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      Interactive Block Games for Assessing Children's Cognitive Skills: Design and Preliminary Evaluation

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          Abstract

          Background: This paper presents design and results from preliminary evaluation of Tangible Geometric Games (TAG-Games) for cognitive assessment in young children. The TAG-Games technology employs a set of sensor-integrated cube blocks, called SIG-Blocks, and graphical user interfaces for test administration and real-time performance monitoring. TAG-Games were administered to children from 4 to 8 years of age for evaluating preliminary efficacy of this new technology-based approach.

          Methods: Five different sets of SIG-Blocks comprised of geometric shapes, segmented human faces, segmented animal faces, emoticons, and colors, were used for three types of TAG-Games, including Assembly, Shape Matching, and Sequence Memory. Computational task difficulty measures were defined for each game and used to generate items with varying difficulty. For preliminary evaluation, TAG-Games were tested on 40 children. To explore the clinical utility of the information assessed by TAG-Games, three subtests of the age-appropriate Wechsler tests (i.e., Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, and Picture Concept) were also administered.

          Results: Internal consistency of TAG-Games was evaluated by the split-half reliability test. Weak to moderate correlations between Assembly and Block Design, Shape Matching and Matrix Reasoning, and Sequence Memory and Picture Concept were found. The computational measure of task complexity for each TAG-Game showed a significant correlation with participants' performance. In addition, age-correlations on TAG-Game scores were found, implying its potential use for assessing children's cognitive skills autonomously.

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          The Raven's progressive matrices: change and stability over culture and time.

          J Raven (2000)
          Data relating to the stability and variation in the norms for the Raven's Progressive Matrices Test (a well-validated measure of basic cognitive functioning) for different cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups on a worldwide and within-country basis are first summarized. Subsequent sections deal with variation over time. A possible explanation for the variation in norms over time and between ethnic groups within countries is offered. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.
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            Pervasive developmental disorders in preschool children: confirmation of high prevalence.

            The rate of reported pervasive developmental disorders has increased, and the authors found a rate of 62.6 per 10,000 in a previous study of preschoolers in Stafford, U.K. They conducted another survey in 2002 to estimate the prevalence in children in a later birth cohort and to compare it to previous findings from the same area. Screening for developmental problems included 10,903 children ages 4.0 to 6.0 years who were living in a Midlands town on the survey date. Children with symptoms suggestive of pervasive developmental disorders were intensively assessed by a multidisciplinary team using standardized diagnostic interviews, psychometric tests, and medical workups. Sixty-four children (85.9% boys) were diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders. The prevalence was 58.7 per 10,000, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 45.2-74.9, for all pervasive developmental disorders, 22.0 per 10,000 (95% CI=14.1-32.7) for autistic disorder, and 36.7 per 10,000 (95% CI=26.2-49.9) for other variants. These rates were not significantly different from the previous rates. The mean age at diagnosis was 37.8 months, and 53.1% of the children were originally referred by health visitors. Of the 64 children with pervasive developmental disorders, 29.8% had mental retardation, but this rate varied by disorder subtype. Few children had associated medical conditions. The rate of pervasive developmental disorders is higher than reported 15 years ago. The rate in this study is comparable to that in previous birth cohorts from the same area and surveyed with the same methods, suggesting a stable incidence.
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              Gamification of Cognitive Assessment and Cognitive Training: A Systematic Review of Applications and Efficacy

              Background Cognitive tasks are typically viewed as effortful, frustrating, and repetitive, which often leads to participant disengagement. This, in turn, may negatively impact data quality and/or reduce intervention effects. However, gamification may provide a possible solution. If game design features can be incorporated into cognitive tasks without undermining their scientific value, then data quality, intervention effects, and participant engagement may be improved. Objectives This systematic review aims to explore and evaluate the ways in which gamification has already been used for cognitive training and assessment purposes. We hope to answer 3 questions: (1) Why have researchers opted to use gamification? (2) What domains has gamification been applied in? (3) How successful has gamification been in cognitive research thus far? Methods We systematically searched several Web-based databases, searching the titles, abstracts, and keywords of database entries using the search strategy (gamif* OR game OR games) AND (cognit* OR engag* OR behavi* OR health* OR attention OR motiv*). Searches included papers published in English between January 2007 and October 2015. Results Our review identified 33 relevant studies, covering 31 gamified cognitive tasks used across a range of disorders and cognitive domains. We identified 7 reasons for researchers opting to gamify their cognitive training and testing. We found that working memory and general executive functions were common targets for both gamified assessment and training. Gamified tests were typically validated successfully, although mixed-domain measurement was a problem. Gamified training appears to be highly engaging and does boost participant motivation, but mixed effects of gamification on task performance were reported. Conclusions Heterogeneous study designs and typically small sample sizes highlight the need for further research in both gamified training and testing. Nevertheless, careful application of gamification can provide a way to develop engaging and yet scientifically valid cognitive assessments, and it is likely worthwhile to continue to develop gamified cognitive tasks in the future.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Pediatr
                Front Pediatr
                Front. Pediatr.
                Frontiers in Pediatrics
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                2296-2360
                08 May 2018
                2018
                : 6
                : 111
                Affiliations
                [1] 1Distributed Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, OH, United States
                [2] 2Department of Pediatrics (Secondary), Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, OH, United States
                [3] 3Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, OH, United States
                Author notes

                Edited by: Fleur Heleen Boot, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

                Reviewed by: Bryan Boyle, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland; Ashley Aubree Williams, New Heights Behavioral Health, A Service of The Resource Exchange, United States

                *Correspondence: Kiju Lee kiju.lee@ 123456case.edu

                This article was submitted to Child Health and Human Development, a section of the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics

                Article
                10.3389/fped.2018.00111
                5952416
                29868520
                ff332181-db93-478e-9abf-5eedb528fda3
                Copyright © 2018 Lee, Jeong, Schindler, Hlavaty, Gross and Short.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 31 October 2017
                : 03 April 2018
                Page count
                Figures: 9, Tables: 5, Equations: 2, References: 34, Pages: 12, Words: 7297
                Funding
                Funded by: National Science Foundation 10.13039/100000001
                Award ID: 1109270
                Award ID: 1445012
                Categories
                Pediatrics
                Original Research

                block games,cognitive assessment,block design test,technology-based assessment,child development

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