Post on 15-Jan-2016
A Research Agenda for Scholastic Chess
Fernand GobetDepartment of Psychological Sciences
Overview of Talk
A research agenda The question of transfer: better data needed Mechanisms involved should be understood How to optimise chess instruction
Contents of chess instruction Chess lessons based on the school curriculum Why not include other games?
A Research Agenda
The Question of Transfer Do the skills acquired in learning chess transfer to
other domains, such as mathematics? Chess community: Yes Scientific community: We don’t know
Gobet and Campitelli (2002) Systematic review of literature on transfer and chess
teaching Disappointing results Few scientifically valid studies Only a couple of studies were peer-reviewed No clear evidence for transfer
Obviously, more research carried out since 2002 But Gobet and Campitelli’s basic conclusions are still
valid For example, two more recent studies have different
results Scholz et al. (2008) : transfer Thompson (2003) : no transfer
The Ideal Experiment
Random Allocation
Pre-test Pre-test Pre-test
TreatmentGroup
No-change Group
Placebo Group
Post-test Post-test Post-test
Additional pluses Participants blind to
the goal of the experiment and even that they participate in one
Teachers and experimenters blind as well
Standard design in Education Medicine
This design has never been used with chess instruction!
This is disappointing Many opportunities to do so
Only one study had a placebo group Fried and Ginsburg (1979) Children with learning difficulties Placebo group attended counselling sessions
But a placebo group is needed Allows one to reject the effect of unspecific factors e.g. participation in experiment; experimenters’ expectations
Mechanisms Behind (Potential) Transfer Non-specific to chess
Chess teachers are highly motivated and passionate
Topic is novel and different to standard schools activities
Chess is a game, and thus fun Chess is a competitive activity Chess shows that school can be fun and
interesting This why a ‘placebo’ control group is needed
Playing video games Learning to play Go
Mechanisms Behind (Potential) Transfer Factors specific to chess
Diversity of pieces help maintain attention Chess offers an optimal trade-off between
complexity and simplicity Balance between tactics and strategy is ideal Chess combines numerical, spatial, temporal and
combinatorial aspects These factors foster
Attention Learning Problem solving and decision making
Optimisation of Chess Teaching Many parameters have not been systematically
studied Optimal duration of a chess lesson? Optimal number of sessions of chess instruction?
Too short, not enough time Too long, diminishing returns
What are the most efficient teaching methods? With computers or without computers? Group vs. individual activities Etc.
Order of covering the material
Optimisation of Impact Make sure that all children (at least most) profit from
chess Non only the smart ones Non only the competitive ones
Material suitable for adult education
Content of Chess Instruction
Typical Chess Instruction Most chess programmes
Take chess as starting point Do not go beyond chess For example:
Rules of the game Basic tactics Basic strategy Some openings etc...
Why not start from the school curriculum, at least in part?
Obviously, needs to be adapted to the level of the children This would increase the likelihood of transfer
Instruction Based on School Curriculum
Example 1: Mathematics Basic arithmetic
Value of pieces Control of squares
Cartesian geometry Coordinate system (a, b, ..., h) x (1, 2, ..., 8)
Geometric series One places one grain of rice on the first square,
two on the second, four on the third, and so on, doubling each time. What is the total?
or
Geometry Euclidian vs. city-block distance Reti (1921)
Combinatorics How many paths
can a rook take from square a1 to square h8 if it can only move up and to the right?
The solution generates Pascal’s triangle (Meijer, 2010)
Example 2: History Development of civilizations
Through diffusion paths of chess Key events in history
Reflected in modification of rules, changes of names of the pieces
Reflected in theories of chess (e.g. Role of pawns in Philidor’s theory and French Revolution)
Using Other (Board) Games Some aspects of the school curriculum might
be better illustrated by other games Awele (Tano, 1985)
Counting Basic arithmetic Modulo arithmetic Concept of a one‑to‑one correspondence
Bridge (Minibridge) Numbers and operations Probability Reasoning and proof
Go Counting Combinatorics
(Wikipedia)
Summary and Conclusions (1) Transfer of chess instruction should be
established scientifically More and better data needed (ideal design!) Results should be published in peer-reviewed
scientific journals This is needed to ensure quality of research
Mechanisms behind (potential) transfer should be studied Chess-specific vs. Non-chess-specific
Summary and Conclusions (2) Chess instruction should be informed by
school curricula Other games could be added to teach
specific points