Assessing the Components of Skill
Necessary for Playing Video Games
Kent L. Norman
Department of Psychology
Laboratory for Automation Psychology and Decision Processes
and the
Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory
Summer Video Game Interns
and
Students in Psyc445: The Psychology of Video Games
HCIL Symposium May 23, 2012
Why Video Game Skills?
Video games to improve:
• Visual skills
• Attention skills
• Multitasking
• Spatial cognition
• Creativity
• Decision making
• Probabilistic inference
Why Video Game Skills?
• One fourth of the
variability in the video
game performance can be
predicted by measuring
the volume of certain
structures in their brains!
• Video game performance
correlated with
laparoscopic surgery
skills.
• Action video games train
the brain to better process
certain visual
information.
Measuring Video Game Skills?
No reliable, standardized method for
assessing the skills involved in playing video
games
This project has sought to
• develop an easy to use coding procedure
for video games
• explore its usefulness for both scientific
and industry purposes.
Video Game Skills: Study 1
• Skills were discussed and items generated by the participants
in a Summer Video Game Internship.
• 24 items were used
– Each item stated a skill or ability required for playing a
video game and was associated with a 9-point Likert scale
with the end points “Not necessary” and “Very necessary.”
– For each of the following indicate the extent to which the
skill or ability is necessary in the game
• Participants entered the name of the game they rated, and
additional comments about the game.
Results: Study 1
• A total of 79 games were rated, several games being rated
twice or more.
• A Factor Analysis suggested the following factors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Factor 1: Perceptual-Motor Abilities
Factor 2: Cognitive-Verbal Abilities;
Factor 3: Problem-Solving Abilities,
Factor 4: Information Utilization Abilities
Factor 5: Persistence
Factor 6: Human-Human Interaction.
Games were clustered by genre to see how the skill profiles differed.
-2
-1
0
+1
+2 Standardized Factor Scores
Study 2
• From the comments about games in Study 1, six items were
added to the coding scheme.
• Students in Psyc 445 were asked to code 5 games that they
were familiar with.
• The study was posted online:
– Game forums
– Facebook game pages
– Created a Facebook event for friends to participate as well
• About 100 different games were coded.
• A total of 335 codings were recorded.
A Factor Analysis revealed 7 factors that could be
labeled as:
Motor Coordination
Verbal Understanding
Manage Resources
Observation, Looking Around
Creativity and Problem Solving
Human-Human Interaction
Persistence
Results: Study 2
We choose 6 games that required different skills
from among all of the games coded.
– Assassin’s Creed (Action Adventure)
– Angry Birds (Puzzle)
– Mario Kart (Racing)
– Professor Layton (Puzzle Adventure)
– Dance Central (Music Rhythm)
– Final Fantasy (RPG)
100.00
Results
90.00
Final Fantasy
Standardized Factor Scores
80.00
Assassins
70.00
Dance Central
Angry Birds
60.00
Assassins
50.00
Angry Birds
Mario Kart
40.00
Dance Central
Final Fantasy
Mario Kart
Prof Layton
30.00
20.00
10.00
Prof Layton
0.00
Assassins Creed
• Observation -Assessing ones
environment and
finding the enemy
• Coordination -Moving the
character around
• Resource -Weapon choice
• Persistence -Defeating the game
• Verbal:
Understanding
commands and
instructions
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
70.00
*Human-Human
interaction: The
interaction with other
people playing the
game (team members
or opponents). *
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
*Persistence: refers
primarily to the player’s
patience to continue
through parts of the
game that may be
difficult or boring. *
20.00
10.00
0.00
Mario Kart
70.00
Coordination: Steering
the kart.
Verbal Minimal
Resources: Selecting
karts and characters and
managing bombs.
Observation: of other
racers
Creativity: Minimal
Human-Human
Interaction: Multi-player
competition.
Persistence: to finish and
win.
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
Professor Layton
Puzzle/adventure games
• Coordination: None. All puzzles are
turn based
• Verbal: Puzzles explained with text
instructions
• Resources: Must manage hint coins
• Observation: Hidden hint coins in
the environment
• Creativity: Puzzles require you to
think critically and in unobvious
ways
• Human-Human: No multiplayer or
human interaction
• Persistence: Puzzles are often
difficult
100.00
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
Dance Central (XBOX 360 Kinect)
Kinect tracks body
movements
• Coordination: Have to
follow along (mimic)
with the moves in
game and dance to the
beat
• Observation: Watching
dance moves
• Persistence: To get it
right.
Final Fantasy
Games included in survey
1. Final fantasy IV
2. Final Fantasy VI
3. Final Fantasy VII
4. Final Fantasy VIII
5. Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy Results
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Coordination: Minimal.
Verbal/ Comprehension:
Players must be able to read
and understand dialogue.
Observation: Unlike other
RPGs it does not require
movement in an open world.
Creativity: Variety of
weapons, armor, magic and
summon creatures to defeat
their enemy.
Human Interaction: None. It
is a single player game.
Persistence: Requies patience
to continue through boring or
difficult parts
Resources: Player manages
items ( like potions) through
the inventory.
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
Conclusions
• Profiles of video games reveal great
differences in the skill sets necessary to
perform well.
• The skill profile of a particular game reveals
interesting aspects of the game that can be
mapped to game play and features of the game.
Future Development
• Focus more on specific games (diverse
genres); more data and therefore more
generalizability
– Include as a part of game reviews
– Help to define game genres
• Implications for application of skills
– Learning/improving skills from video games?
– Game recommendation by proficiency
All of those who contributed to this work
Undergraduate and Graduate
Research Assistants
Summer Video Game Interns
Psyc 445 Video Game Class
Psyc 445 Team 5