Cognitive-Motor Game: A computer game-based research tool for visuomotor skill learning

The Cognitive-Motor Game is a game-based tool designed for researchers exploring the intersection of cognitive and motor functions. This game combines cognitive challenges with motor tasks, providing a dynamic environment for studying how individuals process and respond to complex stimuli. The game involves a series of rounds where participants must identify and drag congruent targets (where the word's color matches its meaning) to a designated area, requiring both cognitive recognition, visual processing, and precise motor control.

This game is intended for motor learning research as it allows for the systematic manipulation of variables such as task difficulty, target movement size, speed, and the number of stimuli. By varying these parameters, researchers can assess how different levels of cognitive load affect motor performance and learning. The game's ability to track detailed metrics, such as reaction times, movement paths, and accuracy, provides valuable data for analyzing motor learning processes. The data is automatically saved in a structured format, making it easy to analyze results and draw conclusions about the cognitive-motor interactions in various populations. This tool is ideal for studies in areas like skill acquisition, rehabilitation, and the impact of cognitive stress on motor performance.

For Windows:

The windows based game will save the game data to the same directory where the program is run (e.g., if the program is on the desktop, a new data directory with the results will be saved to the desktop)

Unzip the file and you will find the executable files within the dist/ directory. 

To generate figures after game play has been completed, run Generate_Figures_Cognitive-Motor_Game_win_v2.exe and the figures will be creatd in the same directory as the data.

For MacOS:

This application has not undergone notarization and as such might be blocked by newer macOS systems. If it doesn't run, you can still run the python code found in the original_code/ directory. A text file shows how to install the python dependencies.

The MacOS version of this game will save results to the home (~/) directory. To find your results open the terminal and type "cd ~/" then the terminal will be in the location where the results are stored.

Unzip the file and you will find the executable files within the dist/ directory. 

To generate figures after game play has been completed, run Generate_Figures_Cognitive-Motor_Game_mac_v2.exe and the figures will be creatd in the same directory as the data.
Bug:

• The user must maximise the game window prior to beginning the game and after each block. If multiple blocks (i.e., a block contians a specified number of rounds) are selected then the user will have to resize (maximise) the game window before each block. I am hoping to fix this bug in future releases.
• Generate_Figures_Cognitive-Motor_Game_win_v1.exe and Generate_Figures_Cognitive-Motor_Game_mac_v1 had an error that made it not work. The error has been corrected with version 2.
• For Mac the upload did not work correctly. Now the files are available as a zip file. Download and upzip the files and it should work.
• Depending on your computers security settings, you may need admin access to adjust permissions to run the executable code. If this is the case, you should still be able to run the python code to run the games found in the original_code directory.

Edits:

• Rather than only uploading the executable files, as of version 5 of this repository, the new uploads now contain the entire build and original python code all within the zip folder for both mac and windows operating systems. I am hopeful this resolves any issues.
• If the executable files found in the dist/ directory do not run, pending you have python installed and the necessary packages you can run the python scripts from the original_code/ directories. 

Citation:
Please rememer to cite this tool if using it in your research:
Andrushko, J. W. (2024). Cognitive-Motor Game: A computer game-based research tool for visuomotor skill learning. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13327043 

Acknowledgements:

• I'd like to acknowledge Dr. Jason DeFreitas (Syracuse University) for his valuable feedback on this tool.