Cognitive Gamer

By Stephen Blessing

Science & Medicine Games & Hobbies Social Sciences Hobbies

What's Cognitive Gamer about?

I examine how cognitive psychology can help explain and inform how we play games. Each episode looks at how a particular cognitive phenomenon affects game playing. All types of games are considered, from board games to video games to games of chance. Check out cognitivegamer.com for more information.

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Cognitive Gamer episodes:

08.12.2022
Episode 34: I Never Metacognition I Didn’t Like
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...
09.16.2021
Episode 33: Get Your Head in the Game
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,...
04.09.2021
Episode 32: From the Bottom to the Top and Back Again
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...
06.25.2020
Episode 31: I Think I Know What You Know
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...
04.18.2020
Episode 30: The Invisible Boardgame
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...
01.29.2020
Episode 29: This is Like That: The Importance of Analogies
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...
11.21.2019
Episode 28: From Novice to Expert in One Easy Step
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...
09.03.2019
Episode 27: Mental Models
If you are an experienced gamer, you have seen that you can pick up a new game much more quickly than someone who doesn’t have as much gaming experience. Why is that? We discuss both the benefits and detriments of...
08.05.2019
Episode 26: To Switch or Not to Switch (but not that type of Switch)
Multi-tasking happens a lot. We’re in a meeting, we email. We watch TV, we text. And to the chagrin of many, we play a game with our friends, we scroll through social media. What does cognitive psychology have to say...
06.28.2019
Episode 25: Now That’s Deep!
We examine the concept of levels of processing in this episode, that if you process an experience more deeply, you will remember it better. This comes into play in many aspects of gaming, for both players and designers. Game References...
05.08.2019
Episode 24: Wingspan Cognalysis
Wingspan is a hot new boardgame that’s rocketing up the boardgamegeek’s rating chart. In this episode we take a look at some explanations of why so many people have become enamored with this game. Game References Wingspan Research References Greene,...
03.19.2019
Episode 23: Game, Mental Set, Match
Game players often get stuck, either not seeing how to properly use an object in the game or perhaps persisting in an inefficient strategy. I discuss two such mental sets, functional fixedness and Einstellung. Game References Burgle Bros, Defender, Go,...
01.17.2019
Episode 22: The Amazing Declarative to Procedural Transition
Big changes happen in memory and knowledge as a person goes from beginner to expert. What does this entail for playing games? We take a close look at the two main types of memory, and how knowledge transitions between the...
12.10.2018
Episode 21: Anchors Aweigh!
How do we figure out how much something should cost or what the value of a thing should be? One decision-making heuristic process for this is anchoring and adjustment. Discover how this is used not only in game playing but...
10.08.2018
Episode 20: Building Minds with Scaffolding
I’m joined again by the resident developmental psychologist, where we talk about scaffolding, a learning technique where help and assistance are removed bit by bit until the full skill has been learned. Game References My Little Scythe, Scythe, Sleuth, Sushi...
08.18.2018
Episode 19: Decrypto and Codenames CG Cognalysis
I take a dive into Decrypto, comparing how clues are given in it versus in Codenames. Both the similarities and differences shed light into our cognitive processes and how items are stored in our memories. Spoiler alert: Bayes’ Theorem is...
07.12.2018
Episode 18: Attributions are Fundamental
We are constantly explaining to ourselves why events happen. When those explanations involve linking the outcome of an event with our response, a psychologist would refer to them as an attribution. We explore how attributions affect our game playing. Game...
06.01.2018
Episode 17: Represent!
The representativeness heuristic is another rule-of-thumb that we use when we need to make a decision. We apply it when we decide an event is likely to happen if it resembles, or is representative, of the category from which it...
04.21.2018
Episode 16: Virtual Gaming
Virtual reality adds new dimensions to games. Psychology informs us of the issues on what goes on in a virtual environment. Join the discussion as we hit some of the big topics in this new way to play games. Also,...
03.19.2018
Episode 15: The Malleability of Memory
Some people have the idea that memory is like a tape recorder: if you remember it, that’s the way it happened. But, the data show that our memories can change quite a bit over the course of time. We discuss...
03.05.2018
Episode 14: Are You Available?
There are a number of heuristics that people use when they make decisions. In this episode, we discuss the availability heuristic and how we use it when playing games. Game References Battlefield, Celeste, Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Doom, Dungeons...
01.30.2018
Episode 13: The Psychology and Design of Everyday Games
What might a cognitive psychologist say about game design? We discuss some of the issues Don Norman raised in his classic book The Design of Everyday Things and how that relates to game design, both from the player and the...
12.19.2017
Episode 12: Cognitive Gamer Cognalysis: Horizon Zero Dawn
This episode contains a deep dive into the cognitive ins and outs of the Playstation 4 game Horizon Zero Dawn. Much of the analysis, though, could be applied to most open-world games. We’ll consider narrative, skill transfer, and types of...
12.04.2017
Episode 11: O Memory, Memory, Wherefore Art Thou Memory?
Cognitive psychologists make a lot of distinctions with different types of memory. In this episode I provide an overview of the various ways that scientists have divvied up memory, and how each relates to how we play games. Game References...
11.06.2017
Episode 10: Tell Me a Story
Many of our memories are structured around stories. They are a very powerful device, that allow us to remember and experience more than what we might otherwise. Using story and narrative within games can increase our enjoyment of them. I...
10.14.2017
Episode 09: Don’t Count Your Cognitions Until They Hatch
Kids can learn a lot by playing games. In this episode I talk with Dr. Jennifer Blessing about the skills that children learn by playing games, such as turn taking, goal setting, and number sense. Game References Candyland, Chutes and...
09.21.2017
Episode 08: Go Search, Young Game Player!
Games can be thought of as solving one big problem: How do I win? Cognitive psychologists think about problem solving in terms of a search process, how to get from your current state to a goal state. I discuss what...
08.24.2017
Episode 07 : That Blows Chunks: Increasing Working Memory
One constraint that everyone has is working memory capacity. Or in other words, how many things you can remember at any one point in time. While there are individual differences in this, another aspect turns out to be more important:...
08.11.2017
Episode 06: Cognitive Gamer Cognalysis: Pandemic
I consider the popular board game Pandemic from a number of different angles. What makes it an interesting game, cognitively speaking? I touch on decision making, attention, cooperation, and also the Legacy and iPad versions. Game References Burgle Bros, Mechs...
08.02.2017
Episode 05: (I Can’t Get No) Satisficing
Humans do not always make the most optimal decisions. We are limited by our cognitive resources. We usually make decisions, even in playing games, that are just “good enough.” The process of making a “good enough” decision is known as...
07.20.2017
Episode 04: Shall We Play a Game? Rise of the Machines
For about as long as there have been computers, there have been computer programs that play games. This episode considers some of the history of game playing computers, and how that has shed light on the nature of human intelligence....
07.10.2017
Episode 03: Attention, Please! The Role of Attention in Playing Games
You need to have focused attention while playing games. If you don’t, you might miss a critical move in a board game, or totally miss that other player about to blast you in Call of Duty. This episode considers how...
06.29.2017
Episode 02: Now You See It, Now You Still Do: The Use of Visual Imagery in Memory
Visual memory has a different character than verbal memory. This episode examines the nature of our visual memory, and how it is used in such games as Tetris, Carcassonne, and any game that has a map that your character must...
06.21.2017
Episode 01: You Must Remember This: The Use of Activation in Game Playing
How verbal items are stored in long term affect how they are retrieved. This in turn affects how we play a fair number of games, as they require retrieval of items from long term memory. In particular, I consider such...

