Game Design to Enhance Cognitive Adaptability

ADL Webinar, 12/17/2013 Shane Gallagher, Ph.D., Serco in support of ADL Shenan Prestwich, Katmai in support of ADL

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What does your IQ mean? 116+

17 percent of the world population;

superior I.Q.; appropriate average

for individuals in professional

occupations.

121+

10 percent; potentially gifted;

average for college graduates

132+

2 percent; borderline genius;

average I.Q. of most Ph.D.

recipients

143+

1 percent; genius level; about

average for Ph.D.'s in physics

158+

1 in 10,000; Nobel Prize winners

164+

1 in 30,000; Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart and the chess champion

Bobby Fischer.

20-50% of variation due to non-genetic

factors

Genetic factors not like those of eye color

but more like those for height and weight

www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/can-you-make-yourself-

smarter.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&page

Can cognitive capabilities be enhanced?

• What is brain

plasticity?

• Can the brain be

trained?

• Can intelligence be

increased?

• Fluid intelligence vs.

crystalized intelligence

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Cognitive capabilities can be enhanced

According to research by:

• Klingbert (2005)

• Jaeggi & Buschkuel (2008)

• Green & Bavelier (2003)

• Maguire, et al (2000)

• Dranganski, et al (2004, 2006)

• Willis, et al (2006)

• Holmes (2009)

• And many others….

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Can cognitive capabilities be enhanced…

through game design?

If so, how?

That is our question….

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Adaptability and Cognitive Adaptability

Background

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What Is Adaptability?

• Adaptability: important metacompetency identified

by U.S. DoD, DoL, DoE.

• Ability to use existing knowledge to create innovative

problem solutions

• Repeatedly trying new/different strategies to solve

problems while reflecting on actions and

incorporating feedback

What Is Adaptability?

• Present on a scale of macro to

micro

• Macro: adaptive stance, operational

adaptability

• Mid: individual adaptive behavior

• Micro: micromomentary cognitive

processes, i.e., cognitive adaptability

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Lens of Analysis

• Cognitive Adaptability

• Micro (cognitive) Level

• Components

• Cognitive Openness/Creativity

• Focused Attention

• Cognitive

Flexibility/Metacognition

• Critical Thinking & Problem-

Solving

Cognitive Adaptability

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How This Translates to Game

Design

“…where mechanics are the components of

a game at the level of data representation

and algorithms, dynamics are how the game

components interact with the player and vice-

versa, and aesthetics comprise the emotional

response evoked by the mechanics and

dynamics…” (Hunicke, LeBlanc, & Zubek,

2002)

Mechanics

Dynamics

Aesthetics

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A Variation on MDA: FFMDA

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FFMDA

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FFMDA

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Fostering Cognitive Adaptability

• Intersection of games and CA = research void

• Had to draw from other areas of research and posit

how these findings can be translated into game

design

• Clinical Psychology

• Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT)

• Learning Sciences

• CANTAB/Cambridge Cognition

• Feature Overlap Theory

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• Unstated/Implicit Rules

• Unstated/Implicit Shifting of

Rule Sets

• Dynamic Shifting

Environments

• Open-Ended Gameplay

• Implicit Reinforcement for

Individual Actions/ Choices

to Achieve Final Goal

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Lens of Analysis

5 Features for CA

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The Study

The Study

Goal

• Examine whether playing a commercial off-the-shelf

game with the five identified features will increase

cognitive adaptability

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Design

• Study site and population chosen • Sheppard AFB, 18-24 year olds enlisted and lieutenants (N=39)

• Randomly assigned to study and groups

• Design • Experimental – pre/post tests and

• Correlational – history plus metacognitive awareness inventory

• Pre/post measures • CANTAB customized battery

• Metacognitive Awareness Inventory

• Post measures • Game History Questionnaire

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CANTAB

• Cognitive testing software

• Customized battery

• Attention Switching

• Spatial Working Memory

• Spatial Span

• Rapid Visual Information Processing

• Executive Planning

• Reaction Time (N/A)

Design

Intervention Game: Portal II

• Play for 6 hours over 2 days (12 hours total) with breaks every 1.5 hours

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Control: Puzzle/Logic games commonly found with Windows 7 (lacking the five features)

Solitaire, Minesweeper, Hearts, Bejeweled/Tetris or similar game

Play each for 1.5 hours a day over 2 days (12 hours total)

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Results

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• Cognitive focused attention (specifically signal detection) was

enhanced in Portal 2 players versus MS Games players.

