Understanding and facilitating young children’s empathy learning and development through a purposely designed tablet game

Abstract

Increasing research is providing insights into the evolutionary roots of empathy, its neurobiological underpinnings and developmental benefits. However, despite an extensive scholarship in various disciplines, empathy education lacks an integrative foundation based on sound theory and research. To effectively support children’s empathy in the early years, it is essential to establish pedagogy that incorporates the theoretical and empirical evidence of empathy learning and development. This thesis critically examines and synthesises research on empathy and its development, especially in early childhood (3-6 years old), establishing a basis for designing a prototype digital game for empathic learning. The study formulated a conceptual framework and theory- and evidence-based design principles for tablet games that aimed at promoting empathic perception—a building block for the ability to see, sense and understand others’ internal states. A prototype tablet game, Empathy World, was designed, developed and implemented in a preschool, where a small-scale quasi-experimental study using pre- and post-test was conducted to investigate the game’s educational and developmental impact. In the 10-week intervention study, electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and behavioural observations from both teachers and parents were collected before and after the intervention. During the intervention, each child’s gameplay was video recorded. The findings from the repeated measures analysis of EEG and observation data in both experimental and control groups indicated that playing the tablet game enhanced the preschoolers’ empathic learning. Additionally, gameplay data findings demonstrated that the experimental group children learned to perceive empathy-worthy cues more effectively, with an increased selective tendency of their in-game perception of empathy-worthy stimuli and enhanced empathic concern. Finally, the implications of these findings are elaborated in the discussion.