From failures of intelligence analysis to misguided beliefs about vaccinations, biased judgment and decision making contributes to problems in policy, business, medicine, law, education, and private life. Early attempts to reduce decision... more
From failures of intelligence analysis to misguided beliefs about vaccinations, biased judgment and decision making contributes to problems in policy, business, medicine, law, education, and private life. Early attempts to reduce decision biases with training met with little success, leading scientists and policy makers to focus on debiasing by using incentives and changes in the presentation and elicitation of decisions. We report the results of two longitudinal experiments that found medium to large effects of one-shot debiasing training interventions. Participants received a single training intervention, played a computer game or watched an instructional video, which addressed biases critical to intelligence analysis (in Experiment 1: bias blind spot, confirmation bias, and fundamental attribution error; in Experiment 2: anchoring, representativeness, and social projection). Both kinds of interventions produced medium to large debiasing effects immediately (games ≥ −31.94% and vi...
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In the current study, a serious game was developed to address a training challenge: teaching players to recognize and mitigate their cognitive biases. Cognitive biases, which are human tendencies to commit systematic errors in thinking... more
In the current study, a serious game was developed to address a training challenge: teaching players to recognize and mitigate their cognitive biases. Cognitive biases, which are human tendencies to commit systematic errors in thinking that lead to irrational judgments, are deeply ingrained and difficult to alter. This paper describes the theory-based approach we employed to create a game for the mitigation of cognitive biases – a challenging and abstract training topic. A cognitive bias framework that relates the target cognitive biases, their causes, and effective bias mitigation techniques was developed and incorporated into the game design. The resultant serious game, titled Missing: The Final Secret (hereinafter: Missing), pairs the most promising mitigation strategies with the primary causes of the targeted cognitive biases and incorporates them into game-play. Further, we present preliminary results from a game efficacy evaluation suggesting that Missing is an effective tool ...
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L'invention concerne un transcodeur destine a convertir des donnees d'une structure telephonique a une structure par paquets. Ce transcodeur comprend: un moteur pour donnees telephoniques logiques numeriques, destine a recevoir... more
L'invention concerne un transcodeur destine a convertir des donnees d'une structure telephonique a une structure par paquets. Ce transcodeur comprend: un moteur pour donnees telephoniques logiques numeriques, destine a recevoir des donnees telephoniques dans le transcodeur et a transmettre ces donnees telephoniques depuis celui-ci, ce moteur pour donnees telephoniques logiques numeriques etant pourvu d'un tampon d'accumulation de trames; un moteur pour paquets logiques numeriques concu pour recevoir des paquets de donnees dans ledit transcodeur et pour transmettre ces paquets de donnees depuis celui-ci; un complexe de traitement de signaux numeriques couple au moteur pour donnees telephoniques logiques numeriques et au moteur pour paquets logiques numeriques, ce complexe de traitement de signaux numeriques comprenant un ensemble de processeurs de signaux numeriques; et un processeur central couple au moteur pour donnees telephoniques logiques numeriques et au moteur ...
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In this study, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) developed a quantitative-qualitative mixed methods research technique to investigate the extent to which real world... more
In this study, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) developed a quantitative-qualitative mixed methods research technique to investigate the extent to which real world characteristics of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) players can be predicted based on the characteristics and behavior of their avatars. SAIC used three primary assessment instruments to quantitatively rate videos of participant gameplay sessions, while GT produced detailed qualitative descriptions of avatar activities and behavior. Automated textual analysis was then used to identify conceptual themes across all of the descriptions produced by the qualitative team. Using the themes generated by the automated textual analysis in combination with the quantitative variables, we were able to demonstrate the efficacy of the hybrid method for the prediction of real world characteristics from avatar characteristics and behavior.
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Serious games are popular computer games that frequently simulate real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem. Although they are often entertaining, their main purpose is to train or educate users. Not... more
Serious games are popular computer games that frequently simulate real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem. Although they are often entertaining, their main purpose is to train or educate users. Not surprisingly, users exhibit different game play behaviors because of their diverse background and game experience. To improve the educational effectiveness of these games, it is important to understand and learn from the interaction between the users and the game engine. This paper presents a study attempting to apply machine learning techniques to the game log to discover: a) strategies that are common to players interacting with serious games and b) variances in the demographics of the player base for these strategies. This is an empirical study with end-user data while playing Missing, a serious game developed to help mitigate biases that people may exhibit when analyzing plausible hypothesis for observed events. We found a set of common strategies ...
