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Peer Review

CogniFit

Reviewed:

Feb 24, 2024 by Psychology
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Quality: 4.2 stars
Effectiveness: 4.8 stars
Ease of Use: 4.5 stars
Overview:

CogniFit Brain Games provide practice in Memory, Perception, Reasoning, Coordination, and Attention. The Brain Games provide a wide variety of interesting opportunities to participate in engaging digital activities while also offering useful assessment (and learning) opportunities. Visitors can play without registering; however, their data will not be saved.  

Type of Material:

Simulation & Development Tool [for cognitive training and measurement of cognitive skills]

Recommended Uses:

  • The tasks serve as useful examples for students taking classes that address memory, perception, and attention (as well as classes that address assessment in these areas.)
    • They can be useful at both individual and overall class levels to showcase real-life examples of these tests; in particular, they allow students to test the games themselves and discuss outcomes afterwards.
  • Taken together with the variety of available games, the fun, engaging nature of this site is an argument in favor of making the games available to multiple populations that would benefit from practice with cognitive agility (e.g., elderly patients, those with Traumatic Brain Injury).  The games represent a wonderful opportunity offered at no cost. 
Technical Requirements:

  • The only technical requirement is Internet access (as well as a mouse and keyboard for movement exercises). 
Identify Major Learning Goals:

  • The site is designed for educators, health professionals, and researchers to use the different assessments and trainings with a paid account.
    • The Brain Games are free to use as examples of different assessment techniques for memory, perception, reasoning, coordination, and attention.
  • Overall, these easy online games nicely showcase examples of how cognition may be tested for principles such as memory with recall and recognition, pattern recognition, dexterity, and other variables.  
Target Student Population:

Middle School, High School, College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

  1. While no knowledge of cognition and memory is required to play these games, some understanding of the basics of recall and recognition may help the game-player to more fully grasp aspects of data that are being collected and measured (and why). 
  2. Additionally, basic familiarity with computer games would be helpful (such as navigation using spacebar, arrows, etc.), but it is not required since tutorials are provided on most games.
  3. Some understanding of assessment would be beneficial.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The site offers a good variety of examples that cover different areas of cognitive ability. 
  • Overall, the games linked from this site are high quality, with a variety of digital effects and animation. The sound as well as the images and video are well-designed and captured. These elements enhance content quality.
Concerns:

  • More explanation regarding each game -- including its value -- would be helpful.
  • This site provides excellent tutorials for users who are completing these games. However, the peer reviewers were unable to locate any manner by which these tutorials could enable closed captions; if no closed captions are provided for the user, these games and the tutorials would be out of compliance with ADA standards. 

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

  • Overall, the Brain Games are quite well-designed, and they provide examples of a variety of tests helpful to anyone learning about cognitive assessment or assessment in general.

 

Concerns:

  • Usefulness for teaching purposes is limited by the lack of explanation regarding one’s score(s). For the free demos, educators will want to develop overarching lectures or exercises that envelop the Brain Games and that provide specific learning objectives.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The Brain Games can be run from any web browser. 
  • The Brain Games are clearly organized by topic, and the examples are easy to follow with clear instructions and a short demonstration of each. The provided tutorials are helpful for users unfamiliar with any of the games. 
  • This site is offered to the user for free, and during evaluation the peer reviewers did not hit a cap on the various cognitive games and tests (e.g., Mahjong to race cars and more).
  • One interesting perk of this site is what CogniFit calls "Neurons."
    • Neurons are CogniFit's currency. By participating in the free games, users are granted or "win" neurons.

 

Concerns:

  • It is possible to reach a limit on a particular game. In this instance, users will need to restart the page to play more (because they are otherwise directed to the pay site).
  • This site has many elements that are advertisment-oriented and focused on selling the cognitive tests of varying types. Though this does not detract from the usefulness of the site itself, it is an element that was a bit distracting while playing the "free" games since purchasing as an option was repeatedly presented. 
Other Issues and Comments:

See the CogniFit website for information on how to set up an Educators account. 

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