1. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This
publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.’
The ICT Potential Social Mindedness YourTown
Brief Introduction to The Dimensions Game logic and Instructions
SMILEY Framework
Instructions for the
Revolution
The main focus of this section is to address the
potential of the game-based learning process proposed
by the SMILEY project
The Background
Today’s trainers and trainees are from totally separate worlds. The biggest
underlying dynamic in training and learning today is the rapid and unexpected
Sir Ken Robinson
confrontation of a corps of trainers and teachers raised in a pre-digital Changing Education
generation and educated in the styles of the Paradigms
past, with a body of learners raised in the
digital world of Ipod, MTV, Facebook, Every country on earth at
Twitter, MySpace, streaming movies and
the moment is reforming
social videogames. Considering this, the
evolution of the educational systems passes public education. There
through the re-inventing of tools for are two reasons for it…
learning even thanks to the intensive use of
Watch the Full Video
ICT in education. This process is possible
only if it is based upon a definition of
“engaged learning” in the perspective of both trainers and trainees.
Engaged learning is grounded in recent notions of active learning, where
learners take responsibility for their own learning. Learners actively develop
learning strategies and formulate new ideas and understanding in conversations
and work with others. Active engagement is defined as engaging in the learning
process, constructing knowledge from experience, meaning interpretation and If you are
i
having interactions with peers and teachers. Congruent to constructivist not prepared to be wrong, you’ll
notions of learning, knowledge evolves as a meaning construction and
never come up with anything
interpretation process where people negotiate with one another relating to
original Ken Robinson
their multiple perceptions of reality.

2. 2
1
Engaged Learning and Situated Cognition are two of the main
concepts that constitute the background of SMILEY.
What do these terms mean?
Engaged or meaningful learning can be traced back learning processes and outcomes;(b) interactivity;
to the related concept of situated cognition. (c) ability to address cognitive as well as affective
Situated cognition places learning within a learning issues; and, perhaps most importantly, (d)
participatory framework and not just in an motivation for learning. The combined weight of the
individual mind. factors mentioned above has resulted in widespread
public interest in games as learning tools.
Learning often happens in a social setting,
community and context. From this perspective, The on going research activity involving both game
human learning is best understood as a process of designing, theoretical modelling and learning
dialogue, appropriation and socialisation. assessment represents the clue that today’s “Net
Generation,” or “digital natives,” have become
Another implication of situated cognition is that if disengaged with traditional models of education.
we view knowledge and thinking as inherently
situated in social and physical contexts, much of They require multiple streams of information,
what is learned is implicit. By immersing students in prefer inductive reasoning, want frequent and quick
activities and authentic problem tasks characterised interactions with content, and have exceptional
by rich conceptual meanings and encouraging them visual literacy skills — characteristics that are all
to explore and discover, teachers help students matched well with Digital Game Based Learning.
acquire the skills and dispositions necessary to
participate in disciplinary discourse, which could be In YourTown (the SMILEY game) the player will be
called knowledge about a focus: in our case the engaged through the game dynamics in a learning
concept of social mindedness. process that involves his/her capability to interpret
and decide about a concrete problem-solving
Educators and trainers began to take notice of the situation.
power and potential of computer games for
education and training back in the 1970s and 1980s. It is important to underline that all the game
Computer games were hypothesized to be situations are designed starting form the concept of
potentially useful for educational purposes and social mindedness.
were also hypothesized to provide multiple
benefits: (a) complex and diverse approaches to Let’s start taking into consideration the concept of
social mindedness in order to better understand the
general framework of SMILEY.
2

