Expert behavior in children's video game play

This study investigated the display of “expert ” behavior by outstanding video game–playing children. Seven highly proficient, video game–playing, 10- and 11-year-old children were observed in the act of teaching adult “foils ” how to play one of two popular home video games. The children were also debriefed after the teaching sessions. Observation and debriefing transcripts were then analyzed for evidence of expert behav-iors such as self-monitoring, pattern recognition, principled decision making, qualitative thinking, and superior memory. The findings indicate that outstanding video game–playing children frequently display the characteristics of experts as they are displayed in other domains. Differences in levels of expertise also appear to be present along a continuum from novice to expert. Further study of video game processes may inform educators about the development of expert proficiencies in children. Recent trends in instructional theory indicate that traditional forms of education represent only the tip of the iceberg regarding the ways that children learn. Newer theo-ries, such as multiple intelligence theory (Gardner, 1983), Experiential Learning (Kolb, 1984); motivation, self-regulation, a=nd incidental learning (Keller, 1987; Reiber, 1991); and social learning theory (Vygotsky, 1978, Bandura, 1977) indicate that children may learn in a variety of ways, different for each individual, and tied t