# Situated Psychological Agents: A Methodology for Educational Games
## 4 SPA Applications to EG
### Enact: An EG to teach negotiation  
Another example of SPA used to develop EGs is represented by Enact, implemented on a platform, based on recent psychological modeling through the application of current ICT research such as e-learning, mobility, internet, artificial intelligence [50; 51]. The platform facilitates \"learning by doing\" experiences as the training scenarios that can be developed through EG can simulate real-life situations, and due to their verisimilitude, can enable the transfer of what has been learned to similar real-life contexts [52; 53], developing the specific negotiation competence. It is a single-player game designed to train users on effective communication and negotiation skills. A training scenario is populated by two 3D avatars, one controlled by the user and the other by the computer (the BOT), both able to express a range of communication aspects and elements by using verbal cues (e.g., vocal tone, shape of the speech bubble, and structure of the sentence), and non-verbal indicators (e.g., body posture, facial expression, eye contact, and gestures). These patterns of behavioral indicators have been identified in the communication model of assertiveness, passivity, and aggression [54]. On-stage agents within Enact are both the learner and the artificial agent with which the user interacts with during the game (see Section 4.2.1). OSAs perform their roles and interact with each other according to the theoretical principles of the five styles of handling interpersonal conflict proposed by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [55] and [PERSON] [56] the psychological model adopted and underpinning the Enact game. In other words, the main principles of the two theoretical psychological models of negotiation by [PERSON] and communication by [PERSON] and [PERSON] underpinning the game, represent the rules defined in the core level that determine the OSAs' psychological and physical features. [PERSON] model differentiated five different styles of handling conflict on two basic dimensions: Concern for self and concern for others. The first dimension explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy his or her own concern, while the second explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy the concern of others. The combination of the two dimensions results in five styles of handling interpersonal conflict: Integrating, obliging, compromising, avoiding, dominating. The five styles of handling interpersonal conflicts are described, as follows:  
Avoiding (low concern for self and others) has been associated with withdrawal, buck-passing, or sidestepping situations. Obliging (low concern for self and high concern for others) is associated with attempting to play down the differences and emphasize commonalities to satisfy the concern of the other party. Dominating (high concern for self and low concern for others) has been identified with a win-lose orientation or with forcing behavior to win one's position. Compromising (intermediate in concern for self and others) involves give-and-take where both parties give up something to make a mutually acceptable decision. Integrating (high concern for self and others) involves openness, exchange of information and examination of differences to reach an effective solution acceptable to both parties. Moreover the conflicting scenarios have been designed according to a series of variables which combination resulted in 25 different conflicting scenarios animated by 24 different characters, such as type of conflict (if based on divergence or convergence), gender (if player and agent have the same or opposite gender, so that the interactions can result as male-male (or female-female) and male-female (or female-male), and ethnic variables (to allow a user-avatar interaction covering different ethnic groups). The user is introduced to the game with a scene explaining the conflicting situation, the role assigned to the user and her goal within the given scenario (shell level).