The goal of the Match-3 puzzle was to find configurations (target patterns) that could be turned into a row of 3 identical game objects (tiles) by swapping 2 adjacent tiles. The goal of the research was to test the feasibility of eye tracking during a puzzle game and develop adjunct markers for cognitive performance using eye-tracking metrics.Ī desktop version of the Match-3 puzzle game with 15 difficulty levels was developed using Unity 3D (Unity Technologies). Eye tracking provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of gaze, which is highly useful in understanding visual search behavior. They may help mediate impairments seen in cognitive decline in addition to being an assessment tool. Recent studies suggest that computerized puzzle games are enjoyable, easy to play, and engage attentional, visuospatial, and executive functions. For further information on data collected in the Search & Match Task, see the Search & Match Task Instruction file. Performance data was recorded at move level (Output). Trials were programmed such that after each refill there was only 1 single target pattern. After swapping each target pattern (Game -match), the tiles are removed and replaced with new tiles (Game -refill).
NUMBER FILL IN PUZZLE 001 TRIAL
A trial consists of 4 consecutive puzzle boards with 1 single target pattern (Game -search). For each difficulty level, playable trials were pregenerated as text files (Input). (2) Generation of playable trials for each difficulty level. Examples are shown for width and height ranging from 4 to 8, with height and width set fixed at a value of 4. For each set size, distractor heterogeneity was manipulated from 4 to the maximum value of either height or width. Difficulty levels were first generated by creating combinations of puzzle board with widths and heights ranging from 4 to 8. (1) Difficulty parameters and difficulty levels include the set size, ie, height and width of the puzzle board, and distractor heterogeneity, ie, the number of different types of colored shapes. A PsychoPy version of the SMT is freely available for researchers.ĭifficulty parameters and development of the search & match task. Further research is needed to evaluate the potential of the SMT game to assess and practice visual search ability in an enjoyable and adaptive way. Overall, this study shows that an everyday puzzle game-based task can be experimentally controlled, is enjoyable and user-friendly, and permits data collection to assess visual search and cognitive abilities. Results further indicate that search performance is associated with general cognitive ability, selective and divided attention, visual search, and visuospatial and pattern recognition ability. Results from the user study indicate that the target search time is associated with set size, distractor heterogeneity, and age. Participants rated their perception and the usability of the task and completed neuropsychological tests that measure cognitive domains engaged by the puzzle game. In a user study with 28 young adults (aged 18 to 31 years), 13 older (aged 64 to 79 years) and 11 oldest (aged 86 to 98 years) adults played the long (young and older adults) or short version (oldest adults) of the difficulty levels of the SMT.
For each puzzle board, there is exactly 1 possible match (single target search). Each trial consists of 4 consecutive puzzle boards, where the goal of the task is to find a target tile configuration (search) on the puzzle board and swap 2 adjacent tiles to create a line of 3 identical tiles (match). For each difficulty level, large numbers of playable trials were pregenerated using Python. A wide range of difficulty levels was generated by combinations of 3 task variables over a range from 4 to 8 including height and width of the puzzle board (set size) and the numbers of tile types (distractor heterogeneity). The SMT is played on a grid-based (width × height) puzzle board, filled with different types of colored polygons. The SMT was designed as a single-target visual search task that allows control over task difficulty variables and collection of performance data. The aim of this study was to develop and initially validate the search and match task (SMT) that combines an enjoyable tile-matching match-3 puzzle video game with features of the visual search paradigm (taskified game). However, commercial puzzle video games make it hard to control task difficulty, and there are little means to collect performance data. For practical use, it is important that visual search ability can be assessed and practiced in a controlled and adaptive way. Recent studies suggest that visual search can be improved with practice using computerized visual search tasks and puzzle video games. Visual search declines with aging, dementia, and brain injury and is linked to limitations in everyday activities.
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