The Study of Flow in Exergaming with Autism Spectrum Individuals through the Interactive Physical and Cognitive Exercise Study (iPACES)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs social and academic skills and delays language development. As of 2014, autism spectrum disorder now affects 1 in 68 children and its prevalence continues to increase. The Interactive Physical and Cognitive Exercise Study (iPACES) uses physical exercise to analyze the effects of exergaming on mental ability and cognitive flow. Flow indicates one’s ability to become fully engaged in an activity and feel positively about it. This flow state experience then facilitates executive functioning, attention, and overall performance on cognitive tasks. The participants (n=10) involved in the experiment were volunteers recruited from the community with consent from parents. All participants performed a pre-exercise series of cognitive tasks, exergaming, an abridged evaluation of the Flow State Scale, and a post-exercise series of alternate forms of the same cognitive tasks. Results revealed a significant difference between typically developing and ASD participants on ratings of flow (p = .04). The purpose of this study was to learn more about the effects of interactive aerobic and cognitive exercise on the flow state and overall cognitive performance.