1 research outputs found
Developing and evaluating the feasibility of an active training game for smart-phones as a tool for promoting executive function in children
Executive function (EF) comprises a series of interrelated cognitive and self-regulatory skills
which are required in nearly every facet of everyday life, particularly in novel circumstances.
EF skills begin developing from birth and continue to grow well into adulthood but are most
crucial for children as they are associated with academic and life success as well as mental
and physical health. There is now strong evidence that these skills can be trained through
targeted intervention in a diverse range of approaches, such as computer games, physical
activity, and social play settings.
This thesis presents the process of the design and evaluation of an active EF-training game
(BrainQuest) for smart-phones, in participation with end-users: a group of 11-12-year-old
children from a local Primary School. The design process placed emphasis on creating an
engaging user experience, a phenomenon which has eluded many serious games, by building
upon motivational game design theory and satisfying end-user requirements. However, in the
pursuit of promoting particular executive functions: working memory; inhibitory control;
planning and strategizing, the design integrated aspects of a cognitive assessment while also
utilizing a range of alternative approaches for training EF, including physical activity and
social play.
Following an iterative design process which included many single session prototype
evaluations, a mixed methods evaluation was undertaken during a 5-week study with twenty-eight
11-12-year-old school children. The study gathered exploratory qualitative and
quantitative evidence regarding the game’s potential benefits which was evaluated by
triangulating a range of data sources: multi-observer observations notes, interviews with
children and teachers, game performance data and logs, and cognitive assessment outcomes.
The analysis describes the statistical relationships between game and executive function
ability, before exploring user experiences and evidence of cognitive challenge during
gameplay through a series of triangulated case studies and general whole-class observations.
The analysis presents the game to be engaging and enjoyable throughout the study and, for
most children, able to generate a sustainable challenge. Though there were initial difficulties
in understanding the complex game rules and technology, the game became increasingly
usable and learnable for the target user group and created opportunities for goal setting. It
also encouraged feelings of pride and self-confidence as well as facilitating positive social
interactions and requiring regulation of emotion, which are considered to be pathways to
developing executive functions (Diamond, 2012). There was also promising initial evidence
that the game’s variable difficulty level system was able to challenge executive functions:
planning and strategizing, working memory, and inhibitory control. Most notably, the game
appeared to support improvements in strategizing ability by demanding increasing strategic
complexity in response to evolving and increasingly difficult task demands. Supporting
BrainQuest’s cognitive challenge, several statistical relationships emerged between
executive function ability and game performance measures. However, the game’s ability to
significantly improve cognitive outcomes could not yet be concluded.
Nevertheless, these findings have implications for both the future design and evaluation
practices undertaken by cognitive training researchers. From a design perspective, less
credence should be paid to simply gamifying cognitive assessments while greater emphasis
should be placed on integration of formal game design and motivational theories. With
regards to evaluation, researchers should understand the importance of establishing first
whether CTGs can remain engaging over time as well as the feasibility of their challenge to
cognitive functions