Developing "Flex", a Tablet Game to Train Cognitive Flexibility in Autism

Abstract

Cognitive flexibility is the ability that allows someone to adapt his thoughts and behavior to a changing environment. For individuals with autism, deficits in cognitive flexibility can prevent them from functioning independent and take actively part in society. The aim of this study is to developed “Flex”, a serious game for training cognitive flexibility in autism. “Flex” is the first game designed for training cognitive flexibility. The game is based on theories of successful games for training people with autism, research on cognitive flexibility in autism and analysis of video games that have shown to improve cognitive flexibility. Results showed that “Flex” is fun, challenging and easy to learn. However the experiment did not prove playing the game significantly improved the cognitive flexibility of the test subjects.