Brain training 2 go is an Android application that aims to give users a quick and handy brain training gym from the comfort of their phones.
The application is intended to be used for psychological research, where data can be collected on the users/subjects over time to measure their progress on small tasks.
Read more about the 'Feasibility of mobile applications for psychological research' here
The three tasks being studied on the first version of BT2G are:
- Multitasking
- Visual Searching
- Visuo-spacial Memory
The instructions for the specific tasks were taken from psytoolkit
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Laura Hernandez
Dillon Larson
Jiawei Su
If you are a total beginner to this, start here!
- Download the APK here
- Run the APK on your simulator or Android phone.
- Sign up with your email.
- Choose the task you want to perform.
- Read the descriptions and instructions very carefully, as data for psychological research is being collected as you play.
- After finishing the task, you will be able to see the data collected.
- The application will continue to collect data as you continue to play.
- You will be able to see your progress in every task.
Instructions for the specific tasks are both in the application and here.
It is estimated tha 91% of adults in the United States keep their mobile devices within arm's reach which gives them acces to the internet anywhere and at most times of their day. Most of the users in the world have an Android device, with 71.99% of the worldwide market share.
With these statistics in mind, using mobile devices to conduct experiments can increase the capacity of extensive data collection, as well as making it more efficient, as the data is ready to be interpreted by the researchers. Being able to study the ability of subjects to perform the different tasks in different settings can be very valuable.
Brain Trining 2 Go aims to bring the research lab to the subject's everyday life, where they can perform the experiments at different times of their day, in different environemnts. The data of the environment can then be added as part of the research to gain a deeper understanding on the data.
Read more about the 'Feasibility of mobile applications for psychological research' here
The following subsections will describe the instructions and goals of each game.
The multitasking experiment looks to compare the subjects performance when doing one task compared to when two tasks are mixed.
Multitasking is important to carrying out multiple everyday tasks, such as driving while talking on the phone, or carrying out the multiple rapid sequntial tasks in a specific order when cooking.
The task implemented is modeled to the one used on the paper 'Are women better than men at multitasking?' Read the paper here
The subject is shown a set of four figures in sequential trials.
The shapes will be shown sequentially in two areas, and the user will be asked to classify them depending on where the figures appear and which type of shape they are by tapping two buttons.
- While performing the shape block, the user will have to classify the shapes by the outer shape only.
- While performing the filling block, the user will have to classify the shapes by the inside filling of the shape only.
- When performing the mixed task, they will have to classify them by both, depending if the shape appears at the top or the bottom of the scree.
When the user answers wrong, it will be taken to a timeout where the instructions will be shown for a few seconds.
The application will first take the user through a practice round of 5 rounds of each task. When the practice round is done, it will then start the data collection portion where the user will go through the 3 tasks for 10 rounds. At the end, the user will be able to see their results for this round, and will be able to navigate to see their progress in this experiment.
The experiment was modeled after the 'Multitasking Experiment' explained in the psytoolkit website. see here
Visual search is the common task of looking for something in a cluttered visual environment. The item that the observer is searching for is termed the target, while non-target items are termed distractors.
This function is useful for looking for an object in a cluttered space quickly like keys on the table before leaving or finding a friend in a large crowd of people
The task was modeled after the paper 'Color coding in a visual search task.' Read more here
- The goal is to find the orange T as fast as possible.
- There will be blut Ts and upside down orange Ts to distract the subject
- If theres an orange T, the subject must tap the 'Found it' button, else, tap on the 'No Orange T' button.
The images look like so:
The experiment was modeled after the 'Visual Search Experiment' explained in the psytoolkit website. see here
Visuospatial function is the cognitive processes necessary to "identify, integrate, and analyze space and visual form, details, structure and spatial relations" in more than one dimension.
The game concentration is a type of visuo-spatial memory task that involves recalling and manipulating images to keep track of the location of moving objects.
This function is useful for recalling when the user last saw something in a cluttered space, or for better letter/number recognition when reading or performing arithmetic tasks.
The task implemented is modeled to the one used on the paper 'A Species Difference in Visuospatial Memory in Adult Humans and Rhesus Monkeys: The Concentration Game' Read the paper here
- The user will get a set of 12 cards with no information and will tap on the card to reveal the icon behind the card.
- The subject will be expected to remeber the position and icon of the card previously tapped and will try to match the pairs of cards with the same icon to earn points.
- A timer will be keeping track of how long the user takes to complete all the pairs and this will be the final data collected.
- User can sign up with their personal email
- User can sign in with the email they signed up with
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User can choose a task to perform
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User can read about the task they are performing and why it's useful to their eveyday life
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The user can perform the multitasking game
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The user can perform the visual search game
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The user can perform the memory game
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The user can see the data collected at the end of the game
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User can track their performance and progress
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The user's progress is saved in the cloud so researchers can access it everywhere
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The user can logout of their account
The backlog for this project can be seen here
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