MindHabits:

The Development of anEmotion Trainer Game for

Stress Reduction

Mark Baldwin, PhDDepartment of Psychology, McGill University

President, MindHabits Inc.

Can a computer game train positive habits of thought, to build self-confidence and reduce stress? Research Background Game development and marketing

Social intelligence – one’s way of thinking about self and other – is central to human health and happiness throughout life.

Automatic habits of thought Attention, emotional associations, rumination

Visual Probe Test

Visual Probe Test

Visual Probe Test

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- 60.00 - 40.00 - 20.00 0.00 20.00 40.00

Rejection Bias Scores

- 600.00

- 300.00

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300.00

600.00

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Dandeneau, Baldwin, et al. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007

Social Intelligence and Social Neuroscience research is investigating possibilities for training thought processes about self and others.

Emotion Training How might we help

people train automatic habits of thought, to boost self-esteem and self-confidence, and to reduce stress?

Emotion Training Similar to Brain Trainers, but instead of

aimed at helping you THINK better; aimed at helping you FEEL better

Emotion Training ACTIVATING thoughts of acceptance makes it

easier to notice social support in daily life

ASSOCIATING acceptance to cues, including the self-concept, makes it more likely to come to mind when needed

INHIBITION TRAINING can help the person learn to disengage from social threat

Find the smiling, accepting face

Find the 5-petalled flower

Results: Removes attentional bias to threat

Students playing daily while studying become less stressed about final exam, are less anxious during exam

Telemarketers playing daily report higher self-esteem & less stress at the end of the week; have 17% lower levels of stress hormone cortisol; are more confident and make more sales

(Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, October 2007)

Results: Golf, like many other kinds of

performance, suffers from any distraction due to evaluative concerns

26 Golfers played the search-for-the-smile game (or control) before a round of golf

Performed 5.24 strokes better on a round of golf, after playing the matrix.

(Not yet published)

Scientific summary: Scientific studies demonstrate that

specially-designed computer games can allow people to practice beneficial patterns of thought, leading to increased self-confidence and reduced stress.

Toward a Game:

Panel of judges: Yannis Mallat, CEO, Ubisoft Montreal Ron Moravek, VP & COO, Electronic Arts Canada Kelly Zmak, President, Radical Entertainment (Vivendi

Universal Games Canada) Rory Armes, Senior VP and Group General Manager,

EA Black Box and EA Montreal

Licensed to MindHabits

Telefilm Canada’s “Great Canadian Video Game Competition”: Won $1.3 M

Created the MindHabits Trainer

www.mindhabits.com Soon on multiple

platforms, starting with casual game space

Four training games 100+ levels

Five tracker tasks “Outlook” score tracks progress

Science Lab Explain how and why

Inhibition

Association

Association

Activation

Trackers: Measurement modules to assess the player’s current state of mind.

Focus

Look

Stroop

Blink

Self-Report

Outlook score is calculated from trackers; shows progress over time

Science Lab section gives game info and scientific background

Marketing: Brand Building Media Friendly

Jan: PC Gamer: 2.6M Feb: HomeMaker magazine: 1.9M March: Marketplace: 8.1M April: Women’s Health: 3.2M May: Prevention magazine: 11M

Marketing: Distribution Patent protection: # USPTO 11/122,091 Game out on web

our own portal Oberon Media (300M gamers)

International distribution deals for PC MindHabits named one of Top 25 Canadian

IT Up and Comers by Branham Group

Marketing: Future Plans Additional platforms, channels (e.g., B2B) V2.0: Kids, relationships, self-regulation Embedding mini-games into other IP Partnerships (Contact us!):

Games with a focus on wellbeing and health, particularly although not necessarily psychological

Ideally although not necessarily with a science base

www.MindHabits.com

Mark.Baldwin@mindhabits.com

MindHabits: www.MindHabits.com Matthew Mather, CEO

Fifth successful start-up; previous CEO Lycos Canada Founder of Immersion Corp – TouchSense in 100’s games

Mark Baldwin Creator of technology and games, Two decades of research published in prestigious journals

Rob Gordon, Article19 Group One of Canada’s hottest casual game developers Top selling games on market

2000 volunteers “Gaming 2.0” from all over world

Social Intelligence Games Selected References:

Dandeneau, S.D., Baldwin, M. W., Baccus, J. R., Sakellaropoulo, M., Pruessner, J. C. (2007, October). Cutting stress off at the pass: Reducing vigilance and responsiveness to social threat by manipulating attention. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(4). 651-666.

Pruessner, J. C., Baldwin, M.W., Dedovic, K., Renwick, R., Mahani, N. K., Lord, C., Meaney, M., & Lupien, S. (2005). Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood. Neuroimage, 28, 815-826.

Dandeneau, S. D. M., & Baldwin, M. W. (2004). The inhibition of socially rejecting information among people with high versus low self-esteem: The role of attentional bias and the effects of bias reduction training. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23. 584-602.

Baccus, J. R., Baldwin, M. W., & Packer, D. J. (2004). Increasing implicit self-esteem through classical conditioning. Psychological Science, 15, 498-502.

Baldwin, M. W. & Kay, A. (2003). Adult attachment and the inhibition of rejection expectations. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 22, 275-293.

Baldwin, M. W., & Main, K. J. (2001). The cued activation of relational schemas in social anxiety. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1637-1647.

Baldwin, M. W., & Meunier, J. (1999). The cued activation of attachment relational schemas. Social Cognition, 17, 209-227.

Baldwin, M. W., & Sinclair, L. (1996). Self-esteem and “if...then” contingencies of interpersonal acceptance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1130-1141.

Baldwin, M. W., Keelan, J. P. R., Fehr, B., Enns, V., & Koh-Rangarajoo, E. (1996). Social cognitive conceptualization of attachment working models: Availability and accessibility effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 94-104.

Baldwin, M. W. (1992). Relational schemas and the processing of social information. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 461-484.