3. 2
1
Social Mindedness as an “umbrella concept”
An individual attitude concerned with social conditions
and benefits of the others, according with the welfare of
the wide society
The growing relevance of bullying episodes in sense of community: an experience that primarily
schools all over the European context is the takes place thanks to educational agencies as school
framework of reference of SMILEY. The whole and family during the process of socialization.
project is based upon the concept of social
mindedness. This section of the training course In detail, according to the operative needs of
briefly presents the constitutive elements of social SMILEY project, the concept of social mindedness
mindedness as operative concept explaining how it “crosses” the main structural aspects of daily social
interacts with general structure of the project. reality: socialization, family, educational
institutions, organizations and groups, membership
A definition of Social Mindedness can be expressed and social stratification.
in this way: “social mindedness is an individual
attitude concerned with social conditions and In this sense, social mindedness is an example of
benefits of the others, according to the welfare of pro-social behavior that creates harmonious
the whole society”. relations between members of the group. Starting
from a sociological perspective, social mindedness
The definition of social mindedness denotes an is composed by five operative dimensions that
“umbrella concept” that links social cohesion and “translate” the integration process:
social inclusion: it is impossible to comprehend
individual reality without considering the communal a) Holistic membership to a definite context;
dimension of the social life.
b) Recognition of the interdependence between
In this way the social mindedness experience enable social actors;
people to develop the necessary “bag” of
c) Social capital dynamics;
knowledge, skills, values and attitudes useful for
securing a sustainable and peaceful world in which d) the dynamics of cooperation to achieve common
everyone has the right to fulfill his/her potential. goals;
In a sociological perspective, the connection e) Family Habits.
between values and social competences lead
individuals to realize integration, cohesion and Let’s start explaining these components!

4. 2
1
Membership is linked to social relashionship
It is not only subjective but a context matter
Social relationships are very important in of industrial society raised fears that we
the formation of the subject as well as to were losing our sense of community: that
help him to live the membership to every the faceless, anonymous sprawl of the
social group in a right balance between world’s town was depriving us of the
independence and belonging. basic need to feel as though we are part
of something bigger than ourselves.
The importance of belonging to
particular groups changes over time. As It is possible to distinguish four different
we join and leave different social dimensions or “states” in the
networks and groups, we reposition involvement of individuals in the context
ourselves in relation to others, of human relations: territorial location,
developing new connections and ecological participation, social
discarding others in a continuous process belonging, and cultural conformity.
of social interaction and integration.
In fact, to develop a sense of belonging
is an ongoing process that involves Membership includes Five attributes:
membership in a wide variety of
• boundaries
different groups, or exclusion from,
during the course of our lives. The • emotional safety
relative importance that we place on our
membership within particular groups • personal investment
(family, peer, religious group, etc.) says
a lot about our personal and social • a common symbol system
identity.
• a sense of belonging and
While the need to belong is a basic identification
aspect of being human, the ways in
which we satisfy this need have changed
significantly over time. The development
In deep…
The Parsonsian Framework
Following the Talcott Parsons’s
scheme of reference, the structure of social belonging can be described by starting
from the relations among the four chief components that define it as such:
attachment, loyalty, solidarity, and the sense of affinity or we-feeling.
To better understand the meaning of the holistic membership to a particular group
we have, on the one hand, to enumerate the attribute of membership, and to
underline the principal contexts of affiliation, on the other hand, to stress on the
sense of belonging and identification of every member to the context.

