The Relationship Between the Seniors’ Appraisal of Cognitive-Training Games and Game-Related Stress Is Complex: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

In this paper, we deploy and evaluate the potential of the Affective Game Planning for Health Applications (AGPHA) framework, that draws on Lazarus’ Appraisal Theory of Stress and Coping for evaluation of reflexive and reflexive response to a brain training game. Fourty two older adults (70.5 ± 4.5 years of age) took an electronic survey about attitude towards digital play. A smaller sample of this sample (n = 19) volunteered to participate in an experiment to play a simple brain training game (Simple MindGames) in a laboratory setting (PERFORM Centre, Montreal, Canada). The study was framed in a quantitative context and involved repeated measurements of physiological stress metrics (salivary cortisol, galvanic skin conductance, and heart rate). We found that those who participated in the experiment were less likely to consider digital games too hard to learn, age-inappropriate, or disruptive to real life. Physiological measures were correlated with some of game experience factors, namely perceived visual intensity of the games was correlated with cortisol levels (Spearman’s rho = 0.61, p