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The current study was designed to address the following research question: Can a computer game provide an effective mechanism for training adults to identify and mitigate their cognitive biases? Human decision making relies on a variety... more
The current study was designed to address the following research question: Can a computer game provide an effective mechanism for training adults to identify and mitigate their cognitive biases? Human decision making relies on a variety of simple heuristic decision rules that can be quick and effective mental shortcuts when making judgments. However, these heuristics can also lead to irrational thinking and problem-solving in ways that produce errors or illogicality, known as cognitive biases. Though knowledge of cognitive biases and bias mitigation strategies can help to reduce the potential impact of cognitive biases on human reasoning, such deeply ingrained cognitive strategies are difficult to alter. The current study was designed to leverage the virtual learning environment of a serious game to take on this training challenge. To that end, a training game – Missing: The Pursuit of Terry Hughes (Missing) – was developed. Missing was created for an audience of educated adults, an...
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The development of a serious game combines the skills of numerous disciplines, from subject matter experts on the topic being taught; to story developers, game designers, and software developers; to instructional designers, educational... more
The development of a serious game combines the skills of numerous disciplines, from subject matter experts on the topic being taught; to story developers, game designers, and software developers; to instructional designers, educational assessment scientists, and others. This section provides commentary on the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s unique game development program, Sirius, where multiple games with the same training goal were independently developed and tested by different teams. We compare the experience of two of these teams not only in game design but also in how skills of various disciplines were woven together to produce and validate their games. Lessons learned are reviewed to provide guidelines and takeaway points to assist game development practitioners in their future efforts to create effective serious games.
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The data communications demands of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) require massive use of satellite communications channels, both military and civilian. Extensive use of the K-band civilian SATCOM links is causing congestion and is a... more
The data communications demands of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) require massive use of satellite communications channels, both military and civilian. Extensive use of the K-band civilian SATCOM links is causing congestion and is a significant cost driver. The SATCOM-CX program is exploring a novel technical concept which will enable small Special Operations teams deployed worldwide to move to the much-cheaper C-band links, without needing to carry and set up the large bulky antennas previously needed for C-band SATCOM. SATCOM-CX will develop a proof-of-concept system that will enable global multi-user access to 100 kilobits per second (kbps) SATCOM channels with hand-held radios, using the existing C-band satellite architecture. This new capability becomes possible through a new SATCOM-CX paradigm which uses multiple satellites simultaneously. Using this approach, a multitude of co-channel users send broad-beam signals that illuminate several adjacent satellites. Powerful processing algorithms then isolate the individual communication links. Using the constellation in this manner provides signal and minimizes the communication equipment load that the soldiers need to carry with them. While the increased complexity of the SATCOM-CX communication link will demand the development of dynamic and adaptive network protocols to ensure optimal performance is achieved, the concept offers substantial cost and operational benefits for dealing with GWOT data communications needs.
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Virtual worlds differ from other online game services by providing features and services that allow users to create their own unique graphical 3D content to dynamically modify the virtual world. These features place significant demands on... more
Virtual worlds differ from other online game services by providing features and services that allow users to create their own unique graphical 3D content to dynamically modify the virtual world. These features place significant demands on servers, clients, and the network. As virtual worlds evolve to support more users, interactions and higher-resolution graphics these demands will continue to increase. This
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Reducing network bandwidth demands on MMOW servers and user clients involves describing user content as aggregate collections identified by summary descriptors, letting a user client control the transfer of needed content from servers to... more
Reducing network bandwidth demands on MMOW servers and user clients involves describing user content as aggregate collections identified by summary descriptors, letting a user client control the transfer of needed content from servers to the client, and using a download service hierarchy implemented by a content delivery network service.
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The author presents a method for the organization and controlled distribution of software and configuration data throughout a communications network. Central to the discussion are two concepts: download, which can be thought of as a... more
The author presents a method for the organization and controlled distribution of software and configuration data throughout a communications network. Central to the discussion are two concepts: download, which can be thought of as a mechanism by which network software and data are obtained and installed in a network component, and data reconciliation, which can be thought of as the process by which the consistency of all downloaded information within a network component is assured. A network component can use data reconciliation to determine what data is needed for operation and when that data has changed, thus requiring update. The download process can then be used to obtain the needed data. The methodology is illustrated by its implementation in an advanced, commercially available packet switching network.>