Multi-player online video games for cognitive rehabilitation by Jason Colman

1. Jason Colman
ITAG 2013 Presentation
17 October 2013

2. Investigating
Multi Player Online
Video Games
for Brain Injured People
Jason Colman

3. Hello
I'm Jason Colman
I'm a PhD student at the School of Computing,
University of Portsmouth, UK
My supervisors:
Dr Paul Gnanayutham
Dr Jim Briggs
Dr Louise Turner
Dr Alice Good

4. In this presentation...
I will describe a pilot experiment
designed to find out if a
multi-player online video game
could provide a form of cognitive therapy
for people who have a brain injury.

5. Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that
Multi-player online video games can provide
a form of cognitive therapy for brain-injured
people

6. I'll Talk About...
Background
Method
Results
Discussion
Next steps

7. Background

8. Established
video game
therapies
Cognitive and
emotional
rehab
connected
Quality of
life
dependent
on social
network
Loneline
ss
Playing a
multi-player online
game could provide a
form of cognitive
therapy, due to the
social interactions
it fosters
Neuroplastic
ity
Social
features
of
MMOs

9. Method

10. Participants
Participants recruited from support groups
n = 3 brain-injured participants
10 Other volunteers

11. Experimental Design
Single subject (“n = 1”) research design
Time series data
The intervention is introduced, then removed
Each participant is their own control
Multiple participants improves external
validity

12. Procedure

13. Game Design

14. Integrated Cognitive Tests
Stroop tests
Trail-making tests
Reaction time test

15. Results

16. Ideal Results

18. Actual Results
There was an overall improvement in reaction
time, but not between “game” and “no
game” weeks
No consistent improvement in Stroop test or
Trail-Making test results in “game” weeks

20. Discussion
Tricky to get all participants logged in at the
same time
Tricky to recruit the participants who might
benefit most
Best values for experimental parameters are
not known

21. Next Steps
Recruit more participants
Maybe adjust experimental parameters, such
as phase duration
More game features to encourage
communication and collaboration
Different genres, which could be turn-based
Case studies

22. Last Word…
It is not easy to induce perceptual or
cognitive changes through video games…
(Green & Bavelier, 2006)
But it’s worth persevering, as the potential
gain is a new kind of therapy for braininjured people.
Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2006). The cognitive neuroscience of video games.
Digital media: Transformations in human communication , pp. 211-223

23. Thanks!
Hypothesis is Multi-player online video
games can provide a form of cognitive
therapy for brain-injured people
www.amju.com/mygame
@VidGameTherapy