Abstract
In the research field of cognitive aging, games have gained attention as training interventions to remediate age-related deficits. Cognitive training games on computer, video and mobile platforms have shown ample and positive support. However, the generalized effects are not agreed upon unanimously, and the game tasks are usually simple and decontextualized due to the limitations of measurements. This study adopted a qualitative approach of design-based research (DBR) to systematically review and pragmatically examine the regime, presentation and feedback design of a cognitive training game for older adults. An overview of the literature of cognitive aging and training games was conducted to form the theoretical conjectures of the design, and an iterative cycle and process were employed to develop a mobile game for older adults who are homebound or receiving care in a nursing home. Stakeholders, i.e., elderly users and institutional administrators, were invited to participate in the design process. Using two cycles of design and evaluation, a working prototype of an iPad-based app that accounted for the needs of elderly adults in terms of form, appearance and working function was developed and tested in the actual contexts of the participants' homes and an assisted living facility. The results showed that the cognitive training game developed in this study was accepted by the participants, and a high degree of satisfaction was noted. Moreover, the elements of the interface, including its size, layout and control flow, were tested and found to be suitable for use. This study contributes to the literature by providing design suggestions for such games, including the designs of the cognitive training structure, interface, interaction, instructions and feedback, based on empirical evidence collected in natural settings. This study further suggests that the effectiveness of cognitive training in mobile games be evaluated through field and physical testing on a larger scale in the future.
Highlights
The number of elderly people in the world is increasing rapidly
In the design of an optimized and user-friendly cognitive training game for elderly people, the specific research questions that must be answered are as follows: (1) What types of cognitive training do elderly people accept in a mobile game? and (2) What components are crucial to improving or reducing the usability of a cognitive training game for elderly people? The current study involved collaboration among experts from the medical, interaction design and engineering fields, and it designed a cognitive training app for seniors in home or nursing home settings
His suggestions were adopted to confirm the theoretical propositions of the cognitive training game structure
Summary
The number of elderly people in the world is increasing rapidly. Taiwan will have become an aged society by 2018 and a super-aged society by 2025 (National Development Council, 2016). The related cues of familiarity, auditory context, and external context can help the recollection process of older people (Park et al, 1990; James and Burke, 2000; Bastin and Van der Linden, 2003) Another change is the agerelated decline in language ability performance, which is affected by inhibition capability, working memory and the recollection process. This decline makes it more difficult for elderly people to understand sentences and recall text because of the great syntactic complexity these tasks involve (Gold and Arbuckle, 1995; DeDe et al, 2004). Testing visuospatial access can more efficiently detect Alzheimer’s patients at the early stage of cognitive decline than can testing verbal access (De Federicis et al, 2016)
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