Analog games as naturalistic cognitive paradigms: The case of Ghost Blitz and task switching

Long et al. (2023) recently argued for the gamification of behavioural sciences, where the intrinsic motivations and reward structures associated with games are implemented to improve the quality and quantity of human data. A complementary approach is also available, where commercially available games are studied for their hidden scientific content. Here the goal is not the ‘gamification of science’ but rather the ‘scientification of games.’ This approach asks whether naturalistic data related to the cognitive architecture of human behaviour can be found within games designed for commercial rather than scientific use. As a proof of concept, the card game Ghost Blitz is analysed in both commercialized and non-commercialized formats with respect to the cognitive phenomena of task switching. The scientification of games raises the possibility that the ground truth of behaviour and cognition may be better revealed by treating individuals not as ‘study participants’ but rather ‘game players.’