"A Study of the Effectiveness of Cognitive Skill Development Delivered in a Video-Game Format." Optometry & Vision Development, Volume 38, Number 1, 2007
Purpose: Demonstrate that BrainWare Safari as a computerized program could produce results comparable to those seen by clinicians with their patients using therapeutic techniques that are largely paper and pencil and one-on-one.
Subjects: Male and Female, ages 6 to 13 (grades 1 to 8).
Usage Protocol: 45-60 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week, 12 weeks
Assessment: Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Battery and Tests of Achievement
Findings: Children in who used BrainWare Safari (study group) showed an average of 4 years and 3 months improvement on the tests of cognitive skills compared to 4 months improvement for the control group, and an average of 1 year and 11 months increase on the tests of achievement compared to an average 1 month increase for the control group.
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Harbor Beach Community Schools and BrainWare Safari -- 2009
Purpose: Confirm that results comparable to those found in the published study would be achieved by students using the program in a Harbor Beach, Michigan school.
Subjects: Male and Female, ages 7 to 16, nominated by teachers who felt they could use some extra support.
Usage Protocol: 45 minutes, 4 times per week, 12 weeks
Assessment: Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Battery
Findings: The students' average improvement on the cognitive tests was 3 years 1 month, and as in other studies, each individual exhibited improvement in his or her intellectual ability. Teachers observed significant improvements in academic performance by students who used BrainWare Safari.
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Evaluation of BrainWare Safari at Edgar Evans Academy -- 2006
Purpose: (1) Demonstrate how BrainWare Safari fits into the regular curriculum of an elementary school classroom and 2) assess its effectiveness with very challenging users.
Subjects: Male, 4th and 5th grades, with a history of discipline problems
Usage Protocol: 2-3 hours per week, 11 weeks
Assessment: Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Battery
Findings: The students had an average chronological age of 11 at the time of the pre-test, but tested at an intellectual age of 8 years 2 months. The average post-test intellectual age was measured at 14 years 2 months, an improvement of 6 years (2 years and 10 months above the norm for their ages).
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BrainWare Safari at Glenwood School for Boys and Girls -- 2009
Purpose: For the first time, show a clear connection between cognitive skill development and improved academic performance.
Subjects: Male and Female, Grades 2 through 8, economically and socially disadvantaged
Usage Protocol: 30 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week, 8 weeks
Assessment: Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Battery, Visual Motor Inventory
Findings: Average improvement from the pre-test to the post-test on the academic tests ranged from 0.5 grade equivalents (GE) in 2nd grade to 2.9 GE in 8th grade. Average improvement on the cognitive tests ranged from 1.5 GE in 2nd grade to a high of 3.0 GE in 7th grade. The results showed a clear relationship between improvement in the underlying attention, memory, and other mental processing skills developed by BrainWare Safari and performance on academic tests.
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BrainWare Safari and Students Qualifying for a Gifted Program -- 2009
Purpose: Enable more students to qualify for the Gifted Program.
Subjects: Male and Female, 2nd grade
Usage Protocol: 30 minutes, 2-3 times per week, 17 weeks
Assessment: CogAT
Findings: In a school in which no students had qualified for the gifted program the prior year, following use of the program, 2 students qualified for the gifted program based on their composite CogAT score (98th percentile or better); 5 students qualified based on having at least one CogAT scores at the 93rd percentile or higher combined with MAP testing results; and 3 students qualified for additional performance testing based on their scores. 60 of 64 students improved their results on the CogAT. The average composite score increased by 11 points (Nonverbal -- 8 points, Quantitative -- 9 points, Verbal -- 12 points).
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BrainWare Safari: Broad-Based Improvement of Cognitive Ability -- 2010
Purpose: (1) Enable more students to qualify for the Gifted Program (2) Assess the impact of BrainWare Safari across the spectrum of pre-test ability.
Subjects: Male and Female, 2nd grade
Usage Protocol: 30 minutes, 2-3 times per week, 17 weeks
Assessment: CogAT
Findings: 8 more students qualified for the Gifted Program following their use of BrainWare Safari. Overall student performance shifted markedly between the two tests, with lower percentages falling in the bottom deciles and higher percentages scoring in the top deciles. For example, the percentage of students score between the 31st and 40th percentile fell from 15% to 11%, while the percentage scoring at the 91st percentile or higher increased from 3% to 10%.
