Strategy variability: How too much of a good thing can hurt performance

Hansberger, Jeffrey T.; Schunn, Christian D.; Holt, Robert W.

doi:10.3758/bf03195928

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(54 reference statements)

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“…Another situation in which the game is fundamental is when existing video games (such as Tetris and Madden) are used to explore cognition (Hansberger, Schunn, & Holt, 2006;Kirsh & Maglio, 1994;Maglio, Wenger, & Copeland, 2008). Some researchers extend this approach by using the development engines of various games to create gamelike environments for the exploration of spatial cognition and social behavior (Alloway, Corley, & Ramscar, 2006;Drury et al, 2009;Frey, Hartig, Ketzel, Zinkernagel, & Moosbrugger, 2007;Gunzelmann & Anderson, 2006;Hutcheson & Wedell, 2009;Radvansky & Copeland, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gamelike features might not improve data

et al. 2012

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Many psychological experiments require participants to complete lots of trials in a monotonous task, which often induces boredom. An increasingly popular approach to alleviate such boredom is to incorporate gamelike features into standard experimental tasks. Games are assumed to be interesting and, hence, motivating, and better motivated participants might produce better data (with fewer lapses in attention and greater accuracy). Despite its apparent prevalence, the assumption that gamelike features improve data is almost completely untested. We test this assumption by presenting a choice task and a change detection task in both gamelike and standard forms. Response latency, accuracy, and overall task performance were unchanged by gamelike features in both experiments. We present a novel cognitive model for the choice task, based on particle filtering, to decorrelate the dependent variables and measure performance in a more psychologically meaningful manner. The model-based analyses are consistent with the hypothesis that gamelike features did not alter cognition. A postexperimental questionnaire indicated that the gamelike version provided a more positive and enjoyable experience for participants than the standard task, even though this subjective experience did not translate into data effects. Although our results hold only for the two experiments examined, the gamelike features we incorporated into both tasks were typical of-and at least as salient and interesting as those usually used by-experimental psychologists. Our results suggest that modifying an experiment to include gamelike features, while leaving the basic task unchanged, may not improve the quality of the data collected, but it may provide participants with a better experimental experience.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gamelike features might not improve data

et al. 2012

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“…3. Example Multi-dimensional scaling from the Sammon mapping indicating a distinct cluster of players (3,6,8,9,21) While the non-linear projection associated with the Sammon mapping is difficult to correlate with the original variables it is extremely useful for the type of exploratory analysis we wanted to perform. Once we identified two possible player clusters we then used further interactive visualization software to analyze the players in terms of response times, success rates and the total number of hits (see Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed a number of studies have used existing games such as Tetris and Madden to explore aspects of cognition [6,7,8]. Game engines have also been used to support studies in spatial cognition and social behavior [9,10,11,12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Player Strategies in the Design of a Hot Hand Game

Williams¹,

Nesbitt²,

Eidels³

et al. 2013

GSTF J Comput

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Abstract-The user's strategy and their approach to decisionmaking are two important concerns when designing user-centric software. While decision-making and strategy are key factors in a wide range of business systems from stock market trading to medical diagnosis, in this paper we focus on the role these factors play in a serious computer game. Players may adopt individual strategies when playing a computer game. Furthermore, different approaches to playing the game may impact on the effectiveness of the core mechanics designed into the game play. In this paper we investigate player strategy in relation to two serious games designed for studying the 'hot hand'. The 'hot hand' is an interesting psychological phenomenon originally studied in sports such as basketball. The study of 'hot hand' promises to shed further light on cognitive decision-making tasks applicable to domains beyond sport. The 'hot hand' suggests that players sometimes display above average performance, get on a hot streak, or develop 'hot hands'. Although this is a widely held belief, analysis of data in a number of sports has produced mixed findings. While this lack of evidence may indicate belief in the hot hand is a cognitive fallacy, alternate views have suggested that the player's strategy, confidence, and risk-taking may account for the difficulty of measuring the hot hand. Unfortunately, it is difficult to objectively measure and quantify the amount of risk taking in a sporting contest. Therefore to investigate this phenomenon more closely we developed novel, tailor-made computer games that allow rigorous empirical study of 'hot hands'. The design of such games has some specific design requirements. The gameplay needs to allow players to perform a sequence of repeated challenges, where they either fail or succeed with about equal likelihood. Importantly the design also needs to allow players to choose a strategy entailing more or less risk in response to their current performance. In this paper we compare two hot hand game designs by collecting empirical data that captures player performance in terms of success and level of difficulty (as gauged by response time). We then use a variety of analytical and visualization techniques to study player strategies in these games. This allows us to detect a key design flaw the first game and validate the design of the second game for use in further studies of the hot hand phenomenon.

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“…However, many published qualitative studies have used similar, or even fewer participant numbers. For example, Buttler and Lukosch (2012); Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2001); and Hansberger, Schunn, & Holt (2006), had respective sample sizes of 5, 23, and 13.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the function of online narratives to develop critical thinking and localisation of knowledge in an international science program

Hicks¹,

Tham²,

Brookes³

2016

Brit J Educational Tech

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e-learning practitioners have long recognised the benefits of using online training to achieve knowledge transfer, less is understood about facilitating the sharing of values, attitudes, critical thinking, and localisation using online platforms. In this article an online learning platform in the context of an international scientific program was evaluated. The platform uses a narrative approach to convey stories with the explicit aim of developing critical thinking and localisation. The platform embeds formative assessment within the stories to transfer the tacit understandings of the program to project site staff. Some of the challenges this approach encounters, particularly with regard to the expression of localisation was explored.

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Strategy variability: How too much of a good thing can hurt performance

Cited by 10 publications

References 33 publications

Gamelike features might not improve data

Gamelike features might not improve data

Evaluating Player Strategies in the Design of a Hot Hand Game

Exploring the function of online narratives to develop critical thinking and localisation of knowledge in an international science program

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