The Impact of Competition on the Effectiveness of Cognitive Games

Video game cognitive training has been at the forefront of cognitive therapy and empowerment in the last decade. However, most cognitive video games lack the attractiveness of entertainment video games. Consequently, there has been limited use of these cognitive video games. In this paper, we investigate the effect of using the competition gamification element to improve the attractiveness of cognitive games. Two competitive environments, i.e., face-to-face and leaderboard-based environments, are implemented and tested on two cognitive video games. The effects of these environments, compared to the basic environment of playing cognitive video games, are evaluated through a questionnaire and analyzing the performance of the players in the games. The results show a significant difference between the competitive environments and the basic ones in several criteria. Also, the anxiety of the players in the competitive environments is evaluated, showing no significant effect on the players. The results suggest that using competition may increase the use of cognitive video games and increase their effect on cognitive factors.