• Potential cause is the amount of concentration needed to infer

implicit rules, their changes, and environmental changes.

Portal 2 Play

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Gaming Experience

• Previous experience playing Portal 2 within past six months

correlated with greater spatial working memory capabilities

• Historic gameplay of 19+ hours/week correlated with greater

spatial working memory, spatial sequencing, and cognitive

planning capabilities

• Design characteristics presents in MMOGs, card games, puzzles,

racing, strategy, and sports games may lead to these increases

and should be explored.

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Evaluating Games for Cognitive

Potential

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Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA)

• Technique to capture and model behavioral and cognitive

processes/activities for accomplishing a task at expert-level

• decision-making processes

• recognizing and responding to critical cues/environmental

conditions

• utilizing tools

• performing sub-tasks

• analyzing and altering one’s own performance

• Commonly used by industry and research professionals

• Human computer interaction, instructional system design

• Developing : • Intelligent/Cognitive Tutors

• Decision Support Systems

• Roots in cognitive science

Applying CTA to Video Games

• Need to understand empirically:

• Design of game

• How game design interacts with player cognition

• Using CTA to map and model cognition and

interaction within video game play is novel to the

literature.

• Researching methods for applying CTA to video game

analysis

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Protocol: CTA & Video Games

Part I: Preliminary Analysis/Lexicon Development

• Establish vocabulary of game (names for features, tools,

obstacles, etc.)

• Game structure analysis: break game down into

measurable units based on narrative structure

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Protocol: CTA & Video Games

Part 2: Focused Knowledge Elicitation

• Level-by-level:

• Please play through this level, completing the necessary steps to achieve the final

objective. As you do, try to speak aloud as much as possible, narrating both your

thought process (including what decisions you are making and what options you are

considering) and the sequences of actions you take as you take them. As you play,

please survey the areas you are in and describe your expectations in terms of how you

will have to interact with the room in order to achieve your objective.

• Gameplay recorded on FRAPS with audio plus

simultaneous .wav file recordings.

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Protocol: CTA and Video Games

Part 2: Focused Knowledge Elicitation

• Subject and researcher review FRAPS gameplay for the

following information about each level:

• Affordances

• Requisite Knowledge

• Micro-Puzzles Present

• Mechanical Steps Required

• Cognitive Steps Required

• Audio and Visual Cues

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Example FRAPS: Ch. 1, Level 3

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Protocol: CTA and Video Games

Part 2: Focused Knowledge Elicitation

• Reviewing FRAPS gameplay a second time, identify

presence or absence of design characteristics in question

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Progress and Results

• Protocol developed for CTA on video gameplay that

encompasses cognitive, mechanical, and design

elements

• Analysis shows modulating but persistent presence

of all five cognitive adaptability design characteristics

throughout Portal 2

• Indication of varying information processing/filtering

and executive function requirements throughout

game

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Future Direction

• Developing a cognitive profile of all analyzed puzzles

and micro puzzles in Portal 2

• Aligning the puzzles to specific CANTAB battery

components

• Designing custom Portal 2 levels with Level Builder

with puzzles aligning to specific cognitive properties

• Fine tuning levels for specific cognitive enhancement

properties

• Using designed levels as an intervention for CA

increase 38

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Resources

Supporting Cognitive Adaptability Through Game Design

http://www.adlnet.gov/resources/supporting-cognitive-adaptability-through-game-

design?type=research_paper

Can Game Design Be Leveraged to Enhance Cognitive Adaptability?

http://www.adlnet.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CA-Games-Design-EJeL-GAL-FNL-

020313.pdf

Can Playing Video Games Improve Cognition and Adaptability?

http://www.adlnet.gov/from-adl-team-member-shane-gallagher-can-playing-video-games-

improve-cognition-and-adaptability

The Cognition of Gameplay

http://www.adlnet.gov/from-adl-team-member-shenan-prestwich-the-cognition-of-gameplay

Cognitive Task Analysis: Analyzing the Cognition of Gameplay and Game Design

https://app.box.com/s/85tvzlmwv96v74yg1xnu

Transforming Education Through Neuroscience, Cognition, and Game Design

http://www.adlnet.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Transforming_Education_ITX3.pdf

Example Video

Portal 2 Cognitive Task Analysis: Ch. 1, Level 3

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Contact Us

Shane Gallagher

shane.gallagher.ctr@adlnet.gov

Shenan Prestwich

shenan.prestwich.ctr@adlnet.gov