A Study in the Correlation Between Cognitive Tests and Cognitive Games

Halley Pollock Muskin, Laura Chaddock, Pauline Baniqued, Aubrey Lutz, and Laura OKeeffe under the supervision of Prof. Art Kramer
University Laboratory High School and the Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Introduction
It is generally assumed that there is a correlation between cognitive tests and cognitive games, specifically that the ability to do well in cognitive games means that the person will likely perform well on cognitive tests. This idea can be observed with computer games that help people develop memory skills. However, it is not known how closely related are the ability to do well on cognitive tests and the ability to do well in cognitive games. An ongoing study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign hopes to uncover a value indicating the correlation between these. This is an initial study that uses the same tests that Timothy Salthouse used in a cognitive aging lab. Roughly 3,800 adults from ages18 to 98 years have participated in his study, which seeks to understand how age affects cognitive abilities. The aim of the study at the University of Illinois is to explore overlaps between cognitive tests and cognitive games. A website called Cognitiveme.com categorizes games based on which cognitive abilities they tap. The researchers are using games from this site for the cognitive game sessions and are focusing on four categories of working memory, attention, speed of processing, and executive control.

Method
Adults aged 18-30 years take cognitive tests for the first three sessions and then play games that tap cognitive abilities for the last five sessions. The tests are performed on computers using programs and with pencil and paper. Tests include repeating lists and indicating whether strings of letters are the same or different. Each subject must be a US citizen, must be right handed, and English must be their native language. The subjects cannot be colorblind, cannot have a major medical condition, cannot have taken medication or have been hospitalized for a psychological condition, and cannot play video games often. Subjects take tests ranging from repeating lists to indicating whether two strings of letters were the same or different during the first three sessions. For the last five sessions, subjects play games that tap cognitive abilities.

Tests
There are eight sessions in total that the subjects participate in. Subjects play each game for twenty minutes. There are four cognitive games played each game session. Games are recorded on the computer using a program called CamStudio. They are later coded so that they can be compared with each other and the cognitive tests.

This was another game the subjects played, called Sushi-GoRound. It tapped speed of processing, memory, and attention.

Conclusions
Because this study is preliminary and ongoing, results have not yet been analyzed or published. I greatly enjoyed running subjects, however, and working with I-STEM. This was an amazing opportunity during which I learned a lot about how psychological testing and research are performed. Because of this experience, I have begun to consider a career in psychology. I find it interesting that researchers thought to look for an exact value or correlation between cognitive tests and cognitive games. I enjoyed this experience immensely and would definitely do it again.

Silversphere, another game played by the subjects.

Aim (or Purpose)

The aim of this study is to find whether there is a correlation between cognitive tests and cognitive gameswhether subjects who do well in one area of cognitive testing also do well in the same area of cognitive games. The results will be used to determine on how closely these categories are linked. Because this is an initial study future testing and studies will be needed. A possible study is to have subjects take cognitive tests at the beginning and end of the study to measure results. Subjects in that study would play cognitive games for a longer period of time than in the initial study to discover whether playing games improved the subjects abilities to do well on cognitive tests. An aim for the current study is to test 220 subjects and examine correlations between the performances on the cognitive tests and cognitive games.
Captions set in a serif style font such as Times, 18 to 24 size, italic style.

Acknowledgments

An example of one of the games the subjects played, Oddball. A screenshot of one of the levels in Silversphere.