Research
Curriculum Vitae
I study extreme expertise, multitasking, and general goal-oriented cognition. I am interested in games as complex cognitive tasks, and how they can be used to learn transferable skills.
I study extreme expertise, multitasking, and general goal-oriented cognition. I am interested in games as complex cognitive tasks, and how they can be used to learn transferable skills.
Virtual RealityIn ordinary VR configurations involving stereoscopy, two slightly-offset views are projected, and every user wears a pair of 3D glasses in order to have a separate image reach each eye, providing the illusion of viewing a single three-dimensional scene.
This experimental setup allows for two users to be physically co-located, but seeing two completely independent, perspective-corrected views on a common set of screens, by wearing special glasses that filter out the other users' view. In addition, we are experimenting with multiple input interfaces, such as navigating with a handheld controller, and using your own body as a controller, acting as either a velocity-based input (as though you were a human joystick) or an amplified position-based input (as though you were a sensitive mouse device). |
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Space FortressIn this ongoing series of studies, we are investigating the complex interleaving between perception, attention, memory, and motor control at appoximately the 100-300 millisecond time scale. Space Fortress is a more-complicated-than-it-looks video game that cognitive scientists have studied for decades, and makes for an ideal task environment to study this intricate choreography.
In this video, a cognitive model written in the ACT-R cognitive architecture is playing the game, in an effort to answer John Anderson's call to span seven orders of temporal magnitude in a single cognitive model. |
TetrisWe study the distinction between "epistemic" and "pragmatic" actions. Pragmatic actions are quite straightforward, but the idea of an epistemic action is that when a mental computation is estimated to be too taxing, we can sometimes "offload" the thinking into the world by manipulating it a certain way. Tetris provides us with a fantastic testbed to evaluate the role these actions have in learning. In this video, the frame changes color when we suspect an epistemic action is underway.
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Publications and Proceedings
- Gray, W. D. and Destefano, M. (2016). Searching not under the lightpole but where we dropped our keys: Using changepoint detection to shine the light on periods of strategy invention and change. In 57th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society.
- Destefano, M. & Gray, W.D. (2016). Where Should Researchers Look for Strategy Discoveries during the Acquisition of Complex Task Performance? The case of Space Fortress. In Papafragou, A., Grodner, D., and Trueswell, J., editors, Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
- Chang, B., Destefano, M. (2014). Game engines and immersive displays. Post-Meeting Proceedings of IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging 2014. San Francisco, CA: Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers.
- Gray, W. D., Hope, R. M., Lindstedt, J. K., & Destefano, M. (2014). Elements of extreme expertise: searching for differences in microstrategies deployed by experts and novices. Plenary Presentation at the 12th Biannual Meeting of the German Cognitive Science Society. Universität Tübingen. Tübingen, Germany.
- Gray, W. D., Lindstedt, J. K., Hope, R. M., & Destefano, M. (2012). An update on the whys and wherefores of Space Fortress 5 and the mysteries of Tetris. Talk presented at University College London. University College London. London, England.
- Destefano, M., Lindstedt, J. K., & Gray, W. D. (2011). Use of complementary actions decreases with expertise. In L. Carlson, C. Hölscher & T. Shipley (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2709-2014). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.
- Gray, W. D., Hope, R., Destefano, M., Schoelles, M. J., Ralph, J., & Lindstedt, J. (2011). Microstrategies in Space Fortress. ONR project review meeting. Arlington, VA.
- Destefano, M. (2010). The Mechanics of Multitasking: The Choreography of Perception, Action, and Cognition over 7.05 Orders of Magnitude. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
- Destefano, M. (2010). Modeling space fortress. 17th Annual ACT-R workshop. Philadelphia, PA.
- Changizi, M.A., Destefano, M. (2009) Common scaling laws for city highway systems and the mammalian neocortex. Complexity 15: 11-18.
- Destefano, M. & Gray, W. D. (2009). Space fortress and cognitive control. Beckman Institute, University of Illinois. • Destefano, M. & Gray, W. D. (2008b). Choreographing cognition, perception, and motor control over 7.03 orders of magnitude. 13th Annual ACT-R Summer Workshop. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
- Destefano, M., Gray, W.D. (2008a) An integrated model of action video game play. In V. Sloutsky, B. Love & K. McRae (Eds.), Poster presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2016). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.
- Destefano, M. (2008) Rapid inter-process communication between ACT-R and external simulations. Presented at the 15th Annual ACT-R Workshop, Pittsburgh, PA.
- Destefano, M., Gray, W.D. (2007) Use of Complementary Actions Decreases with Expertise. Poster presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Nashville, TN.
- Gray, W. D. & Destefano, M. (2007). Deconstructing video games. Kickoff meeting at University of Rochester.
- Bringsjord, S., Khemlani, S., Arkoudas, K., McEvoy, C., Destefano M., Daigle, M. (2005) Advanced Synthetic Characters, Evil, and E* . Proceedings of the 6th Annual European GAME-ON Conference. De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom.
- Noble, R., Ruiz, K., Destefano, M., Mintz, J. (2003) Terms of Engagement. Proceedings of Level Up, the 1st International Conference of the Digital Games Research Association. University of Utrecht, The Netherlands