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Ben Dyson

@benjdyson.bsky.social
58 followers 70 following 77 posts

Decision making in games, art, sound / vision & the brain beneath it all. Game designer? Immigrant. He / him. @benjdyson

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Reposted by Ben Dyson
PsychUAlberta @psychualberta.bsky.social · 19h
Congratulations to Yajing Zhang on receiving not one, but two outstanding awards! Yajing has been awarded the Dallas Treit Graduate Research Award and an Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI) Graduate Scholarship. Please join us in congratulating Yajing!
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
No new hat but also today...
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Thanks also to Mel for some Slug Fest chat! www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ppa...
youtube.com
Speed Pitching at Play the North - Slug Fest
YouTube video by Mel's Board Game Room
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Thanks to @pemetawe.bsky.social & Play The North organizers for the opportunity to speed pitch this weekend! @roxley.bsky.social @burntislandgames.bsky.social @offthepagegames.bsky.social #ktbg #InsideUpGames were so gracious to give up their time.
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Reposted by Ben Dyson
PsychUAlberta @psychualberta.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Thank you, Elder Fernie Marty! It was an honor to host Elder Fernie Marty, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper and Member of the Papaschase First Nation, as we welcomed our incoming graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and staff, and celebrated our award recipients.
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Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology @cjep.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Call for Special Issues Papers @apajournals.bsky.social From lab to reality: How psychological protocols and phenomena hold up in the real world Letters of intent deadline: January 31, 2027 Manuscript submission deadline: November 1, 2027 Submission details here www.apa.org/pubs/journal...
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PsychUAlberta @psychualberta.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Congratulations to Yajing Zhang who passed her candidacy this afternoon (supervisor Dr Ben Dyson)! Thanks to examination committee members Dr Weimin Mou, Dr Christina Gagne, Dr Dana Hayward, Dr Carrie Shaw, and, to Dr Chris Sturdy for chairing.
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
All sluggy slots for the Saturday 1pm gameplay of Slug Fest are full! Try to move fast (you are a slug, after all) to get a seat at the table for Saturday 2:30pm and 4:00pm. @fallconyyc.bsky.social #PrototypeAlley
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Reposted by Ben Dyson
PsychUAlberta @psychualberta.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Congratulations to Dr Ben Dyson on being awarded a Henry Marshall Tory Chair! This prestigious 5 year appointment recognizes Ben's research and teaching scholarship. @benjdyson.bsky.social @ualberta.bsky.social
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Reposted by Ben Dyson
Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology @cjep.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
El Rifai, A. M., Tellier, C., & Dyson, B. J. (2026). Using the game can’t stop to inform the novel behavioural state of near-loss. Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1037/cep0...
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
...try to keep your food tastes hidden while deducing the culinary preference of others. Give unwanted food by crossing the slimy trails left behind but be prepared that other slugs are ready to do the same to you. Come say hi at #FallCon26 I should be easy to spot.
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Calling all gastropods! Sluggy slots are now available for Slug Fest at Prototype Alley @fallconyyc.bsky.social Sign up via #CardboardConnect In Slug Fest, you take control of a family of slugs in search of their favorite foods in a country garden...
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Reposted by Ben Dyson
PsychUAlberta @psychualberta.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Join Dr Ben Dyson (@benjdyson.bsky.social) this Friday 13th March 12 noon for a playful Teaching Seminar session BS P226 "Can we teach concepts via game actions? Collaborators vs. innovators in the novel card game Shape" @ualberta.bsky.social
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Please join the Re: Cognition at Poster Session E 123 and 126 #CNS2026- Eunchan and Yajing are ready to take your questions! @psychualberta.bsky.social
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Reposted by Ben Dyson
PsychUAlberta @psychualberta.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Dr Ben Dyson PSYCH 353: The Psychology of Board Games Tuesday, Feb. 10 | 12:30 - 1:50 p.m.
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
A highlight of this year was being invited by the Esker Foundation to write a piece on Babak Golkar's recent exhibition When Sound Becomes Unsound. Read 'Please Do Not Touch The Artwork Beyond This Point' below @psychualberta.bsky.social permanentcollection.eskerfoundation.com/essays/pleas...
permanentcollection.eskerfoundation.com
‘PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE ARTWORK BEYOND THIS POINT’ - Permanent Collection
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Reposted by Ben Dyson
Canadian Psychological Association @canadianpsychology.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Call for Nominations for Editor of Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology (2026-2030) The Board of Directors of the CPA has opened nominations for the Editorship of the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology for the years 2026 through 2030. More information: buff.ly/BOdMS9S
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Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
The Hidden History of Women Game Designers daily.jstor.org/the-hidden-h...
daily.jstor.org
The Hidden History of Women Game Designers - JSTOR Daily
Nineteenth-century women turned music lessons into interactive entertainment, complete with spinning wheels and ivory counters.
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PsychUAlberta @psychualberta.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
We are live at @ualberta.bsky.social Open House! Lab tours at 10am and 2pm, Psychology presentation at 12 noon. Come by and say hi!
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Reposted by Ben Dyson
PsychUAlberta @psychualberta.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Applications for MA, MSc and PhD programs in Psychology @ualberta.bsky.social are now open! For application information and FAQ, please visit our website below. Deadline December 1st. Join us! www.ualberta.ca/en/psycholog...
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Time to buy a few more copies then?
