Episodes

  • Episode 36: Memory Behaving Baddeley

    Episode 36: Memory Behaving Baddeley
    Oct 17 2024
    It’s time to dive in and finally have an in-depth discussion of working memory! Game References Carcassonne, River Valley Glassworks, Tetris, That’s Not a Hat, Wandering Towers, Wilmot’s Warehouse Research References Baddeley, A. (1992). Working memory. Science, 255(5044), 556-559. Baddeley, A. D., … Continue reading →
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    15 mins
  • Episode 35: Cognalysis: Sky Team and Wandering Towers

    Episode 35: Cognalysis: Sky Team and Wandering Towers
    Jul 26 2024
    It’s a bird, it’s a…yeah, it is a plane! Oh, and also a Tower? We are back with a cognalysis of two games, Sky Team, fresh off its Spiel des Jahres win, and also Wandering Towers. Game References Hanabi, Sky … Continue reading →
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    15 mins
  • Episode 34: I Never Metacognition I Didn’t Like

    Episode 34: I Never Metacognition I Didn’t Like
    Aug 12 2022
    As humans, we can think about our own thinking. This is referred to as metacognition, and can provide great insight into game playing and life in general. Game References Dominion, Dungeons and Dragons, League of Legends, Magic, poker, Rear Window … Continue reading →
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    14 mins
  • Episode 33: Get Your Head in the Game

    Episode 33: Get Your Head in the Game
    Sep 16 2021
    This episode considers how best to learn and teach games. Are there particular techniques that enables people to learn games more quickly and efficiently, and that also results in a longer memory for those rules? Game References Fog of Love, … Continue reading →
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    22 mins
  • Episode 32: From the Bottom to the Top and Back Again

    Episode 32: From the Bottom to the Top and Back Again
    Apr 9 2021
    When processing information, humans use both the information coming through our senses and previously stored knowledge. This is referred to as bottom-up versus top-down processing. This podcast explores how this occurs when we play games. Game References Paranormal Detective Research … Continue reading →
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    17 mins
  • Episode 31: I Think I Know What You Know

    Episode 31: I Think I Know What You Know
    Jun 25 2020
    Show Notes When playing games, we find it useful to consider what other players know, and how that affects game play. Psychologists study theory of mind, our concept of what other people know. Dr. Jennifer Blessing and I discuss how … Continue reading →
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    28 mins
  • Episode 30: The Invisible Boardgame

    Episode 30: The Invisible Boardgame
    Apr 18 2020
    I ruminate on playing games online and how that relates to both game and interface design, as well as how humans experience emotion. This has ties to me planning to teach my Cognition of Game Playing as an online class … Continue reading →
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    17 mins
  • Episode 29: This is Like That: The Importance of Analogies

    Episode 29: This is Like That: The Importance of Analogies
    Jan 29 2020
    In talking about a game, we almost always make references to past games in order to describe or teach the new game. What does cognitive psychology have to say about analogy use, in terms of how prevalent and useful it … Continue reading →
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    15 mins