Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Relationship Between the Seniors’ Appraisal of Cognitive-Training Games and Game-Related Stress Is Complex: A Mixed-Methods Study

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Book cover HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Papers: Universal Access and Inclusive Design (HCII 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12426))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

In this paper, we deploy and evaluate the potential of the Affective Game Planning for Health Applications (AGPHA) framework, that draws on Lazarus’ Appraisal Theory of Stress and Coping for evaluation of reflexive and reflexive response to a brain training game. Fourty two older adults (70.5 ± 4.5 years of age) took an electronic survey about attitude towards digital play. A smaller sample of this sample (n = 19) volunteered to participate in an experiment to play a simple brain training game (Simple MindGames) in a laboratory setting (PERFORM Centre, Montreal, Canada). The study was framed in a quantitative context and involved repeated measurements of physiological stress metrics (salivary cortisol, galvanic skin conductance, and heart rate). We found that those who participated in the experiment were less likely to consider digital games too hard to learn, age-inappropriate, or disruptive to real life. Physiological measures were correlated with some of game experience factors, namely perceived visual intensity of the games was correlated with cortisol levels (Spearman’s rho = 0.61, p < .01), and disliking the game was correlated with heart rate (rho = 0.47, p < .05) and EDA (rho = 0.53, p < .05). These physiological measures were indirectly linked to pre-playing assumptions about digital games being too hard to learn and disruptive to real life; and to the post-game assessment of the game as useless. Our findings underline the importance of appraisal factors that can make the experience of game playing stressful or enjoyable for older adults. Monitoring the primary appraisal factors, and iterative evaluation of secondary appraisal in different stages of game learning are important both in designing, and in clinical evaluation of games with expected health-related outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Marston, H.R., et al.: A scoping review of digital gaming research involving older adults aged 85 and older. Games Health J. 5(3), 157–174 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Marston, H.R., Smith, S.T.: Interactive videogame technologies to support independence in the elderly: a narrative review. Games Health J. 1(2), 139–152 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Loos, E., Kaufman, D.: Positive impact of exergaming on older adults’ mental and social well-being: in search of evidence. In: Zhou, J., Salvendy, G. (eds.) ITAP 2018. LNCS, vol. 10927, pp. 101–112. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92037-5_9

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  4. Khalili-Mahani, N., De Schutter, B.: Affective game planning for health applications: quantitative extension of gerontoludic design based on the appraisal theory of stress and coping. JMIR Serious Games 7(2), e13303 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Folkman, S., Lazarus, R.S.: The relationship between coping and emotion: implications for theory and research. Soc. Sci. Med. 26(3), 309–317 (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Cannon, W.B.: The Wisdom of the Body. W.W. Norton & Company, New York (1932). (xv p., 1 l., 19–312 p.)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Hubert, W., de Jong-Meyer, R.: Autonomic, neuroendocrine, and subjective responses to emotion-inducing film stimuli. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 11(2), 131–140 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Maguire, G.P., Maclean, A.W., Aitken, R.C.: Adaptation on repeated exposure to film-induced stress. Biol. Psychol. 1(1), 43–51 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Adamson, J.D., et al.: Physiological responses to sexual and unpleasant film stimuli. J. Psychosom. Res. 16(3), 153–162 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Goldstein, M.J., et al.: Coping style as a factor in psychophysiological response to a tension-arousing film. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 1, 290–302 (1965)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Carroll, D., et al.: Temporal consistency of individual differences in cardiac response to a video game. Biol. Psychol. 19(2), 81–93 (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Selye, H.: Stress and distress. Compr. Ther. 1(8), 9–13 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Mason, J.W.: A review of psychoendocrine research on the pituitary-adrenal cortical system. Psychosom. Med. 30(5), 576–607 (1968). (Suppl)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Dickerson, S.S., Kemeny, M.E.: Acute stressors and cortisol responses: a theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychol. Bull. 130(3), 355–391 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Lazarus, R.S.: Emotions and interpersonal relationships: toward a person-centered conceptualization of emotions and coping. J. Pers. 74(1), 9–46 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Lazarus, R.S., Folkman, S.: Stress, Appraisal, and Coping, vol xiii, 445 p. Springer, New York (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Larradet, F., Barresi, G., Mattos, L.S.: Effects of galvanic skin response feedback on user experience in gaze-controlled gaming: a pilot study. Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2017, 2458–2461 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Ortiz-Vigon Uriarte Ide, L., Garcia-Zapirain, B., Garcia-Chimeno, Y.: Game design to measure reflexes and attention based on biofeedback multi-sensor interaction. Sensors (Basel) 15(3), 6520–6548 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Mandryk, R.L., Inkpen, K.M., Calvert, T.W.: Using psychophysiological techniques to measure user experience with entertainment technologies. Behav. Inf. Technol. 25(2), 141–158 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Poels, K., et al.: Pleasure to play, arousal to stay: the effect of player emotions on digital game preferences and playing time. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 15(1), 1–6 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  21. van Reekum, C., et al.: Psychophysiological responses to appraisal dimensions in a computer game. Cogn. Emotion 18(5), 663–688 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Mandryk, R.L., Atkins, M.S.: A fuzzy physiological approach for continuously modeling emotion during interaction with play technologies. Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud. 65(4), 329–347 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Hébert, S., et al.: Physiological stress response to video-game playing: the contribution of built-in music. Life Sci. 76(20), 2371–2380 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Khalili-Mahani, N., et al.: Reflective and reflexive stress responses of older Adults to three gaming experiences in relation to their cognitive abilities: a mixed methods study. JMIR Ment. Health 7(3), e12388 (2020). https://doi.org/10.2196/12388

