Tunnel Runner: a Proof-of-principle for the Feasibility and Benefits of Facilitating Players' Sense of Control in Cognitive Assessment Games

Title of the Paper

Tunnel Runner: a Proof-of-principle for the Feasibility and Benefits of Facilitating Players’ Sense of Control in Cognitive Assessment Games

Paper Information

• Research Domain: Gamified cognitive assessment, user experience studies, human-computer interaction
• Keywords: cognitive assessment, gamified measurement, player experience, autonomy, sense of control, inhibitory control, uncertainty decision-making

Research Background and Problem Statement

• Identified Problems or Challenges: Traditional cognitive assessment tasks lack participants' sense of control and are often dull and monotonous, leading to low motivation, poor engagement, and potential data quality issues.

• Importance of the Problem: Cognitive function assessment has broad applications in mental health, personnel selection, and medical diagnosis. However, existing methods struggle to effectively enhance participant experience and data accuracy.

• Research Motivation and Related Work: While previous studies have attempted to improve experience through cognitive assessment games, most maintain strict experimental control and overlook the importance of players' sense of control in games, resulting in limited effectiveness.

Solution

• Proposed Method or Solution: Developed "Tunnel Runner," an infinite running game that integrates cognitive challenges related to inhibitory control and uncertainty decision-making while maintaining continuous player control.

• Innovative Aspects of the Solution: The game reduces strict experimental control to enhance players' sense of control while maintaining the validity and reliability of cognitive measurements. This design concept represents a novel approach to cognitive assessment games.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:

  1. Game Design:
     • Integrated cognitive challenges from classic tasks (e.g., Flanker task, Simon task) into game mechanics.
     • Enhanced player experience through visual feedback, score rewards, and continuous control mechanisms.
  2. Research Design:
     • Conducted two online experiments (with 117 and 121 participants, respectively) to evaluate the game's measurement validity and player experience.
     • Compared the game with traditional cognitive tasks (Flanker task, Stop-signal task) and used questionnaires to assess player experience.
  3. Data Analysis:
     • Employed hierarchical regression models and Bayesian modeling to evaluate the internal and external validity of cognitive challenges and measurement reliability.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Findings:

  • Tunnel Runner provided effective and reliable cognitive measurements, including interference control (Flanker effect), response inhibition (SSRT), and uncertainty decision-making ability.
  • The game significantly improved player experience, including autonomy, curiosity, sense of meaning, and engagement.

• Advantages Compared to Existing Solutions:

  • Players experienced a significant improvement in gameplay, particularly in their sense of control.
  • The game demonstrated higher measurement efficiency than traditional tasks, requiring less time and offering greater enjoyment.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • Cognitive measurements in the game (e.g., Flanker effect and SSRT) were significantly correlated with results from traditional cognitive tasks.
  • Player experience questionnaires showed that the game experience surpassed traditional tasks across all key indicators.
  • Measurement reliability of the game was generally good to excellent (e.g., RT reliability for Flanker effect: 0.75-0.79; SSRT reliability: 0.92-0.83).
  • Measurement of uncertainty decision-making in the game was significantly correlated with cognitive reflection ability but not impulsivity.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations:
    1. Some players adopted error correction strategies in the game, failing to provide comparable behavioral data.
    2. Online experiments may have introduced order effects.
    3. Repeated measurement reliability of the game was not evaluated.
    4. Players were primarily gaming enthusiasts, which may limit generalizability to non-gaming populations.
  • Future Directions:
    1. Further optimize game design to enhance players' sense of control and facilitate high-quality behavioral data collection.
    2. Explore the integration of more complex game mechanics with cognitive measurements.
    3. Develop cognitive games for monitoring mental health in natural environments.
    4. Introduce direct measurement tools or scales for assessing the sense of control.

Conclusion

Tunnel Runner demonstrates that enhancing players' sense of control can simultaneously achieve high-quality measurement and improved player experience in cognitive assessment games. This study not only provides a validated case for the field but also reveals new pathways for integrating player experience with cognitive measurement.