Social Skills Assessment and Games SXSW edu – March 2015

1. Social Skills Assessment
and Games
SXSW edu – March 2015

2. 2
Overview
1. Social skills categorization
2. Goals of social skills assessment (SSA)
3. Comparison of traditional and game-
based SSA methods

3. 3
Consequences of poor social skills
15% are
rejected by
majority of
peers at
school
10% have
no one to
play with at
school
15-20% of
children
regularly
bully others
28% report
being
physically
bullied
Only 2%
report their
peer
relations
are not
important
60% of
children with
autism
experience
peer
victimization
In 71% of
school
shootings,
the shooter
felt bullied
at school
50% of
fights at
school are
retaliation
against
bullying

4. 4
Consequences of poor social skills
Suicide is the 3rd
leading cause of
death among
young people
60% of 8 year olds
identified as bullies
have a criminal
record by age 24
15% of all school
absences are due to
fear of being bullied
at school
Negative outcomes
are greater when
peer problems are
more chronic
Positive peer relations
decrease risk of later
problems for at-risk
children
Youth with poor
social relations
are more likely
to engage in an
array of risky
behaviors

5. 5
Categories of social skills
“Social skills”
Engaging
build, repair, or
strengthen social
relationships
Inhibitory
purposefully control,
censor, or inhibit an
action
Solution-focused
Integration of various
skills to achieve a
specific social goal

6. 6
Engaging social skills
Examples and Definitions
Verbal Communication
WHAT we say; the content of our
message; the words we use to
communicate our thoughts or feelings
Non-verbal Communication
HOW we say something; communicating
what we think or feel without using words
Listening
Hearing what others have to say; finding
out what the other person is thinking or
feeling; asking questions; not interrupting
or putting someone down
Perspective Taking
Ability to see a situation from another’s point
of view; knowing what another is thinking or
feeling
Empathy
Ability to understand the thoughts and
feelings of another; ability to feel what
another person is feeling
Social Initiation
Taking the first step to begin playing or
talking with another person; joining with one
or more people for a social activity or
conversation

7. 7
Inhibitory social skills (#1)
Impulse
control
AKA “Stop-and-
Think”
Impulse to
do or say
something

8. 8
Inhibitory social skills (#2)
Emotion
Regulation
Emotion-fueled
impulse to do or
say something

9. 9
Solution-focused social skills
• Goal = stand up for yourself in the face of pressure by or conflict with
others; accomplish your goal without being aggressive or withdrawing
Assertiveness
• Goal = accomplish a task by working together with others
Cooperation
• Goal = negotiate a mutually agreeable solution to a problem or conflict
Compromise
• Goal = discover the ‘truth’ about a given situation
“Check-it-out”
• Goal = figure out the steps needed to reach a personal social goal
Social Action Planning

10. 10
Social Action Planning
Goal = figure out the steps needed to reach a personal social goal
Example Goals:
• Make friends with Sally
• Deal with Bill (a bully)
• Ask Pauline over
• Stay calm around Bob
• Find out if TJ is mad at me
• Say no to Alec
• Make up with Amy
• Join the SMC club
List specific
social behaviors
for this situation

11. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
Questions?
• Part 2: Goals of Social Skills
Assessment

12. 12
Goals of SSA
What decisions
will the data
inform?
How will the
data be used?
What’s the
purpose of the
assessment?

13. 13
SSA for screeningScreening is
the starting
point for
intervention
Goal
Identify children in need of
social, emotional, or
behavioral intervention
Comparison To universal or norm
Target Specific skill(s) or outcome(s)
Timepoints Infrequent, periodic
Timing Prior to intervention
Use of data
As a first step in intervention
planning
Who would benefit from
intervention?

14. 14
SSA for progress monitoring
Goal
Ensure progress is being made
as a function of participating in
the intervention
Comparison
Within intervention group or
individual child
Target
Specific skill(s) or behavioral
target(s)
Timepoints
1 or more times during
intervention
Timing During intervention
Use of data
To continue or revise
intervention plan Is the child making progress
as expected?

15. 15
SSA for evaluation
Goal
Document change in targeted
outcomes in response to
intervention
Comparison Within individual child
Target Specific outcome(s)
Timepoints Pre-post-follow-up
Timing Before & after intervention
Use of data
To inform future intervention
planning
Did the child benefit from the
intervention as expected?

16. 16
Types of data for SSA
What information do I need?
Data type
What’s
measured?
Intervention
goal?
Criterion for
success?
social literacy
Knowledge &
comprehension
Increase understanding
of subject matter
Demonstrate acquired
learning in subject area
social
performance
Capacity to act
prosocially
Increase social skills &
self-efficacy
Demonstrate improved
skills & confidence
social
adjustment
Social, emotional,
& behavioral
outcomes
Increase prosocial
behavior; decrease
emotional & behavioral
problems
Demonstrate improved
social, emotional, &
behavioral functioning in
real world

17. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
Questions?
• Part 3: Comparison of traditional and
game-based SSA methods

18. 18
SSA options
• Behavioral ratings scale questionnaires
• Behavioral observations of child
• Peer nominations (AKA sociometrics)
• Interview with child
• Social problem solving game

19. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
Evaluating SSA options
Are there adequate
resources (time,
staff, finances) to
conduct the
assessment?
Is there evidence to
support the validity and
reliability of the resulting
data?
Is this assessment
method appropriate
for this child?

20. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
SSA option: Behavioral Rating Scale

21. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
SSA option: Behavioral Observations
Coding Procedure
Event Recording
Interval Recording
Time Sampling
Duration Recording
Latency Recording

22. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
SSA option: Interviews
Essential Interviewer Skills
Understands normative
development
Can speak at the child’s level
Is comfortable with children
Knows how to ask questions
Uses reflective listening
Can read non-verbal cues

23. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
SSA option: Peer Nominations

24. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
SSA option: Games
Games lower
implementation
barriers

25. 25
Zoo U – SSA game
Video file was removed from
this spot to reduce
upload/download times
through PanelPicker

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Summary of SPS tasks for Zoo U

27. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
Summary of SPS tasks for Zoo U

28. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
SSA option: Games
WARNING
Not all games
are created
equal

29. 29
Zoo U – Psychometrics
Construct
validity
=
Convergent
and
Discriminant
validity
Predictive
validity
for real-world
outcomes
Odds ratios predicting teacher-reported incidence
Zoo U
Indicators
Bully
Office
referrals
Gets into
fights
Gets into
arguments
Poor scene scores 2.86 2.89 2.60 1.87
Negative options 3.89 4.22 4.76 3.00
Both 6.11 7.48 7.68 3.56

30. 30
Zoo U – norm-based reporting
A game
environment
enables
measurement of
social literacy &
social
performance

31. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
SSA option: Games
Stealth
assessment
embeds data
collection right
into game play

32. 32
Zoo U – Accuracy checks

33. Copyright © 2014, 3C Institute. All rights reserved.
Zoo U – Child engagement

34. 34
Contact Information
James M. Thomas, PhD
CxO & Co-Founder
3C Institute
www.3CISD.com
1901 North Harrison Avenue
Suite 200
Cary, NC 27513
(919) 677-0102, ext. 567
(919) 677-0112 FAX
jthomas@3cisd.com