5. 4
3
Boundaries are marked by things such as language,
dress, and ritual, indicating who belongs and who
does not. When we meet others, we want to know
immediately whether the other is friend or not, and
whether he/she is capable enacting their respective
friendliness or enmity.
If we teach today as
The ways in which we sort out belonging also differs
according to culture, we could look, in fact, to
we taught yesterday,
some differences between the East and the West. we rob our children
Finally, group members of tomorrow
legitimate needs for
boundaries to protect
their intimate social
connections have often John Dewey
been overlooked.
Emotional safety
concerns the emotional
and physical wellbeing of the person, so that he/she
can realize his/her full potential in the group. The
emotional environment is very important for the
The sense of belonging and
members of the group, because of their feelings of
identification of every member to the
belonging and safety. If they don’t feel safe, they
group and context
will not be able to trust anybody, or themselves.
Moreover, such negative thoughts result in people To be a group it is fundamental to feel
feeling that they do not belong. ourselves as a team, i.e. we-feeling. The
members of the group have to see it as a
The personal incentives, sense of self and perceived
new subject: they are “part” of the group
options are critical determinants of human
in a holistic way. At the same time, the
behaviour. Personal incentives refer to the reasons
necessity of everyone to satisfy his/her
identified for involvement in an activity, and
own needs into the group must be
include such incentives as recognition, mastery,
interrelated to the satisfaction of the
competition and affiliation. Sense of self is
needs of the group. In this way, being a
comprised of one's own perceived competence to
member of a group means:
engage in an activity, self-reliance, goal
directedness and social identity. - to be similar to the other member
of the same group;
A common symbol system Understanding common
symbol systems is a prerequisite to understand a - to be different from the other
community. “The symbol is to the social world what
the cell is to the biotic world and the atom to the
physical world. The symbol is the beginning of the
social world as we know it”.
A sense of belonging and identification It concerns
expectation or faith on belonging, and acceptance
by the community. To know one’s own needs, and
to satisfy them are the principal reasons why people
became part of a group. To belong and to identify
ourselves satisfy important individual needs linked
to the personal and social identity, the self-esteem
and safety, and to the psychological need to be
useful to the others. The sense of membership is an
essential condition for the existence of any group.

6. From socialisation to intercultural competence
Behaviour is the most evident There are four basic sociological
manifestation of human acts, but not interpretations of social interactions:
every behaviour is meaningful. Only
human behaviour has a meaning, or 1 - behavioural
‘makes sense’, is described in sociology
2 – of rational choice (transactional)
as an activity. Its sense can be
interpreted in various ways, consciously 3 – symbolic interactionism
or not. It is culture that provides certain
fixed models and patterns of behaviour 4 – dramaturgical.
and their interpretation. For example,
language is one of the most complex
systems of meanings developed in a
given community and its general sense is 1 - Interaction is understood as a
based on its communicative function. mutual orientation of individuals’
Both our language and the majority of behaviour manifested as a sequence
our behaviour is directed to other of stimuli and reactions; the behaviour
people; it is a transmission of some of one actor becomes a set of stimuli,
message to the others. In this way an to which the other actor reacts.
activity becomes a social activity.
2 - Interaction is perceived as a mutual
Generally speaking, there are four types exchange of goods or values between
of social actions: creative, imitative, partners. This exchange is rational and
habitual and destructive. However, we correlative.
deal with a social action only when our
3 - Interaction is interpreted as an
performance is directed at other actors’
exchange of ideas, symbols and
potential response. A single and
meanings; in this type of interaction
temporary social action where a mutual
particular emphasis is put on an
social reaction between at least two
individual’s view of a situation or of
people takes place is a social contact.
other actors involved, their personal
Usually most of such contacts are of
interpretation of the specific reality.
transient, short-lived nature. But in a
situation when a social contact changes 4 - In the light of this interpretation
into a longer and dynamic sequence of the social world, especially in its
social action we can talk about a social everyday dimension, is a theatre, a
interaction. In such a context an drama. In all their doings people are
increasingly apparent, objective and driven by their desire to make a good
mutual relation between two individuals impression on others. This is why they
(a discussion, a quarrel, haggling, tend to manage their impression in
establishing a relationship, etc.) occurs. order to transmit to the others only
those messages and signals that are
It is in a course of a social interaction
positive.
that a social distance appears
demonstrated by a spatial and time
distance between two interacting
subjects, the variety of whose is
determined by culture. So, it is a form of
a ‘civil distance’: from an intimate, a
social to a public one.

