A quantitative approach for developing serious games for aptitude and trait assessment

Abstract

We describe a development process for serious games to create psychometrically rigorous measures of individual aptitudes (abilities, skills) and traits (habits, tendencies, behaviors). We begin with a discussion of serious games and how they can instantiate appropriate cognitive states for relevant aptitudes and traits to manifest. This can have numerous advantages over traditional assessment modalities. We then describe the iterative approach to aptitude and trait measurement that emphasizes (1) careful definition and specification of the traits and aptitudes to be measured, (2) rigorous assessment of reliability and validity, and (3) revision of gameplay elements and metrics to improve measurement properties.