EXPANSE: A novel narrative serious game for the behavioral assessment of cognitive abilities

Giglioli, Irene Alice Chicchi; Ripoll, Carla de Juan; Parra, Elena; Raya, Mariano Alcañiz

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0206925

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Mobile platforms (smartphones and tablets) are being used for cognitive assessment of older adults, improving repeated and continuous assessment [ 115 ]. Additionally, cognitive assessment through serious video game playing has been tested in multiple populations, including children and adolescents [ 116 ], adults and older adults [ 117 , 118 ] and as possible tools for cognitive screening in neurodegenerative diseases [ 119 ]. The potentiality of exergames that promote physical activity with and without combined cognitive training for cognitive decline prevention and neurorehabilitation remain to be further explored [ 120 ], particularly in older adults.…”

Section: Monitoring Cognitive Performance and Brain Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wearable Devices for Physical Activity and Healthcare Monitoring in Elderly People: A Critical Review

et al. 2021

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The availability of wearable devices (WDs) to collect biometric information and their use during activities of daily living is significantly increasing in the general population. These small electronic devices, which record fitness and health-related outcomes, have been broadly utilized in industries such as medicine, healthcare, and fitness. Since they are simple to use and progressively cheaper, they have also been used for numerous research purposes. However, despite their increasing popularity, most of these WDs do not accurately measure the proclaimed outcomes. In fact, research is equivocal about whether they are valid and reliable methods to specifically evaluate physical activity and health-related outcomes in older adults, since they are mostly designed and produced considering younger subjects’ physical and mental characteristics. Additionally, their constant evolution through continuous upgrades and redesigned versions, suggests the need for constant up-to-date reviews and research. Accordingly, this article aims to scrutinize the state-of-the-art scientific evidence about the usefulness of WDs, specifically on older adults, to monitor physical activity and health-related outcomes. This critical review not only aims to inform older consumers but also aid researchers in study design when selecting physical activity and healthcare monitoring devices for elderly people.

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Section: Monitoring Cognitive Performance and Brain Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wearable Devices for Physical Activity and Healthcare Monitoring in Elderly People: A Critical Review

et al. 2021

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“…If the patterns of responses are similar, it is likely that the game measures response inhibition in a similar way to a go/no-go task. This process is what Chicchi Giglioli et al [ 51 ] followed when evaluating their game, EXPANSE , which gamified the dot probe task, go/no-go task, Stroop task, trail making task, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Participants were asked to complete both the standard tasks and game-based versions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…As digital games have not been traditionally used for cognitive assessments, they need to be evaluated for their relation to cognition; for example, researchers may want to know whether people with and without ADHD display different mouse behaviors [ 102 ] or if scores on a gamified go/no-go task correlate to correct responses on a traditional go/no-go task [ 51 , 59 , 62 , 69 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Making and Evaluation of Digital Games Used for the Assessment of Attention: Systematic Review

Wiley¹,

Robinson²,

Mandryk³

2021

JMIR Serious Games

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Background Serious games are now widely used in many contexts, including psychological research and clinical use. One area of growing interest is that of cognitive assessment, which seeks to measure different cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and perception. Measuring these functions at both the population and individual levels can inform research and indicate health issues. Attention is an important function to assess, as an accurate measure of attention can help diagnose many common disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dementia. However, using games to assess attention poses unique problems, as games inherently manipulate attention through elements such as sound effects, graphics, and rewards, and research on adding game elements to assessments (ie, gamification) has shown mixed results. The process for developing cognitive tasks is robust, with high psychometric standards that must be met before these tasks are used for assessment. Although games offer more diverse approaches for assessment, there is no standard for how they should be developed or evaluated. Objective To better understand the field and provide guidance to interdisciplinary researchers, we aim to answer the question: How are digital games used for the cognitive assessment of attention made and measured? Methods We searched several databases for papers that described a digital game used to assess attention that could be deployed remotely without specialized hardware. We used Rayyan, a systematic review software, to screen the records before conducting a systematic review. Results The initial database search returned 49,365 papers. Our screening process resulted in a total of 74 papers that used a digital game to measure cognitive functions related to attention. Across the studies in our review, we found three approaches to making assessment games: gamifying cognitive tasks, creating custom games based on theories of cognition, and exploring potential assessment properties of commercial games. With regard to measuring the assessment properties of these games (eg, how accurately they assess attention), we found three approaches: comparison to a traditional cognitive task, comparison to a clinical diagnosis, and comparison to knowledge of cognition; however, most studies in our review did not evaluate the game’s properties (eg, if participants enjoyed the game). Conclusions Our review provides an overview of how games used for the assessment of attention are developed and evaluated. We further identified three barriers to advancing the field: reliance on assumptions, lack of evaluation, and lack of integration and standardization. We then recommend the best practices to address these barriers. Our review can act as a resource to help guide the field toward more standardized approaches and rigorous evaluation required for the widespread adoption of assessment games.

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“…Overview As digital games have not been traditionally used for cognitive assessments, they need to be evaluated for their relation to cognition; for example, researchers may want to know whether people with and without ADHD display different mouse behaviors [102] or if scores on a gamified go/no-go task correlate to correct responses on a traditional go/no-go task [51,59,62,69].…”

Section: Evaluation Of the Assessment Aspectmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Making and Evaluation of Digital Games Used for the Assessment of Attention: Systematic Review (Preprint)

Wiley¹,

Robinson²,

Mandryk³

2020

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Serious games are now widely used in many contexts, including for psychological research and clinical use. One area of growing interest is that of cognitive assessment, which seeks to measure different cognitive functions like memory, attention and perception. Measuring these functions on both a population and individual level can inform research and indicate health issues. Attention is an important function to assess, as an accurate measure of attention can help diagnose many common disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dementia. Using games to assess attention poses unique problems, as games inherently manipulate attention through elements like sound effects, graphics and rewards, and research on adding game elements to assessments (ie, gamification) has shown mixed results. OBJECTIVE The process for developing cognitive tasks is robust, with high psychometric standards that must be met before these tasks are used for assessment. Games offer more diverse approaches for assessment, but there is no standard for how they should be developed. In order to better understand the field, our objective was to answer the question: How are digital games used for the cognitive assessment of attention made and measured? METHODS After an initial database search that returned 44,172 papers, we conducted a systematic review of 62 papers that use a digital game to measure cognitive functions relating to attention. RESULTS Across the studies in our review, we found three approaches to making assessment games: gamifying cognitive tasks, creating custom games based on theories of cognition, and exploring potential assessment properties of commercial games. In regard to measuring the assessment properties of these games (eg, how accurately they assess attention), we found three approaches: comparison to a traditional cognitive task, comparison to a clinical diagnosis, and comparison to knowledge of cognition; however, the majority of studies in our review did not evaluate the game’s properties (eg, if participants enjoyed the game). CONCLUSIONS Our review provides an overview of how games used for the assessment of attention are developed and evaluated. We further identified three barriers to advancing the field and recommend best practices to address these barriers. Our review can act as a resource to help guide the field towards the more standardized approaches and rigorous evaluation required for the widespread adoption of assessment games.

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EXPANSE: A novel narrative serious game for the behavioral assessment of cognitive abilities

Cited by 22 publications

References 65 publications

Wearable Devices for Physical Activity and Healthcare Monitoring in Elderly People: A Critical Review

Wearable Devices for Physical Activity and Healthcare Monitoring in Elderly People: A Critical Review

The Making and Evaluation of Digital Games Used for the Assessment of Attention: Systematic Review

The Making and Evaluation of Digital Games Used for the Assessment of Attention: Systematic Review (Preprint)

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