brain research on communication and social interaction

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About ten years ago, we started a new research line aimed at understanding the fundamental principles of human communication. As part of this research, we've developed an experimental two-player protocol that strips everyday social interaction of words and gestures to gain more reliable access to those principles and how they are implemented in the brain.

We've recently had the opportunity to extend this work to include individuals on the autism spectrum, which has proven informative and advanced our understanding of both autistic and neurotypical communication. We're currently planning follow-up studies and could benefit from analyzing large datasets of people playing the game anonymously online.

If you enjoy collaborative puzzle-solving while also helping research, please give it a try. The game itself is admittedly a little difficult at first, so please read the instructions carefully (which will be repeated in-game). Note that it's a two-player game, such that you may need to invite a friend if there are currently no active players.

mutualunderstanding
.
nl
/
game

(sorry, cannot post links yet being new to the forum..)

This is a highly interesting research project. There is a excellent paper about it here: https://psyarxiv.com/7nbms/

The game can be found here: http://www.mutualunderstanding.nl/game

Thanks, rdos. For those interested, I'll post a link to a summary of that study soon.

"we" = an international team of researchers

I have never found anyone I could brainstorm with, and have never done on-line games. I presume my input is excluded?

On the contrary, the larger and more diverse the "sample population", the better this research can generalize to the general population. Also, this is the first time we try to employ the game outside the lab. Constructive feedback would be highly appreciated.

Here's a summary of that earlier study rdos referred to:
https://www.languageininteraction.nl/ag ... utism.html

Hi Dear_one, you're more than welcome to give it a try.

Yes, since the game is new, some coordination will be needed to find another player still. Perhaps anyone reading this?

Hi Lely, Dear_one, and others willing to try our game,

I have placed a small chatbox at the bottom of the page (http://www.mutualunderstanding.nl/game). This should make it easier to find out whether someone is currently visiting the page and ready to play. You can chat with them after you log in to the chatbox (as a "guest", no need to make an account or anything).

The website is only a few weeks old, so the chances of it being found by accident are low. Hence, it may be more effective still to invite someone you know if that's a possibility.