Effective gamification of the stop-signal task: Two controlled laboratory experiments

BACKGROUND A lack of ability to inhibit prepotent responses, or more generally a lack of impulse control, is associated with several disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia as well as general damage to the prefrontal cortex. A stop-signal task (SST) is a reliable and established measure of response inhibition. However, using the SST as an objective assessment in diagnostic or research-focused settings places significant stress on participants as the task itself requires concentration and cognitive effort and is not particularly engaging. This can lead to decreased motivation to follow task instructions and poor data quality, which can affect assessment efficacy and might increase drop-out rates. Gamification-the application of game-based elements in nongame settings-has shown to improve engaged attention to a cognitive task, thus increasing participant motivation and data quality. OBJECTIVE This study aims to design a gamified SST that improves participants' engagement and validate this gamified SST against a standard SST. METHODS We described the design of our gamified SST and reported on 2 separate studies that aim to validate the gamified SST relative to a standard SST. In study 1, a within-subject design was used to compare the performance of the SST and a stop-signal game (SSG). In study 2, we added eye tracking to the procedure to determine if overt attention was affected and aimed to replicate the findings from study 1 in a between-subjects design. Furthermore, in both studies, flow and motivational experiences were measured. RESULTS In contrast, the behavioral performance was comparable between the tasks (P<.87; BF01=2.87), and the experience of flow and intrinsic motivation were rated higher in the SSG group, although this difference was not significant. CONCLUSIONS Overall, our findings provide evidence that the gamification of SST is possible and that the SSG is enjoyed more. Thus, when participant engagement is critical, we recommend using the SSG instead of the SST

KINECTWheels: wheelchair-accessible motion-based game interaction

The increasing popularity of full-body motion-based video games creates new challenges for game accessibility research. Many games strongly focus on able-bodied persons and require players to move around freely. To address this problem, we introduce KINECTWheels, a toolkit that facilitates the integration of wheelchair-based game input. Our library can help game designers to integrate wheelchair input at the development stage, and it can be configured to trigger keystroke events to make off-the-shelf PC games wheelchair-accessible

How self-esteem shapes our interactions with play technologies

The experience that results from video game play is shaped by the play environment, but also by various characteristics of the person playing. We investigated how player self-esteem predicts post-game motivation (enjoyment, effort, and tension), and conducted mediated regressions to show that players’ self-esteem alters post-play motivation by affecting how needs are satisfied during play. We also explored how self-esteem predicts post-play positive and negative affect and conducted mediated regressions to show how motivation partially mediates those effects. Our work suggests that players with different levels of self-esteem experience games differently; but more importantly, we provide an explanation of how these differences form by examining the mechanisms during games that ultimately contribute to player experience. Situating our results within theories of self, we discuss the importance of self-esteem for understanding player experience, describe the implications for games research, and consider how self-esteem shapes our interactions with play technologies

More than skin deep: About the influence of self-relevant avatars on inhibitory control

AbstractOne important aspect of cognitive control is the ability to stop a response in progress and motivational aspects, such as self-relevance, which may be able to influence this ability. We test the influence of self-relevance on stopping specifically if increased self-relevance enhances reactive response inhibition. We measured stopping capabilities using a gamified version of the stop-signal paradigm. Self-relevance was manipulated by allowing participants to customize their game avatar (Experiment 1) or by introducing a premade, self-referential avatar (Experiment 2). Both methods create a motivational pull that has been shown to increase motivation and identification. Each participant completed one block of trials with enhanced self-relevance and one block without enhanced self-relevance, with block order counterbalanced. In both experiments, the manipulation of self-relevance was effective in a majority of participants as indicated by self-report on the Player-Identification-Scale, and the effect was strongest in participants that completed the self-relevance block first. In those participants, the degree of subjectively experienced that self-relevance was associated with improvement in stopping performance over the course of the experiment. These results indicate that increasing the degree to which people identify with a cognitive task may induce them to exert greater, reactive inhibitory control. Consequently, self-relevant avatars may be used when an increase in commitment is desirable such as in therapeutic or training settings

Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation

As digital gaming has grown from a leisure activity into a competitive endeavor with college scholarships, celebrity, and large prize pools at stake, players search for ways to enhance their performance, including through coaching, training, and employing tools that yield a performance advantage. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that is presently being explored by esports athletes and competitive gamers. Although shown to modulate cognitive processing in standard laboratory tasks, there is little scientific evidence that tDCS improves performance in digital games, which are visually complex and attentionally demanding environments. We applied tDCS between two sessions of the Stop-Signal Game (SSG; Friehs, Dechant, Vedress, Frings, Mandryk, 2020). The SSG is a custom-built infinite runner that is based on the Stop-Signal Task (SST; Verbruggen et al., 2019). Consequently, the SSG can be used to evaluate response inhibition as measured by Stop-Signal Reaction Time (SSRT), but in an enjoyable 3D game experience. We used anodal, offline tDCS to stimulate the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC); a 9 cm² anode was always positioned over the rDLPFC while the 35 cm² cathode was placed over the left deltoid. We hypothesized that anodal tDCS would enhance neural processing (as measured by a decrease in SSRT) and improve performance, while sham stimulation (i.e., the control condition with a faked stimulation) should lead to no significant change. In a sample of N = 45 healthy adults a significant session x tDCS-condition interaction emerged in the expected direction. Subsequent analysis confirmed that the statistically significant decrease in SSRT after anodal tDCS to the rDLPFC was not due to a general change in reaction times. These results provide initial evidence that tDCS can influence performance in digital games

Enhanced esports: Community perspectives on performance enhancers in competitive gaming

This work explores perceptions of performance enhancer usage in esports. Specifically, we explored the perception of: food and food supplements; non-medical use of prescription drugs; drugs with some social acceptance (e.g. alcohol, nicotine, cannabis); drugs with lower social acceptance (e.g., psychedelics, opioids); and non-invasive brain stimulation (e.g. transcranial direct current stimulation). A mixed-methods approach was used to triangulate findings around three data sets, including both prompted and unprompted online forum comments, as well as survey data. The studies evidence that players are willing to use or are already using enhancers to increase their in-game performance, and that players are generally concerned about the use of enhancers in professional esports contexts. Furthermore, the community perceives that a substantial number of e-athletes use enhancers. The core contribution of this work is a comprehensive investigation into perspectives of esports performance enhancement, which highlights the urgent need for further research, as well as regulation by esports leagues

The acute cognitive benefits of casual exergame play

Acute cognitive benefits, such as temporary improvements in concentration, can result from as few as ten minutes of exercise; however, most people do not take exercise breaks throughout the day. To motivate people to receive the cognitive benefits of exercising in short bursts multiple times per day, we designed an engaging casual exergame. To determine whether there are cognitive benefits after playing our game, we conducted two studies to compare playing ten minutes of our casual exergame to a sedentary version of the game or exercise on a treadmill. We found acute cognitive benefits of the casual exergame over the sedentary version (but not treadmill exercise), demonstrated by significantly improved performance on two cognitive tests that require focus and concentration. Significant improvements were also found in participants' affective states after playing the casual exergame. Finally, our casual exergame produces similar exertion levels to treadmill exercise, but is perceived as more fun.Ye

Assessment of Biosignals for Managing a Virtual Keyboard

In this paper we propose an assessment of biosignals for handling an application based on virtual keyboard and automatic scanning. The aim of this work is to measure the effect of using such application, through different interfaces based on electromyography and electrooculography, on cardiac and electrodermal activities. Five people without disabilities have been tested. Each subject wrote twice the same text using an electromyography interface in first test and electrooculography in the second one. Each test was divided into four parts: instruction, initial relax, writing and final relax. The results of the tests show important differences in the electrocardiogram and electrodermal activity among the parts of tests.Junta de Andalucía p08-TIC-363

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ СТАНУ ДАМБИ ДНІСТРА ЕЛЕКТРИЧНИМИ ТА ЕЛЕКТРОМАГНІТНИМИ МЕТОДАМИ (РАЙОН С. ПОБЕРЕЖЖЯ ІВАНО-ФРАНКІВСЬКОЇ ОБЛАСТІ)

