Is more information better? Examining the effects of visual and cognitive fidelity on learning in a serious video game

Does visual fidelity and cognitive fidelity affect learning in a video game? In this paper we present data collected from 65 participants who played one of four different versions of a 3D video game, Heurística, designed to train decision making. We analyzed learning using a 2 cognitive fidelity × 2 visual fidelity between subjects analysis of variance. Our findings indicated that there was an interaction between the two types of fidelity, and no main effects on learning. Participants' learning was best when their visual and cognitive fidelity matched and worse when the visual fidelity was low, but the cognitive fidelity was high. This is one of the first experiments to compare both types of fidelity in a single video game platform experimentally. Our findings suggest that for high level cognitive training such as in Heurística, the fit between visual fidelity and the tasks matters. However, more research is needed with different types of video games and learning objectives.