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BrainWare Safari and Students with Specific Learning Disabilities -- 2012
Purpose: Determine the effectiveness of BrainWare Safari with SLD students using a randomized-control group study design. The research was designed, implemented and analyzed by Sarah Avtzon, PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of Early Childhood Development at Daemen College.
Subjects: 40 Students from two schools in NYC, male and female, grades 2 – 4
Usage protocol: 30-45 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week, 12 weeks.
Assessment: Woodcock-Johnson Cognitive Battery III Normative Update and Tests of Achievement.
Students were randomly assigned to a treatment group and a non-treatment group.
Findings: Students in the study who used BrainWare Safari for 12 weeks improved their cognitive functioning by 2.8 years compared to 2 months for a control group. The students improved their overall cognitive proficiency level from 64% to 89%, where 90% is the expected proficiency level for a normally developing student. Students in the control group improved just 1 percentage point in cognitive proficiency, from 63% to 64%.
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Evaluation of BrainWare Safari at Coleman Academy -- 2008
Purpose: Determine the impact of BrainWare Safari on progress in reading.
Subjects: Male and Female, Grades 4 through 8
Usage Protocol: 30 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week, 12 weeks
Assessment: DIBELS® Oral Reading Fluency
Findings: The only class in which the program was actually implemented (4th Grade Girls) was the only class that exceeded their DIBELS benchmark scores at the end of the year. The rate of progress for the 4th Grade Girls accelerated during the second half of the year when they were using BrainWare Safari moving from 9 points above benchmark to 26 points above benchmark. The teacher observed behavioral improvements in the students as well, specifically in making fewer careless errors, memory, grasping new concepts and communication with parents, peers and teachers, following use of the program.
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Ross Elementary School Pilot of BrainWare Safari -- 2010
Purpose: Assess the impact of BrainWare Safari on both cognitive development and performance on state assessment tests.
Subjects: Male and Female, Grades 3 through 5
Usage Protocol: 30-40 minutes, 4 times per week 11 weeks
Assessment: Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Battery Subtests, Kansas State General Assessments
Findings: Student performance on the WCJIII subtests improved an average of 1 year 10 months, consistent with results from previous research on these specific tests. On a second post-test following 6 months of non-use, students' cognitive development continued at an accelerated rate,yielding average total growth of 3 years and 2 months. The percentage of students meeting the state assessment standards improved for both reading (from 56% in 2009 to 65% in 2010) and math (from 26% to 72%). The average reading score increased at each grade level, moving from below the standard in 2009 into the meets or exceeds range in 2010. The average math score also increased at each grade level, staying in the meets or exceeds range.
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Evaluation of BrainWare Safari with ELL Students at Xilin Community Center -- 2006
Purpose: Evaluate BrainWare Safari's effective with English Language Learners (native Chinese-speaking)
Subjects: Male and Female, ages 7 to 11
Usage Protocol: 45 minutes, 4 times per week, 11 weeks
Assessment: Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Battery and Tests of Achievement
Findings: The students showed an average of 3 years and 6 months cognitive improvement over the 11 weeks of the study, and an average 2 years and 4 months improvement on the tests of achievement. As in other studies, every student improved his or her performance on the tests.
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School City of Hammond Bilingual Program BrainWare Safari Pilot -- 2010
Purpose: Evaluate the contribution of cognitive skill development with BrainWare Safari to ELL students' academic progress.
Subjects: Male and Female, Grades 6 through 9, all day bilingual program (Limited English Proficiency)
Usage Protocol: 60 minutes, 5 times per week, 8 weeks
Assessment: Behavioral Rating Scale, Scholastic Reading Inventory
Findings: Students improved their cognitive skills across the board, especially in: Attention Span and Focus, Ability to Visualize, Desire to Perform and Put in Effort, and Following Directions. These areas are highly indicative of improvement in attention skills, working memory, and visual processing (especially visualization). Following their use of BrainWare Safari, 50% more students raised their reading scores on the SRI than had improved during the preceding trimester.