What's Cognitive Gamer about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Cognitive Gamer episodes:

Episode 34: I Never Metacognition I Didn’t Like

Episode 33: Get Your Head in the Game

Episode 32: From the Bottom to the Top and Back Again

Episode 31: I Think I Know What You Know

Episode 30: The Invisible Boardgame

Episode 29: This is Like That: The Importance of Analogies

Episode 28: From Novice to Expert in One Easy Step

Episode 27: Mental Models

Episode 26: To Switch or Not to Switch (but not that type of Switch)

Episode 25: Now That’s Deep!

Episode 24: Wingspan Cognalysis

Episode 23: Game, Mental Set, Match

Episode 22: The Amazing Declarative to Procedural Transition

Episode 21: Anchors Aweigh!

Episode 20: Building Minds with Scaffolding

Episode 19: Decrypto and Codenames CG Cognalysis

Episode 18: Attributions are Fundamental

Episode 17: Represent!

Episode 16: Virtual Gaming

Episode 15: The Malleability of Memory

Episode 14: Are You Available?

Episode 13: The Psychology and Design of Everyday Games

Episode 12: Cognitive Gamer Cognalysis: Horizon Zero Dawn

Episode 11: O Memory, Memory, Wherefore Art Thou Memory?

Episode 10: Tell Me a Story

Episode 09: Don’t Count Your Cognitions Until They Hatch

Episode 08: Go Search, Young Game Player!

Episode 07 : That Blows Chunks: Increasing Working Memory

Episode 06: Cognitive Gamer Cognalysis: Pandemic

Episode 05: (I Can’t Get No) Satisficing

Episode 04: Shall We Play a Game? Rise of the Machines

Episode 03: Attention, Please! The Role of Attention in Playing Games

Episode 02: Now You See It, Now You Still Do: The Use of Visual Imagery in Memory

Episode 01: You Must Remember This: The Use of Activation in Game Playing