Not Just Childish Games: an Exploration of Different Game-Based Assessments and Discussion of Gamification in Clinical Pediatric Populations

Gamified cognitive tasks are less monotonous and more effective at drawing people’s attention when compared to traditional tasks. As such, they may provide more useful and higher quality data when studying cognitive attention processes, especially in children. This proof-of-concept mixed model study examines two remotely administered gamified Stop-Signal Tasks in a clinical pediatric population. Ten children with traumatic brain injury (mean age 12.16 years, range 7–18 years; 50% male) completed ten gamified Stop Signal Task training sessions over two weeks as part of an at-home neuromodulation intervention. The gamified tasks were structurally identical (i.e., both tasks measure reactive response inhibition and the underlying stop-signal task structure is identical) differing only in the mode of presentation: one being an “infinite runner” game in which the player has to lead a fairy through an enchanted forest, and the other a food-sorting game requiring the participant to make quick decisions about the food items presented. Quantitative performance data and qualitative participant feedback were collected. The order of the two games was presented to participants in a counterbalanced fashion. Despite the tasks being structurally similar, and measuring the same construct, participant performance differed between the two tasks. A key factor for this difference in performance was likely driven by self-reported differences in motivation. This study highlights a potential lack of equivalency between different gamified tasks which measure the same construct. Motivational factors alongside differences in game elements may play a role, highlighting the need to tailor game elements to each individual to maximize motivation.