7. Definitional
Phisical
Meaning Orientation
Orientation
Mutual
Sequence
Accidental
Rhythmical
Normatively
Scheme
of
Feature
movement towards
to
reaction
occasional
of
episodes
of
episodes
of
defined
interactions
others of
others reactions mutual
interactions interactions course
of
among
reactions events positions
Sociological
(roles)
Term
Behaviour
+
Activity
+ +
Social
activity
+ + +
Social
action
+ + + +
Social
contact
+ + + + +
interaction
+ + + + + +
Repetable
interaction + + + + + + +
Regular
interaction
+ + + + + + + +
Regulated
interaction + + + + + + + + +
Social
relationship
+ + + + + + + + + +
Social circles and social groups constitute
the social environment:
- Social circle is a part of social There are two types of social groups: primary and
reality that has been distinguished secondary ones.
because a certain number of actors • Primary group is typically small and the
sharing the same social status; interactions among its members are
informal, spontaneous, direct (face to face)
- Social group indicates a collection and personal (e.g. a group of friends).
of individuals interconnected by
• Secondary group is numerous and
common awareness of participation,
a common sense of identity and interactions among people are of formal,
shared patterns of social anonymous character and focus on a specific
relationships. In other words, on the task (e.g. a workplace).
one hand the social groups are There are groups that combine functions of the two
created by social relationships and types as the school is.
on the other hand- social groups
create the environment in which Thanks to socialization process an individual
social relationships are generated. “define” his/her own social personality that is an
integrated set of his/her past and present social
roles. Therefore it is only a part of the individual’s
personality, which consists of other types of
personalities as well – mental and cultural.

8. Social personality shapes the
elementary models and patterns of an
In deep… individual behaviour, their interactions
Elias chains of with the others and it forms their social
interdependence capital. Nevertheless, social capital
does not determine all the real social
behaviours of a person, their
“Each individual, even the
most powerful, even a relationships with others. Specific
tribal chief, an absolute attitudes and social behaviours, i.e.
monarch, or a dictator, is a
social mindedness of an individual are
part of a chain of
interdependence, the also influenced by mental factors (e.g.
representative of a function their character) and, to a larger extent,
wich is formed and
by cultural factors. It is the diversity of
maintained only in relation
to other function which can cultural context, or adopted values,
only be understood in terms symbols and beliefs/religions, that
of specific structures and
the specific and specific decides about the variety of both social
tensions in this total groups and societies. Therefore we can
context” say that, basically, societies are similar
As Norbert Elias statues all on the level of social needs (such as a
the social actors are born family, work, bringing up children,
into a particular chains of
interdependence that etc.), but not on the level of cultural
translates the interlinkages solutions to satisfy these needs.
without which he/she could Different cultural values underline the
never become fully human.
recognition of diversity, which may but
Social actors are born into does not have to lead to social
chains of functionl
interdependencies in which antagonisms or hostility towards the
their habits and self- others.
perceptions are shaped by
the others around them.
Chains of interedependence
are simultaneously forms
and chains of power.

