Using Adaptive Difficulty to Optimize Videogame-Based Training Performance: The Moderating Role of Personality

Abstract

While videogames can easily be tailored to provide “adaptive training,” little research exists examining whether this benefit enhances training outcomes. The current study investigated three task difficulty manipulations and the moderating role of personality. Participants engaged in six 7-minute missions in a videogame-based training task. Openness to experience and neuroticism, but not conscientiousness, interacted with task difficulty condition such that trainees higher in these traits performed better over the course of training in the adaptive condition. These results suggest that adaptive training can result in the greatest performance improvement when the trainee's personality is suited to the instructional environment.