A course that examines spatial cognition and comprehension in gaming will likely be offered again, assuming a favorable roll of the dice
“The games are our prompts for discussion,” Holly Taylor said. “I can't think of a single game where there's not some cognitive processes at play.” Photo: Shutterstock
Growing up, Holly Taylor loved playing games: card games, board games, the prehistoric video game Pong. As an adult, she still enjoys playing games with her family, from the social word game Codenames to the railway-themed Ticket to Ride and the video game Mario Kart.
In the advanced undergraduate seminar Cognition: Games People Play, Taylor, a professor of psychology and mechanical engineering, combines her love of games with teaching.
“As a cognitive psychologist, I'm always thinking about what cognitive processes are going on,” she said. “What are you learning? What are you learning about your other players? And how can this be potentially applied to other real-world settings?”
Ready Player One
The class focuses on understanding both the cognitive processes that come into play and how gaming can change cognitive processing. Students play games in small groups to explore what might be happening in the mind. For example, a classic matching game where players must flip over tiles to find pairs relies on spatial memory.
A game like Tetris tests spatial estimation and hand-eye coordination. Word games stretch semantic network and memory. A card trick-taking game involves strategic thinking.
More complex narrative role-playing games, such as Dungeons & Dragons, involve decision-making and empathic thinking. (Taylor may even use the collaborative simulation game Pandemic, which requires group strategic thinking to stop a worldwide disease outbreak. Too soon?)
“The games are our prompts for discussion,” Taylor said. “I can't think of a single game where there's not some cognitive processes at play.”
Game On
The course will also look at the gamification of education (a current trend that uses game elements such as point scoring and competition to improve classroom engagement); how an AI plays a game like Go compared with people to show how human cognition affects strategy; and how games can be used to teach cognitive skills. Minecraft and Tetris are perfect for honing spatial thinking, for example, which underlies STEM success.
For their final projects, students will design a game that should consider such factors as age level, which cognitive processes it engages, and whether it’s cooperative or competitive.
“In the end, I hope that students will reflect more often and, somewhat deeper, about what's going on in their minds as they're going through the world,” Taylor said, whether that’s playing games with friends or engaging in a school or workplace project. “There's rarely a moment when we're not processing information in some way,” she said. “And stopping to reflect on that can bring some awareness and make us think about what has influenced what we're doing.”
