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New Video Game Reveals How Kids With Autism Make Decisions
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In Short: Researchers have developed a new video game called GEODE (gathering evidence to optimize decisions) to measure visual perception in children with autism.
Researchers have developed a new video game called GEODE (gathering evidence to optimize decisions) to measure visual perception in children with autism. The game, detailed in a study published in Science Advances, aims to include minimally verbal kids who are often excluded from similar studies.
The game design was inspired by an earlier game Scott created called Indie and Alone, which was used in a previous study on rule learning and evidence accumulation in adults. The character design in GEODE is intentionally vague, allowing players to interpret the main character as they wish.
Scott and Tager-Flusberg found that autistic teens struggled more with integrating and utilizing new sensory information as the game progressed. This finding highlights the difficulty in bridging animal and human research in autism.
Behavioral shaping, a technique used in the game, involves starting with simple tasks and gradually increasing complexity, similar to levels in a video game. This approach helps players engage and stay excited throughout the game.
The game's design focuses on reinforcement and behavior shaping to ensure engagement and accurate data collection. The team worked with video game designer Sadie Johnson to bring the game to life.
Scott noted, “It’s been really hard to bridge the animal work and the human work in autism, because while we know some of the underlying genes, it’s very unclear what the behavioral or neural signatures of autism would be in an animal model.”
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- “So rats make choices, and we tell them whether they’re right or not,” explained Scott (when it comes to the rats, sugar water is the reward of choice).
- “When I told him about what Helen and I had discussed, he got very excited and said, ‘You know what, I could turn the training pipeline and task we use in rodents into a video game.’ That was the initial spark that turned Helen and my discussion into this project,” explained Scott.
- “I want to make and play games where I can pretend to be in the movie. [I thought] Maybe that could resonate with people,” said Do.
- “A lot of research in autism focuses on either a group with profound autism or a group of highly verbal individuals with autism,” she said.
- To pull it off, the game needed to instill a sense of excitement, hold attention, and create the desire to engage.
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