computer games through the use of rules, which force the player to learn through experimentation and inductive discovery.
Motivation
Motivation is essential to learning. An individual will not learn or even approach the task if they are not motivated. An individual requires motivation to spur them on to and overcome more and more challenging problems. In computer games, motivation comes in the form of clear goals. If and when these goals are accomplished the player will be motivated to continue.
Ego gratification
Ego gratification comes whenever the player is successful. Successes need not be great for the individual to receive ego gratification, as long as they feel like they have achieved the task through their own toil, this learning essential will be met. This heightens the enjoyment aspects of the game and will improve learning (see ‘Enjoyment’ on the next page).