Spot the Spy: Exploring Natural Question-Asking in Gaming Environments

Question-asking is a crucial aspect of human interaction. Questions fuel engagement, stimulate thought processes, foster learning, and facilitate information seeking behavior. Yet, scarce empirical research on question-asking, or its relation to related cognitive capacities such as creativity and intelligence, exists. We empirically investigate how people ask questions and the connections between question-asking and creativity through the domain of interactive gaming. To do so, we developed an online game—Spot the Spy—where players are required to find a hidden spy amidst a crowded room, by asking questions that guide them in their investigation. Thus, we dive into the very essence of how creative and strategic thinking collaborate to shape the queries we formulate. We find that players' gameplay correlates with their cognitive abilities, especially with intelligence measures. As such, our game captures insights into the profound ways creative cognition shapes the questions we articulate and navigate within dynamic gaming environments.