Greetings, These types of games are really testing more than reaction time (pattern recognition, spatial and trajectory analysis) and although we may assume that those cognitive abilities remain the same for an individual, in the short to medium term, you can get better at it with practice.
If you're just testing reaction time then "push the button when you see the light" has it all over the others... But is nowhere near as much fun ;-( If you're testing motor skills then a test of precision may be better. How about a computer version of the old "skill testers" that involved a wiggly wire and a loop with a bell and, optionally, a mild electric shock ;-) -- Regards, noonie On 17 February 2012 11:05, Bec Carter <bec.usern...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 1:00 AM, Les Hughes <l...@datarev.com.au> wrote: > > Ian Thomas wrote: > >> > >> > >> An OT “project” of mine. > >> > >> A friend has Parkinson’s disease, and is getting the jitters. He was a > >> senior manager in a major IT corporation (he is not a programmer, did > some > >> FORTRAN for his MSc, years ago – but he’s smart enough). About a year > ago > >> wrote for himself a simple reaction time (mouse response to some cue > >> appearing on screen) in MS Excel (VBA), but he would like to do some > .NET > >> programming, and also write something more appropriate for his > condition. > >> > >> I have seen a few things on CodeProject that might be adaptable, but > most > >> are too elaborate (games, which assume super-quick reaction time but > also > >> are too involved in terms of story line, graphics, etc). > >> > >> Over time, I would be grateful if anyone on the list can just post a URL > >> that I can have a look at. I’ve got him working with VS2008 Express, but > >> might need to use a more capable / more recent IDE. > >> > >> (Those of you who are aware of tests for behavioural neuroscience may > know > >> that this is a reasonably involved area of research and testing, *but* > is > >> also a very fertile area for internet money-raking, by individuals whose > >> ethical behaviour is similar to those advertising p3nis enlargement!) > >> > >> > >> Thanks – it would be good to get a few tips. > >> > >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >> > >> > >> Ian Thomas > >> Victoria Park, Western Australia > >> > > > > Hi Ian, > > > > Just an idea which came to me, not sure if it is much use (at least in > the > > short term), but it seems like a game similar to tetris (maybe even a > > simpler version with only 3 or 4 shapes) might be good for testing > reaction > > times. You can graph the average response time from when a shape appears > to > > where it is placed, and see how it goes as the game gets faster. > Obviously > > this will not give good results after one game (because reaction times > will > > also depend on what shapes you have at the bottom and ability to problem > > solve), but I think the data gained over the longer term can show trends > and > > averages/etc. > > > > Also maybe a game that shows you three images, where two are the same and > > one is different, and using left, down, right on the arrowpad you need to > > select the one that doesn't match. You could once again keep the data and > > graph this over the long term. > > Even Pong could be used this way I guess > > > > > Anyway, good luck, and I'd be interested to here any progress. > > > > -- > > Les Hughes > > l...@datarev.com.au >