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Evaluation of BrainWare Safari in a School-Based Homeschool Program -- 2011
Purpose: Demonstrate how BrainWare Safari first into a homeschool program supported by a charter school (COIL).
Subjects: Male and Female, Grades 5-9, Homeschooled
Usage Protocol: 30 to 60 minutes, 3 times per week, 17 weeks
Assessment: Behavioral Rating Scale
Findings: The program was implemented with fidelity to the recommended protocol and students got sufficient time and intensity of usage to impact their cognitive functioning. The students experienced significant improvement in their cognitive functioning across all of the areas assesses (Memory, Perceptual Processing, Thinking and Attention). The behavioral trait noted as improving for the most number of students was "Works Independently." This is a skill that is particularly valued at COIL.
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Use of BrainWare Safari in a Special Needs School -- 2007
Purpose: Determine how BrainWare Safari can be used with students with significant cognitive deficits in a special school.
Subjects: Male and Female, Ages 11 to 17, IQs of 70-80
Usage Protocol: 30 minutes, 2 times per week, duration of the school year
Assessment: Detroit Tests of Learning and Aptitude, Gibson Cognitive Battery
Findings: Students improved their cognitive skills by 9 months on average over the school year while they used BrainWare Safari. This type of students seldom experiences cognitive growth, and may even decline of the course of a school year. Persistence and tolerance for frustration were better than with previous paper-based therapy experiences.
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Fourth Graders' Views of Video Games and BrainWare Safari -- 2009
Purpose: Assess student reaction to BrainWare Safari's video-game format
Subjects: Male and Female, 4th Grade
Usage Protocol: 30 to 60 minutes, 3 times per week, 12 weeks
Assessment: Attitude Survey
Findings: The students overwhelmingly indicated that they enjoyed the experience of using BrainWare Safari and felt that the program had helped them develop new or stronger skills. They cited both the fun and the improvement in thinking skills for reasons they liked the program. Most students found the program hard at one point or another. This is experienced when students are working in areas where their skills are not as strong and they are pushing to new levels of automaticity. Based on the students' average progress through the program (number of levels completed), the group was challenged to the same degree as most students their age. It was also noted that even though students found some parts of the program hard, they also considered the program fun.
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BrainWare Safari Use with Students with Autism Spectrum Diagnoses -- 2007
Purpose: Evaluate use of BrainWare Safari with students with autism
Subjects: Male and Female, ages 5 to 16, range of Autism Spectrum diagnoses (severe to Asperger's)
Usage Protocol: 30 to 60 minutes, 3-5 times per week, 12 weeks
Assessments: CARS Rating Scale, Behavioral Rating Scale
Findings: Over half of the students were able to persist in use of the program over the duration of the study. Subjects 9 and older and those with high-functioning and Asperger's diagnoses demonstrated the most benefit, with improvements noted in perceptual processing, sensorimotor, attention, thinking and life management skills, as well as improved interpersonal relationships and lower levels of frustration.
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Case Study: Family with ADD / ADHD -- 2008
Purpose: Evaluate use of BrainWare Safari with students with ADD / ADHD diagnoses.
Subjects: Male, ages 9, 10 and 11, ADD or ADHD
Usage Protocol: 60 minutes, 3 times per week, 11 weeks
Assessment: Behavioral Rating Scale
Findings: Improvements were noted for all three boys, including attention skills, perceptual processing, life management and self-esteem. the number of levels completed was as high or higher than other children of the same age. The case study suggest that children with ADD or ADHD can benefit from BrainWare Safari as do children without attention deficit diagnoses, including improvement in attention skills.
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Case Study: Two Special Needs Students -- 2008
Purpose: Explore the value of BrainWare Safari for students with significant learning and processing issues.
Subjects: Male, ages 9 and 12, participating in a reading remediation program in which they had plateaued.
Usage Protocol: 30 to 60 minutes, 3-5 times per week, 12 weeks
Assessment: Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Battery
Findings: Following use of the program, the boys improved their performance on the cognitive tests by 5 years 4 months and 2 years 2 months respectively. Their parents reported positive changes in attention, tolerance for frustration, pace of work and self-confidence. The were subsequently able to resume and benefit from further reading remediation.
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