A Cognitive Framework for the Analysis of Game Play: Tasks, Schemas and Attention Theory

A fully developed nomology for the study of games requires the development of explanatory theoretical constructs associated with validating observational techniques. Drawing from cognition sciences, a framework is proposed based upon the integration of schema theory with attention theory. Cognitive task analysis provides a foundation for preliminary schema descriptions, which can then be elaborated according to more detailed models of cognitive and attentional processes. The resulting theory provides a rich explanatory framework for the cognitive processes underlying game play, as well as detailed hypotheses for the hierarchical structure of pleasures and rewards motivating players. Game engagement is accounted for as a process of schema selection or development, while immersion is explained in terms of schema execution. This framework is being developed not only to explain the substructures of game play, but also to provide schema models that may inform game design processes and provide detailed criteria for the design of patterns of game features for entertainment, pedagogical and therapeutic purposes.