Analyzing Cognitive Flexibility in Older Adults Through Playing with Robotic Cubes

Abstract

Cognitive flexibility is an important ability to adapt to changing situations. We consider the evolution of technologies in the digital era as a changing situation requiring the individuals to maintain a certain cognitive flexibility. Across the lifespan, cognitive flexibility is an essential ability to adapt to a continuous evolution of human-computer interactions (HCI). In this study, we observe older adults in a playful robotic task aiming to observe their cognitive flexibility in order to consider if older adults shows an adequate level of cognitive flexibility to solve a problem solving task with unknown robotic cubes. The playful robotic task engages the participants individually in problem solving a puzzle-based challenge with modular robotics.