9. Family Habits are very important determinants of
human nature
In the social perspective a family is a The family dynamics greatly influences
group based on a bond resulting from the process of socializing young
common residence, shared property, generation. This process can even lead
love, mutual loyalty and helpfulness, to negative social effects in the form
concern about children and their of a lack of integrational abilities. The
upbringing, emotional openness, i.e. the second factor that has a strong impact
factors that, when summed up, on the socialisation of the youth in the
constitute a strong sense of identity of family depends on its broader socio-
‘us’. cultural context, on different social
organisation which determines the
A family is a social group the structure of cultural transmission dynamics
which is characterised by a specific between generations.
system of positions and roles that are
independent from those who play them There are three types of cultures:
and which are manifested as a network
• post-figurative;
of internal social relationships, such as
marriage, fatherhood, kinship, etc. • configurative;
From the cultural perspective, a family is • pre-figurative.
a specific collection of values, norms,
symbols and beliefs that reflect the The post-figurative culture is typical
general ‘family culture’ of a given of traditional culture; the young
society. In a synthetic approach we can generation is shaped without
say that a family in a biological disturbance – their parents serve them
(procreation) and social (socialisation) as a model. There are no alternative
sense creates and shapes the new models and quite naturally there is no
members of society. In this perspective it discrepancy between social and
is a group that is exclusive and cultural patterns of both generations.
irreplaceable.
The configurative culture, where
Only the family provides new-born generations coexists as equal partners,
human beings with an adequate social is increasingly common in the modern
environment as well as with the culture. The young generation does
environment necessary for their mental, not follow their parents’ behavioural
social and cultural constitution to shape. patterns, but imitates their peers (e.g.
These are the rudimental family such a situation takes place in
functions when we take into immigrant families as a result of the
consideration the fact that a human need for assimilation).
comes to this world in an incomplete,
weak form and their existence depends The pre-figurative culture is
entirely on a social group to which they characterised by a social configuration
have been born. where the older generation has to re-
socialise, i.e. learn new things from
The dynamics of the social life of a the younger ones as a consequence of
family has typically a volatile but rapid social, cultural or technological
repeatable rhythm, which on the one changes. Such phenomena are more
hand depends on the roles played by and more typical of the western
family members and on the other – on society of today. Paradoxically,
the forms of social children become their parents’ tutors
perception/experiencing of time.

10. The previuos sequence shows clearly that the
principal difference in the cultures of inter-
generational transfer results in the fact that the
process of socialisation slips out of control of the Education is not the
older generation, although they never lose their
influence on the educational process entirely,
filling of a pail, but
especially when their children are young. the lighting of a fire
The positive or negative reference groups for the
young generation are the out-groups rather than Willian Butler Yeats
their own family. At a certain stage of the
socialisation process their own family may even turn
out to be a rejected member group. In such a
situation on the level of social attitudes and
behaviour a generation gap may appear, which can
eventually upset the general social balance.
The third factor that determines the ‘family • In the masculine society (of a high
culture’ is the type of general cultural reference of masculinity rate) the upset
the society in which the family lives. In the light of balance of the maternal role in
recent extensive research on cultures it has been
favour of the paternal one is a
found out that there are the following five basic
norm; fathers are responsible for
dimensions (the ‘Big Five’) of cultural diversity
the living standards while mothers
which are highly influential on the level of social
take care of the sphere of
attitudes and behaviour:
emotions.
1) power distance
In a feminine society both men
2) collectivism and individualism, and women, boys and girls are
treated equally; all of them have
3) masculinity and femininity (gender),
to meet identical generational
4) uncertainly avoidance standards.
5) time orientation • In the society of weak uncertainty
avoidance children are vaguely
• In an environment with a low power distance informed of what is forbidden or
children are treated equally to parents; partner evil; there is no difference in
relationships prevail; parental care aims at addressing family members and
children’s leaving home as soon as possible. In strangers; what is strange is meant
the environment where the power distance is to be interesting;
high parents expect unconditioned obedience
from their offspring; the majority of social In the society where uncertainty
relationships is determined by strong avoidance is strong children are
dependence of the young from the adults. very well aware of what is
forbidden and evil; family
• In the collectivistic environment decisions are members are addressed differently
made within the family; children that express than strangers, strange means
their own opinions are regarded as difficult and dangerous;
bad tempered; they are taught to think in the
terms of ‘us’; • In short time orientation societies
• In individualistic families new types of marriage is a moral obligation;
behaviour are desired and valued; children living with parents-in-law means
without their own opinions are considered weak; conflict; children should be taught
they are taught to think in the terms of ‘me’; tolerance and respect for others;
the obligations towards the family is regarded as In the long time orientation
an act of free will and thus respected. societies marriage is a pragmatic
relationship; elder children have
power over the younger ones.

11. Cooperation is working
together sharing belives
and feelings
Cooperation is the process of working or
acting together. This definition refers to
all that behaviors which involves working
together, side by side, regarding at This attitude promotes peer friendship
individual or collective subjects. In this and conflict resolution.
sense its contrary is the concept of
competition. Cooperation, as social doings, The cooperative feeling is not
comprehend a huge variety of activity: to impersonal: it is a network of personal
relations that are important for
share resources, to set common goals, to
everyone promoting the sense of
recognize social needs, to respect public community and the construction of
goods. collective values. The motivation to
cooperate to overcome conflicts
Cooperation in human societies is mainly depends on the quality of relationship.
based on social norms so it is necessary to According to this point, individuals
explain social norms to explain human should make the effort to coordinate
different points of view.
cooperation. Social norms are standards of
behavior that are based on widely shared We can see this process starting from
beliefs. The group in which social norms the perspective of the social skills
prevail can be a family, a peer group, an theory.
organization or even a whole society.
The group members might conform to the Following the theory of social skills the
norms voluntarily (if their individual goals individuals have to motivate the others
to cooperate. These skills are useful to
are in line with the normatively required
engage other people in collective
behaviour) or they might be “forced” to action promoting peaceful social order.
follow the norms. If the individual goals “Cooperation-skilled” individuals
differ from the normatively required motivate the others and, at the same
behavior the norm violations are socially time, they foster motivations for
punished. The demand for a social norm themselves.
Where do they find these social skills?
arises when individual actions cause
positive or negative influence for other
1. Coordination of efforts and
people. tasks and orientation to
achievement;
There are (at least) two perspectives to 2. Feeling of agreement with the
understand social cooperation: others and dialogue;
3. Confidence in different ideas
• In the state of nature man is a and shared believes;
“predator” and his behavior 4. Common goals and respect for
depends on a struggle competition the other.
for surviving; social order is the
product social institutions that
permit large-scale cooperation
among unrelated self-interested
individuals. In this perspective the
role of the internalization of social
values is fundamental.
• Cooperation starts from feelings
of mutual affection and mutual
trust. These feelings are oriented
to sympathy and consciousness
towards others.

12. Social Capital is not “capital” in economic
sense. It refers to the interactive and positive
potential of networks
Social capital refers to trust The starting point of this interactive
networks that individuals activate for dynamic is individual-instrumental
social support, as financial capital can but the arrival point is collective-
be drawn upon to be used for ideal referred to the whole society
investment. In fact, like financial and its basic needs.
capital, social capital can be
expanded – invested and reinvested. In this view, cooperation becomes a
Social Capital is composed by all the synthesis of individual and collective,
benefits accessed by individuals both professional and moral values.
thanks to their affiliation in groups It is clear that the two perspectives
and social relationships. In this sense, are focused on two different aspects
the “volume” of social capital owned of social capital essence: on the one
by an individual is determined by the hand, the instrumental importance of
quantity and the quality of other cooperation, on the other hand, the
forms of capital (economic, cultural, cultural and holistic significance of it.
symbolic etc.) possessed. The
sociological literature concerning According to the framework of SMILEY
social capital highlight a wide range of project social capital can be
ideas and perspectives about it: not considered as a resource able to
all the approaches have a positive stimulate solidarity even into a
view of the concept. context characterized by differences.
In this sense positive social capital is
Taking into consideration the SMILEY
framework, social capital is
considered as a positive component of
individual interactive dynamics in
order to enhance integration and
social cohesion.
Following this line, the
phenomenology of social capital shows
three basic elements:
1. The individual will;
2. Group participation;
3. Performance of the
institutional structure.
In deep… The J.Coleman view
Following Coleman theory it is possible to distinguish three forms of social
Capital:
a) obligations, expectations, trustworthiness of structures;
b) information channels;
c) norms and effective sanctions.
The first of these forms a) refers to situations in which an individual does
something for someone else with the expectation that that person will
reciprocate at some time in the future.
The second form of social capital b) refers to the idea that an individual can
trust another to provide accurate information which is then used to inform
action. The third type of social capital c) refers to effective norms and
sanctions which contribute to a generalized environment of trust. Each of these
forms of Social Capital facilitate the resolution of collective action problems

13. YOUR TOWN as a Social Mindedness
Tool in Education
In SMILEY the game, YOURTOWN, the student/player is catapulted in a
learning ambient that involves his/her capability to interpret and decide
in a virtual city daily life. It is important to underline that all the game
situations are designed starting from the social mindedness dimensions
persented above.
In “Your Town” there are four missions. For
each mission the incidents are defined in
relation with the theoretical segmentation of
the concept of social mindedness defined
above.
These factors are the following:
a) sense of holistic membership to a definite
context ;
b) recognition of the inter-dependence
between social actors
c) interactive dynamics of the structure of
relational networks (social capital)
d) dynamics of cooperation in order to achieve
common goals
e) traditions and family habits
The final goal of the game is to reach one of
the main targets of SMILEY project: to foster
social awareness and conflict resolution
approach in the pupils involved into the game
experience. In a certain sense, the focus of our The whole purpose of
attention is the correct balance between an education is to turn
mirrors into windows
amazing game experience and a research-based
approach to engaged learning.
Sydney J. Harris

14. From a concrete point of view “Your
Town” is divided in two steps:
a) a phase in which the objective of the
game is to find hidden incidents
happening across the map of “Your
Town”
b) deal with them during a specific game
session in which the player could reflect
on the nature of his/her choice. In facts,
during the “council meeting phase” of
the game the player expresses his
evaluation about the relevance of the
The
MENU
of
the
Player
identified incident providing data,
recorded by the learning platform,
useful for the game outputs overall • Find
hidden
incidents
happening
across
interpretation. the
map
of
“Your
Town
• Decide
if
the
selected
incident
will
be
The map of the city is divided in four included
in
the
folder
for
the
second
parts (four ‘missions’) corresponding to phase
four defined areas. Moreover, these
• Do
it
as
soon
as
possible
areas are inspired by the building style
of the five Countries involved into the • Extra
bonus
for
quick
search
SMILEY project. • Extra
bonus
for
good
choices

15. There are twenty-four “relevant” incidents
hidden in the town, 6 in each area; the
player must click to find the incidents in
each of the four areas of YourTown. The
point of the game was that players must,
as quickly as possible, find the correct
incidents to add to their file. There are 3
types of incidents:
• Negative
• Positive
• Subjective
In negative incidents the “polarity” of the
social mindedness dimension is associated
to negative behaviours. On the contrary,
the positive polarity of the social
mindedness dimension translates a good
practice related to the involved dimension.
The subjective incidents are special. In
fact, in these situations the evaluation
made by the player is not based upon an
‘objective’ distinction (as in negative or
positive incidents is). In order to “find out”
these incidents the player must decide
their meaning with a subjective decision.
The players get extra points for speed. The
player gets extra points for adding the
‘correct’ incidents to the file (making
‘good’ choices). In order to maintain the
skilfulness of a web-based game the player
has to select only the negative incidents to
be added to the folder files and discussed
in the second phase of the game (council
meeting).

16. The “polarities” of the incidents are
differentiated in every mission. For
example, in mission one the player will
deal with (as showed by the following
table) three “negative” dimensions
(membership, family habits,
cooperation) and two “positive”
dimensions (interdependence and
interactive dynamics). In mission 2 we
have, on the contrary, three positive
incidents (related to membership,
family habits and cooperation) and two
negatives incidents (interdependence
and interactive dynamics).
The sixth incident of any mission is
based upon a “subjective”
interpretation of the incident made by
the player. The subjective incidents are
formulated taking into consideration
the social mindedness dimensions. So in
the first mission (Johnny Smithson and
Lucy) the “contested” incident is
related to membership dimension, in
the second mission (mrs Kowalska) the
“contested” incident is related to
cooperation dimension. Considering
that there are 4 missions and 5 social
mindedness dimensions the dimensions
“interactive dynamics” and
“interdependence” will be merged in a
single “contested” event.