HyperMemory
About HyperMemory
HyperMemory is an extension of the game Memory, also known as Concentration, in which players flip face-down cards in an attempt to find matches. Traditionally, players pick two cards at a time, but in this version, the player is not limited to two cards per match. There may be three, four, or more of the same picture, and all of the similar cards must be matched in the same turn before they are removed from the game area.
Playing Memory with two-card matches is a piece of cake. Try matching three cards at a time -- it is really tough! A two-pair game with 15 matches has as many cards as a three-pair game with 10 matches (both use 30 cards), but the three-match game is a lot more difficult. With this applet, you can explore games with up to twenty matches at a time.
There are three big things that you can explore with this applet:
- Can you learn how you think by examining your mistakes?
- How well does your memory perform when you have to remember a lot of things?
- Do you perform better with negative or positive feedback?
Below the game, you will find discussion about these explorations.
The source code for this applet is available for educational purposes: MemoryApplet.java.
Can you learn how you think by examining your mistakes?
(or, Why some of the images have similar characteristics)
You may notice that many of the images in HyperMemory share similar characteristics. This is entirely intentional. For example, the tennis ball and the baseball contain similar shapes. The tennis ball and the frown face are the same color. The multicolored rings and the multicolored diamonds are also similar. The kite and the balloon look a little bit a like, and the kite has the same colors as the flower. Even the stoplight and the barber pole share a structural similarity. The other shapes - the anchor, the pencil, the space shuttle, the Space Needle - are unique.
Why did I intentionally make some of the shapes easily confused with others? So that you can realize how you think. Do you uncover the pieces quickly, and just get the gist of the colors? If so, you may confuse the kite and the flower. Do you not remember the actual images you see, but instead remember general outlines? Then you might confuse the kite and the balloon.
A good way to learn how we think is by examining the mistakes we make.
How well does your memory perform when you have to remember a lot of things?
(or, Scoring and performance)
Your score is computed as follows:
- For each turn that results in a non-match, subtract 1 point.
- For each turn that results in a match, add a number of points equal to the number of squares on the board.
So if you have your settings set to 2 matches and 10 groups, you'll have a total of 20 squares on the board. Each match is worth 20 points; each incorrect match deducts 1 point.
The highest score you could possibly get is squares * groups, but that's only if you're extremely lucky and make a match at every turn. The ideal score you could get is (groups * -1) + (groups * squares), which would happen if you uncover each image once without making a match, and then uncover each of the matching images and make the match.
I'm not sure I like this method of scoring. On a 2-match,20-group board, I first uncovered each square without even trying to make a match, bringing me to -20 points. Then, I played the board for real, but I didn't try very hard. I ended up with 725 points, out of an ideal 780. Judging from the number of points, the 725 game doesn't sound too much worse than a 780 game, but in reality the 725 game was far from ideal. If you can come up with a better scoring method, let me know.
You can measure your performance by comparing your score with the ideal score. Take your score, divide it by the ideal score, and multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
Now that you know how to calculate your performance, compare your performance between a 2-match game and a 3-match game. Could you even image how tough it would be to play a 10-match game? If you want, you can go ahead and give it a try!
Think about how much additional stuff you have to remember, even between a 2-match game and a 3-match game. Is your memory up to the task? Do you think that memorizing this large amount of information is something you can learn, or something inborn in you? If you can learn to memorize more, you might find that a 4-match game isn't too difficult.
Buzzed when you're wrong, or cheered when you're right?
(or, How feedback affects your game)
You can select from two types of audible feedback: negative and positive. The negative feedback chastises you with a "smack!" every time you fail to make a match. The positive feedback congratulates you with a soft "kphhhh!" when you succeed in making a match. The user interface will also use the "smack!" or "kphhh!" sounds when you're selecting new match or group sizes.
Do you find yourself performing better with one type of feedback than with the other?
Most computer applications today give users negative feedback. When the user does something wrong, the program yells at them: it may make a clank or a beep, it may pop up an error dialog with a nasty exclamation point and a terse message. Unfortunately, most computer programs do not reward correct behavior.
This may be one of the reasons that some people fear computers - they don't want to get yelled at when they make an innocent mistake. Negative feedback can also make a computer program unenjoyable to use.
An alternative to negative feedback is offering positive feedback. If the user does the right thing, they hear a soft coo or swish. If the user makes a mistake, they get silence. The type of silence that will instantly tell the user that something is wrong.
Positive feedback is very natural to us, and we hear it every day. When you close your house door, you hear it latch. If you don't hear the latch, you know something is wrong, so you try to close it again. When you start your car, you know it worked because you hear the engine running; if the you don't hear that sound, something is wrong.
Plus, negative feedback is jarring. It gives us an uneasy feeling, and can make us less able to perform well. It can detract from their concentration, making a computer application more of an obstacle than a tool. It's one of those viscious circles: you hear negative feedback, it gets you down a little bit, which means you make more mistakes, which means you hear more negative feedback...
So back to the original question: Do you perform better with negative or positive feedback? It's certainly interesting to think about, and you can play with it in this game.