  25. Khalili-Mahani, N., et al.: For whom the games toll: a qualitative and intergenerational evaluation of what is serious in games for older adults. Computer Games (Special Issue: Intergenerational Games) (2020, submitted)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Schwarzer, R., Jerusalem, M.: Generalized self-efficacy scale, in measures in health psychology: a user’s portfolio. Causal Control Beliefs, pp. 35–37. NFER-NELSON: Windsor, England (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Russell, D., Peplau, L.A., Ferguson, M.L.: Developing a measure of loneliness. J. Pers. Assess. 42(3), 290–294 (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Hong, G.R., et al.: Reliability and validity of the Korean version of the perceived stress scale-10 (K-PSS-10) in older adults. Res. Gerontol. Nurs. 9(1), 45–51 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Khalili-Mahani, N., et al.: Hippocampal activation during a cognitive task is associated with subsequent neuroendocrine and cognitive responses to psychological stress. Hippocampus 20(2), 323–334 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Henckens, M.J., et al.: Interindividual differences in stress sensitivity: basal and stress-induced cortisol levels differentially predict neural vigilance processing under stress. Soc. Cogn. Affect Neurosci. 11(4), 663–673 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Drachen, A., et al.: Correlation between heart rate, electrodermal activity and player experience in first-person shooter games. In: Proceedings of the 5th ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Video Games - Sandbox 2010, pp. 49–54 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Kaufman, D., et al.: Older adults’ digital gameplay: patterns, benefits, and challenges. Simul. Gaming 47(4), 465–489 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  33. De Schutter, B.: Never too old to play: the appeal of digital games to an older audience. Games Cult. 6(2), 155–170 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  34. De Schutter, B., Malliet, S.: The older player of digital games: a classification based on perceived need satisfaction. Commun.-Eur. J. Commun. Res. 39(1), 67–87 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  35. De Schutter, B., Brown, J.A.: Digital games as a source of enjoyment in later life. Games Cult. 11(1–2), 28–52 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Narme, P.: Benefits of game-based leisure activities in normal aging and dementia. Geriatr. Psychol. Neuropsychiatr. Vieil. 14(4), 420–428 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  37. De Schutter, B., Abeele, V.V.: Towards a gerontoludic manifesto. Anthropol. Aging 36(2), 112 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Whitcomb, G.R.: Computer games for the elderly. SIGCAS Comput. Soc. 20(3), 112–115 (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Allaire, J.C., et al.: Successful aging through digital games: socioemotional differences between older adult gamers and non-gamers. Comput. Hum. Behav. 29(4), 1302–1306 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Whitlock, L.A., et al.: Older adults’ perception of the benefits associated with intervention-based video game play. Gerontologist 51, 40 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Boot, Walter R., Souders, D., Charness, N., Blocker, K., Roque, N., Vitale, T.: The gamification of cognitive training: older adults’ perceptions of and attitudes toward digital game-based interventions. In: Zhou, J., Salvendy, G. (eds.) ITAP 2016. LNCS, vol. 9754, pp. 290–300. Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39943-0_28

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  42. Deci, E.L., Ryan, R.M.: Intrinsic Motivation and Self-determination in Human Behavior, vol. xv, 371 p. Plenum, New York (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Csikszentmihalyi, M.: Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: (The Experience of Play in Work and Games), vol. xviii, 231 p. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, London (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Csikszentmihalyi, M.: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, p. 1. HarperCollins e-books, Pymble, NSW, New York (1990). (online resource)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Cacioppo, J.T., Tassinary, L.G., Berntson, G.G.: Handbook of Psychophysiology. Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, 4th edn, vol. xvi, 715 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Coughlan, G., et al.: Toward personalized cognitive diagnostics of at-genetic-risk Alzheimer’s disease. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116(19), 9285–9292 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Mandryk, R.L., Birk, M.V.: The potential of game-based digital biomarkers for modeling mental health. JMIR Ment. Health 6(4), e13485 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Gonzalez-Sanchez, J., et al.: Affect measurement: a roadmap through approaches, technologies, and data analysis. In: Emotions and Affect in Human Factors and Human-Computer Interaction, pp. 255–288 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This paper is part of an empirical investigation of Finding Better Games for Older Adults supported by the seed funding from Concordia University’s office of research and PERFORM Centre. We thank the following research assistants who were involved in data collection: Atousa Assadi, Mahsa Mirgholami, Kate Li and Anna Smirnova. Logistic support from McGill Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (mcin-cnim.ca), the Ageing + Communication + Technologies (ACT) network (http://actproject.ca/), and Technoculture, Arts and Games (TAG) Centre (tag.hexagram.ca) is acknowledged. We thank Ms Chloe Smith for proof-reading the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. PERFORM Centre, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Najmeh Khalili-Mahani

  2. McGill Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Najmeh Khalili-Mahani

  3. engAGE Centre for Studies in Aging, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Najmeh Khalili-Mahani & Kim Sawchuk

  4. Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA

    Bob de Schutter

  5. Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Kim Sawchuk

Authors
  1. Najmeh Khalili-Mahani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bob de Schutter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kim Sawchuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Najmeh Khalili-Mahani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Greece

    Constantine Stephanidis

  2. Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Greece

    Margherita Antona

  3. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Qin Gao

  4. Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

    Jia Zhou

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Khalili-Mahani, N., de Schutter, B., Sawchuk, K. (2020). The Relationship Between the Seniors’ Appraisal of Cognitive-Training Games and Game-Related Stress Is Complex: A Mixed-Methods Study. In: Stephanidis, C., Antona, M., Gao, Q., Zhou, J. (eds) HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Papers: Universal Access and Inclusive Design. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12426. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60149-2_45

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60149-2_45

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-60148-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-60149-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation