Episode 37: Hooked on Mnemonics

How can some people remember scores of digits at a time or repeat back all the cards in a shuffled deck? Do they have exceptional memories? Is it a party trick? Or, is there something more? Game References Chess, En … Continue reading →

It’s time to dive in and finally have an in-depth discussion of working memory! Game References Carcassonne, River Valley Glassworks, Tetris, That’s Not a Hat, Wandering Towers, Wilmot’s Warehouse Research References Baddeley, A. (1992). Working memory. Science, 255(5044), 556-559. Baddeley, A. D., … Continue reading →

It’s a bird, it’s a…yeah, it is a plane! Oh, and also a Tower? We are back with a cognalysis of two games, Sky Team, fresh off its Spiel des Jahres win, and also Wandering Towers. Game References Hanabi, Sky … Continue reading →

As humans, we can think about our own thinking. This is referred to as metacognition, and can provide great insight into game playing and life in general. Game References Dominion, Dungeons and Dragons, League of Legends, Magic, poker, Rear Window … Continue reading →

This episode considers how best to learn and teach games. Are there particular techniques that enables people to learn games more quickly and efficiently, and that also results in a longer memory for those rules? Game References Fog of Love, … Continue reading →

When processing information, humans use both the information coming through our senses and previously stored knowledge. This is referred to as bottom-up versus top-down processing. This podcast explores how this occurs when we play games. Game References Paranormal Detective Research … Continue reading →

Show Notes When playing games, we find it useful to consider what other players know, and how that affects game play. Psychologists study theory of mind, our concept of what other people know. Dr. Jennifer Blessing and I discuss how … Continue reading →

I ruminate on playing games online and how that relates to both game and interface design, as well as how humans experience emotion. This has ties to me planning to teach my Cognition of Game Playing as an online class … Continue reading →

In talking about a game, we almost always make references to past games in order to describe or teach the new game. What does cognitive psychology have to say about analogy use, in terms of how prevalent and useful it … Continue reading →

What happens, cognitively speaking, as we move from novice to expert in a game? The episode examines changes in memory and strategy as people gain experience not only games, but in other mental and physical activities as well. Game References … Continue reading →