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Effects of cognitive decision-making gamification tasks on academic motivation and academic enjoyment in EFL students: Under a quantum cognition framework
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DOI：10.1016/j.lmot.2026.102253.png)
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Abstract
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In exam-oriented English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, students frequently experience motivational decay and reduced academic enjoyment as a result of repetitive drills and high-stakes assessment practices. The purpose of the present study is to examine whether cognitive decision-making gamification tasks can enhance students' academic motivation and enjoyment in the immediate posttest and the one-month delayed posttest. In doing so, the intervention draws on principles of quantum cognition to represent decision-making as context-dependent and probabilistic, in which choices and their consequences may shift as a function of preceding selections. To these aims, a cluster-randomized controlled trial initially recruited 140 undergraduates (aged 16-24) from diverse academic disciplines. After applying the eligibility criteria and accounting for attrition, the final analytic sample included 68 participants, comprising 33 students in the experimental group and 35 students in the control group. Intact classes were assigned to either a gamified cognitive-task condition or a non-gamified control condition. Over an eight-week period, the intervention group engaged with gamified decision-making tasks delivered through a digital platform. It should be noted that the tasks incorporated tangible scenarios, such as probabilistic dialogue trees in simulated workplace negotiations, where alternative pathways remained unresolved until selection and prior choices reshaped subsequent option probabilities through interference-like effects. Academic motivation was measured through the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS), and academic enjoyment was assessed using the SInAPSi Academic Engagement Scale (SAES). The measures were administered at the pretest, immediately after the intervention, and one month later. For the quantitative analysis, a one-way ANCOVA was employed to compare group differences while controlling for baseline scores. Findings evidenced that, on the posttest, the gamified group obtained significantly higher intrinsic motivation and academic enjoyment than the control group. The delayed posttest results also showed sustained improvements in both outcomes, albeit with a slight decrease in their magnitude over time. In sum, the findings suggest that gamification tasks informed by quantum cognition can promote engagement by leveraging context-sensitive decision processes, and they offer a design framework for pedagogically grounded gamification that sustains engagement through uncertainty and choice in high-stakes EFL systems.
Keywords:
Cognitive decision-making gamification tasks
Quantum cognition
Academic motivation
Academic enjoyment
EFL university students
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