GamePAB: A Game-Based Performance Assessment Battery Application

Abstract

As research into the use of games as a substitute for more expensive virtual reality trainers increases, the need for trainers to identify deficiencies in a user"s basic ability with game operations becomes apparent. This work details the implementation of a toolkit that can be used to determine deficiencies a player might have during the operation of a first-person shooter style game. It achieves this by looking at a player"s efficiency at performing tasks fundamental to a game-based trainer: maneuvering around an environment using a keyboard and their use of the mouse to look at and interact with a moving object. Based on the generated results, it can then be determined by a trainer what, if any, further work will be needed to address user deficiencies in order to make an actual training exercise more valuable.

Evaluation of a Game-Based Simulation During Distributed Exercises

“…In addition, a major issue in establishing the effect of prior game experience or skills is that these issues were simply addressed with self-reports and self-ratings rather than any kind of objective measures. These issues were the central focus of the development of the Game Performance Assessment Battery (GamePAB; Chertoff, Jerome, Martin, & Knerr, 2008;Taylor, Singer, & Jerome, 2009).…”

“…The developers decided to use simulated tasks and related knowledge questions instantiated in the GamePAB (Chertoff, Jerome, Martin, & Knerr, 2008;Taylor, Singer, & Jerome, 2009) to quantify the gaming experience and skill of the exercise participants (trainees, role players, and controllers). While the system is still in development, it was used in these exercises to investigate possible differences between participating groups.…”

“…Game experience measure. The Game Experience Measure (GEM; Chertoff, et al, 2008; Appendix B) was developed to investigate participant's self-ratings of experiences with a wide range of games, and then to actually test their knowledge of games. The intent with this measure is to investigate the ratings of experience separately from an actual test of knowledge about specific game situations and controls from popularly rated games.…”

Evaluation of Wearable Simulation Interface for Military Training

“…The GEM was modified to assess the participant's knowledge of first-person shooter games specifically, in addition to the original measure of general video game experience and knowledge. Following these questionnaires, the participants completed the Game-Based Performance Assessment Battery (GamePAB; Chertoff, Jerome, Martin, & Knerr, 2008;Taylor et al, 2009), a measure of their video game skill.…”

The Play Experience Scale

“…Although there are measures of playfulness (i.e., the propensity of an individual to engage in play; Webster & Martocchio, 1992), and observational ratings scales for child play exist throughout the developmental literature (e.g., Knox, 1997), a self-report scale of play behavior is markedly absent. This gap is even more surprising given the recent surge in investigations into the science of games (e.g., Chertoff, Jerome, Martin, & Knerr, 2008;Cotton, Mayes, Jentsch, & Sims, 2001;Pavlas, Heyne, Bedwell, Lazzara, & Salas, 2010). Although the human factors community has embraced games for training (e.g., Gopher, Weil, & Bareket, 1994;Lampton, Bliss, Orvis, Kring, & Glenn, 2009) and examined the basic science of games, the field has not more closely examined the psychological correlates of game play.…”