Understanding the games:
Find the missing duck so the flock can fly off in correct formation! Students see ducks with shirts that have three colored shapes on the top row followed by an empty space. The student must figure what shape or color from the ducks on the bottom row best fits into the empty space that completes the pattern or rule. Once the student makes several correct answers the time to complete the puzzle gets shorter and shorter. You can see a little clock running down at the top of the screen for each level. If the student makes mistakes then the system gives them more time to complete the correct pattern or rule. Different levels have different shapes and pictures with more complex progressions students will see number patterns, geometric shapes, clock faces, pictures of items from different categories, and eventually they need to fill in blank spaces at the beginning of the pattern in addition to the end of the pattern.
For example, at the beginning all three objects in the top row may be identical, so all the child has to do is click on that same object on the second row. This teaches them the basic principle and mechanics of the game. Next the objects may all be the same shape but differ in color, so the child has to choose the same shape from the bottom row even if it is different in color from others on the first row.
Core Cognitive Capacities Engaged:
Ducks! focuses specifically on pattern recognition and inductive thinking, but engages 6 other core cognitive capacities along the way. Every level exercises sustained attention and speed of information processing. Response inhibition is engaged as the same response options are included in many trials, but one that was correct for one trial will be wrong for the next. Some response options also share some features with items in the top pattern but are not actually the correct choice; the shared features draws the incorrect option to attention and response to it must be inhibited while searching continues for the correct answer. Multiple simultaneous attentions is necessary as the child scans the top and bottom rows to find the best fit under the pressure of limited time to respond. The initial levels of Ducks! introduce one pattern principle at time, moving to more complex principles or patterns at subsequent levels. At more advanced levels, trials with different types of patterns, stimuli and sorting principles are intermixed, demanding cognitive flexibility and control. Finally, some of the patterns require recognition and use of categories to determine the sequence and select the correct response.