Today the question of efficiency of methods of monitoring a condition of engineering constructions and geological conditions of their application becomes more and more actual. Non-destructive testing methods, namely geophysical methods, are considered to be an integral part of the research. In the scientific and technical literature, you can find more and more publications on the application of geophysical methods in engineering and environmental geology in the study of river&nbsp;dams, ponds, technical structures - tailings and artificial lakes. The article considers the results of the application of some electric and electromagnetic methods of research of the dam of the left bank of the Dnister, which is the main protective structure of the settlement of the v. Poberezhzhya and adjacent agricultural lands from flooding and erosion by flood waters. At the same time, the following tasks were solved: detailing the geological section of the dam by electrical properties, and estimation of anomalies of the stress-strain state of the dam.The research was carried out by the method of vertical electric soundings on direct current, which consists of successive measurements of the parameters of the electric field of currents passed through the rock when changing the position of the supply and receiving electrodes. The physical justification of the SEZ method is the differentiation of rocks by electrical resistance with depth. The presence of a reliable geological section along with the analysis of the FEZ curves allows for making a model of compliance of lithology of rocks and electrical resistance.Three types of curves of vertical electric sounding, inherent in different physical representations of rock sections, were obtained. Type I – curves located at the foot of the dam, type II – curves located on the dam and reflect the section of the underlying rocks and rocks of the dam in the zone of anomalous stresses, ie curves in the zone of excess loads, type III – curves located on the dam and reflect the background values of the section, which is formed by the underlying rocks and loose soil without the action of force loads of the Dnister. According to the results of research, it is concluded that the stress-strain state is not reflected in the electrical physical properties.The study of the dam by the method of the natural pulsed electromagnetic field of the Earth (PIEMPZ) was also carried out.Based on the analysis of research by the method of PIEMPZ in general, it should be assumed that the dam in certain areas is in a state of dynamic pressure from the Dniester and is under the influence of additional mechanical stresses. Accordingly, there is a risk of breaking the dam during floods. The banks of the Vovchenets stream are insufficiently fortified. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to conduct regular regime observations of the dam of the Dniester River in the area of the village. Coast, thus laying the foundation for monitoring research.На сьогодні все більше актуальним постає питання ефективності методів моніторингу стану інженерних споруд та геологічних умов їх застосування. При цьому як невід’ємна складова досліджень розглядаються методи неруйнівного контролю, а саме геофізичні методи. У науково-технічній літературі можна знайти дедалі більше публікацій щодо застосування геофізичних методів в інженерній та екологічній геології при дослідженні дамб річок, ставків, технічних споруд – хвостосховищ та штучних озер. У статті розглянуті результати застосування окремих електричних та електромагнітних методів дослідження дамби лівого берега Дністра, яка є основною захисною спорудою населеного пункту Побережжя та прилеглих до нього сільськогосподарських земель від затоплення та розмиву паводковими водами. При цьому вирішувались задачі: деталізація геологічного розрізу дамби за електричними властивостями, оцінка аномалій напружено-деформованого стану дамби.Проведено дослідження методом вертикальних електричних зондувань (ВЕЗ) на постійному струмі, який полягає у послідовних вимірах параметрів електричного поля струмів, які пропускаються через гірську породу, при зміні положення живильних та приймальних електродів. Фізичним обґрунтуванням методу ВЕЗ є диференціація гірських порід за електричним опором із глибиною. Наявність достовірного геологічного розрізу поряд з аналізом кривих ВЕЗ дає змогу скласти модель відповідності літології гірських порід та електричного опору.Були отримані три типи кривих вертикального електричного зондування, притаманні різним за фізичними уявленнями розрізам гірських порід. І тип – криві, що розташовані біля підніжжя дамби, ІІ тип – криві, що розташовані на дамбі і відображають розріз підстилаючих порід та порід дамби в зоні аномальних напружень, тобто криві в зоні надлишкових силових навантажень, ІІІ тип – криві, що розташовані на дамбі і відображають фонові значення розрізу, утвореного підстилаючими породами та насипним ґрунтом без дії силових навантажень Дністра. За результатами досліджень зроблено висновок, що напружено-деформований стан в електричних фізичних властивостях не відображається.Також проведено дослідження дамби методом природного імпульсного електромагнітного поля Землі (ПІЕМПЗ).На основі проведеного аналізу досліджень методом ПІЕМПЗ у цілому слід вважати, що дамба на визначених ділянках перебуває в стані динамічного тиску з боку Дністра і під дією додаткових механічних напружень. Відповідно існує небезпека прориву дамби під час повені. Недостатньо укріпленим представляються береги потічка Вовченець. Тому в майбутньому слід проводити регулярні режимні спостереження дамби р. Дністер в районі с. Побережжя, заклавши тим самим основу моніторингових досліджень

Multi-score Learning for Affect Recognition: the Case of Body Postures

An important challenge in building automatic affective state recognition systems is establishing the ground truth. When the groundtruth is not available, observers are often used to label training and testing sets. Unfortunately, inter-rater reliability between observers tends to vary from fair to moderate when dealing with naturalistic expressions. Nevertheless, the most common approach used is to label each expression with the most frequent label assigned by the observers to that expression. In this paper, we propose a general pattern recognition framework that takes into account the variability between observers for automatic affect recognition. This leads to what we term a multi-score learning problem in which a single expression is associated with multiple values representing the scores of each available emotion label. We also propose several performance measurements and pattern recognition methods for this framework, and report the experimental results obtained when testing and comparing these methods on two affective posture datasets