High User Control in Game Design Elements Increases Compliance and In-game Performance in a Memory Training Game.

Peter Wolf,Robert Riener,Aniket Nagle

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01774

Peter Wolf, Robert Riener + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01774

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Abstract

Computer games are increasingly being used for training cognitive functions like working memory and attention among the growing population of older adults. While cognitive training games often include elements like difficulty adaptation, rewards, and visual themes to make the games more enjoyable and effective, the effect of different degrees of afforded user control in manipulating these elements has not been systematically studied. To address this issue, two distinct implementations of the three aforementioned game elements were tested among healthy older adults (N = 21, 69.9 ± 6.4 years old) playing a game-like version of the n-back task on a tablet at home for 3 weeks. Two modes were considered, differentiated by the afforded degree of user control of the three elements: user control of difficulty vs. automatic difficulty adaptation, difficulty-dependent rewards vs. automatic feedback messages, and user choice of visual theme vs. no choice. The two modes (“USER-CONTROL” and “AUTO”) were compared for frequency of play, duration of play, and in-game performance. Participants were free to play the game whenever and for however long they wished. Participants in USER-CONTROL exhibited significantly higher frequency of playing, total play duration, and in-game performance than participants in AUTO. The results of the present study demonstrate the efficacy of providing user control in the three game elements, while validating a home-based study design in which participants were not bound by any training regimen, and could play the game whenever they wished. The results have implications for designing cognitive training games that elicit higher compliance and better in-game performance, with an emphasis on home-based training.

Highlights

Games for Cognitive TrainingIn the past two decades, computer games have been increasingly used in improving the life of the elderly, who are a growing percentage of the general population (United-Nations, 2014), and account for increasing healthcare costs (Hurd et al, 2013; Wimo et al, 2013)
Of the six motivation subscales, significant difference between the two modes was observed only in amotivation [F(1, 15) = 12.67, P = 0.002], where it was significantly higher in USER-CONTROL (Figure 4)
Overall ingame performance was significantly higher in USER-CONTROL than in AUTO [F(1, 15) = 5.84, P =0.027], with significant differences being observed in six individual sessions (Table 1; Figures 5, 6)

Summary

Introduction

Games for Cognitive TrainingIn the past two decades, computer games have been increasingly used in improving the life of the elderly, who are a growing percentage of the general population (United-Nations, 2014), and account for increasing healthcare costs (Hurd et al, 2013; Wimo et al, 2013). The game industry has not lagged behind in commercializing cognitive training: several games, such as Brain Age (Nouchi et al, 2012), Cogmed (Chacko et al, 2014), Lumosity (Hardy et al, 2011) have emerged in the last decade These commercial off-the-shelf games claim positive effects on cognitive functions (Nouchi et al, 2012; Chacko et al, 2014), there is some amount of skepticism about these claims, with the methods argued not to be theoretically grounded (Gibson et al, 2012), or the results found not to be replicable (Shipstead et al, 2012; Smith et al, 2013)

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