Attention - Secret Files

How To Play

Don't let us keep secrets from you! This game requires you to catch words before they fall to the ground and file them in the correct secret drawer. Each drawer is devoted to a category. You can choose to see each drawer's category in advance or to discover it yourself as you begin filing the words. If you catch a word and place it in the wrong drawer, it will simply disappear (much like misplaced files in real life). This means that if you choose not to know the drawers' categories, you must discover them by trial and error.

Cognitive Function Exercised

Secret Files is a game that primarily targets attention and executive functioning, located in the pre-frontal and frontal cortex. In this exercise you will need to focus your attention, strategize, and plan ahead in order to succeed. You must also utilize your language and your working memory, localized in the left temporal lobe.

Benefits to Daily Life

In everyday life, our attention skills enable us to listen carefully to what someone is saying while ignoring other conversations in the room (the cocktail party effect) or listening to a cell phone conversation while driving a car, which is definitely not recommended! Also, when we classify a list of names by category, we are able to remember much more information. We often need to remember fairly long lists, including what we need at the grocery store, what we sent to the dry cleaners' and holiday gifts.