Difference between revisions of "Important Neuroscientific Considerations in Game Design for Autism"

Revision as of 19:44, 26 January 2008

Neuroscientific Considerations in Game Design for Autism

Avoid timed events; give the player control of when things happen; whenever possible, prompt the player. People with autism have difficulty with executive function, that is, in rapidly planning and executing actions in response to sensory inputs. They have a great deal of skill and often exceed the performance of people without autism -- but it's a intensely studied and considered, deliberate style of skill, often not expressed under time pressure. So it's important to make certain that the timing of events is controlled not by the computer (except in cases where the experiment requires it) but by the player. Small additions such as a "next" button or a "ready" button can make all the difference. (An example of the event-driven rather than time-driven structure is the use of the up-arrow key to connect with the wormhole in the Maritime Defender mini-game.)

Do not depend on a player's memory for instructions; prompt the player every time. A corrollary of the executive planning problem is that the player may have trouble remembering a sequence of steps. Even if (s)he has learnt in a tutorial that key A triggers action X and key B triggers action Y, these arbitrary associations might not be remembered, unless the player has had a chance to practise these actions actively, many times over.

Instead of a sequence of actions, ask for one action at a time. Rapid actions can be difficult enough by themselves, but when people with autism face the additional demand of performing several of these actions rapidly and in the proper sequence thay can feel very much overwhelmed. (See the previous entries on executive function and memory.) Instead of requiring sequences of inputs in response to a single prompt, try to prompt separately for each input.

Use pictures, not words. Most people with autism tend to think in pictures rather than words. Instructions presented as text might not be comprehended -- not because the player is incapable of comprehending but because (s)he's concentrating so much on decoding the individual words that (s)he can't spare much effort to put those words together into the meanings of complete sentences and narratives. Sometimes text is unavoidable; if text is used, avoid verbosity and don't clutter the display with words. Reading can be slow; see the entry on timed events above about waiting and prompting the player to continue.

Players should learn by doing, not just by observing or reading or listening. In this regard, people with autism are no different from people without autism: we all learn best when we can be active rather than passive learners. The challenges faced by people with autism make it even more crucial that game activities involve learning-by-doing, rather than depending on learning-by-reading or learning-by-listening. This is particularly true of the game tutorials.

Avoid depending on simultaneous or near-simultaneous events in different perceptual channels (e.g. different places on the screen, or different senses such as video with audio). People with autism focus intensely and exclusively on one perceptual channel at a time. When focusing on one point or area of the display, events away from this spatial focus of attention may not register. Anathema for a person with autism would be a cockpit display with many gauges indicating different quantities which all need to be observed simultaneously -- or a visual display that needs to be observed at the same time as a spoken or other auditory signal. (Background music is okay because it doesn't need to be attended; players can just let it go on whilst they focus on the visual display.) Instead, either information should be displayed in one region of the display or one sensory channel, or ample time should be allowed to shift attention between points in visual space or between sensory channels. Shifts of attention can take 2 to 3 seconds for people with autism, whereas people without autism take 0.2 to 0.3 seconds. Think about what it would be like to be looking at the display through a long telescope that magnifies a small area but shuts out the periphery.

Avoid evoking unnecessary anxiety. People with autism are much more prone to anxiety than people without autism -- especially when faced with a new and unpractised task, or with a timed task, or with an interactive situation that's out of their control. (See entries above on avoiding timed events and giving prompting, pictures, and practice.) Do everything possible to make certain that the player, not the computer, is the one controlling what happens next, and that the player has every opportunity to practise and to become comfortable with the demands of the game.