Lumosity III - The Neuroscience Behind the Games

Lumosity III

This post and the post following this one are, in my opinion, the reason why Lumosity offers a lot to the field of research and development and instructional technology. This post will show examples of how Lumosity integrates neurological research into fun games that train and measure our cognitive ability.
I should say that this post should be "taken with a grain of salt," because I am taking examples from Lumosity.com...
**This link provides some background to this saying for those who don't know(http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/take-with-a-grain-of-salt.html)**


For each of the three following examples I will provide a brief explanation of the scientific experiment Lumosity used to create the game.

Example 1 - The Flanker Task & the Lost in Migration Game

According to Cognitive Atlas, The Flanker Task is,
 "A task in which participants view stimuli (typically arrows) presented one at a time and to which they must make a simple lexical response. These stimuli are surrounded by either distracting or facilitating items. Distracting items are typically associated with an opposite response ("incongruent" = pointing in opposite direction to target stimulus), whereas facilitating items are typically associated with the same response as the target stimulus ("congruent" = pointing in the same direction as the target stimulus)." 

Example 2 - Thurnstone's Punched Hole Task & the Speed Check Game

I could not find a summary of Thurnstone's Punched Holes Task so, we'll have to trust Lumosity's research....

 Example 3 - The Go/No Go Task - the Robot Factory Game

According to Cognitive Atlas, The Go/ No Go Task is, "A task in which stimuli are presented in a continuous stream and participants perform a binary decision on each stimulus. One of the outcomes requires participants to make a motor response (go), whereas the other requires participants to withhold a response (no-go). Accuracy and reaction time are measured for each event. Go events typically occur with higher frequency than no-go events."   

Again, take it for what its worth but Lumosity seems to have created games that are foundationally (through neuroscience and psychological studies) designed to increase your brain's ability.


Sources
http://www.cognitiveatlas.org/term/Eriksen_flanker_task
www.lumosity.com
http://www.cognitiveatlas.org/task/go/no-go_task