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
I was extremely happy to contribute to this article about the use of off-the-shelf board games in the classroom. Thank you @keithlaw.bsky.social for the invite!
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Reposted by Ben Dyson
Keith Law @keithlaw.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
for @endlessmode.bsky.social I spoke to a number of educators about how and why they're using off-the-shelf board games in the classroom, and what games they've used successfully with students from primary school to college: www.endlessmode.com/article/how-...
endlessmode.com
How Board Games Are Used in the Classroom
There's a long history of educational games, but how are board games used in the classroom today? We talk to eight educators to find out.
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
All table reservations for fine Takoyaki dining at #FallCon25 are fully booked! Although our restaurant is at capacity for scheduled opening hours, walk-ins may be accepted- just come by and say hi!
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Hi Keith! I teach a course using board games to teach psychological principles @ualberta.bsky.social
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
This is an important characteristic of science that we *replicate* the same findings over time and space. References Bar-Hillel, Peer & Acquisti (2014) psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-... Forder & Dyson (2016) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27658703/ Kubovy & Psotka (1976) psycnet.apa.org/record/1977-...
psycnet.apa.org
APA PsycNet
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
The third effect reported by YouGov was that when picking a number between 1 to 10, about 40% of folks pick 7. The popularity of 7 was also reported by Kubovy & Psotka back in 1976, perhaps because it is the ‘oddest’ digit….
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Second, Rock was preferred 44% of the time. Selecting Rock over Paper or Scissors might also be explained by this ‘primary salience’. In 2016, Forder & Dyson also found people played Rock 35.2% (as opposed to 33.3%) of the time. @exeunt.press But this can’t explain the third finding…
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
First, Heads was picked over Tails 74% vs 26%. In predicting a first coin toss, Bar-Hillel, Peer & Acquisti in 2014 also report about 80% of folks picking Heads. This is explained in terms of a ‘reachability bias’- more likely to pick the first item in a list. @mease19.bsky.social
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
A great new GameTek Post by @gengelstein.bsky.social‬ (hope you had a nice birthday Geoff!) regarding a YouGov poll on the non-random selection of options during chance situations. The cool thing is each of the three findings discussed replicate previously observed findings! Here we go…
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
Some huge games of Tenure Track going down at #BerlinBrettSpiel25! Thanks to all the fantastic playtesters who came by today.
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
Tenure Track is live at Table 16 in Prototype Alley at #BerlinBrettSpiel25. Come by and say hi!
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
@fallconyyc.bsky.social playtesting times for my 2025 Canadian Game Design Award #CDGA finalist Takoyaki have been announced. Sign up via Cardboard Events and I look forward to showing you the game! Friday 22nd August 1pm - 3pm Friday 22nd August 3pm - 5pm Saturday 23rd August 12pm - 2pm
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Received Playtesting Best Practices by Chris Backe as part of @gengelstein.bsky.social Guides To Tabletop Game Design Nice to see the concept of 'double coding'- in Cognitive Psychology we call this 'redundancy gain': better discrimination when objects differ on 2 (rather than 1) features
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
What can science tell us about games? Combining experimental design with game design enables the empirical validation of choices made by commercial games. In Ghost Blitz, the frequency that players experience a task switching cost predicted the reduction in self-reported fun (3/3) ⛔
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
What can games tell us about science? This research shows how the constraint of task switching is hidden in the card game Ghost Blitz. Surface characteristics are important as the game is more fun and performance faster with the commercial stimuli compared to a ‘experiment-like’ format (2/3) 👇
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
What can games tell us about science? What can science tell us about games? New @cognitionjournal.bsky.social paper @psychualberta.bsky.social @ualberta.bsky.social "Evaluating commercial game design decisions via the scientification of games" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... (1/3) 👇
sciencedirect.com
Evaluating commercial game design decisions via the scientification of games: Asymmetrical task switching errors predict self-reported fun in Ghost Blitz
By decomposing the structure, rule set and stimuli of games, it becomes possible to examine the impact of specific choices made by designers and publi…
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
What can science tell us about games? Combining experimental design with game design enables the empirical validation of choices made by commercial games. In Ghost Blitz, the frequency that players experience a task switching cost predicted the reduction in self-reported fun.
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
What can games tell us about science? This research shows how the constraint of task switching is hidden in the card game Ghost Blitz. Surface characteristics are important as the game is more fun and performance faster with the commercial stimuli compared to a ‘experiment-like’ format
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
My Canadian Game Design Award 2025 Finalist prototype 'Takoyaki' is now on its way to the CGDA judges. And not a moment too soon according to the file status of my rule book... @fallconyyc.bsky.social
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
This is super exciting news @fallconyyc.bsky.social! I'm looking forward to playing all the 2025 CGDA Finalist games and meeting all the designers in Prototype Alley. Time for a Takoyaki teaser?
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Reposted by Ben Dyson
Geoff Engelstein - The Universe Explained with Cookie out now! @gengelstein.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Two new books have just been published in myh series Guides To Tabletop Game Design! Worldbuilding from Steve Dee and Playtesting Best Practices from Chris Backe both give nuanced, and insightful coverage of their topics from noted experts. Please check them out! www.routledge.com/CRC-Press-Gu...
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Loved your puzzle box talk- some very clear examples of how to put a psychology surface on a puzzle structure. It also reminded me to reread the Escape Room review paper by @scottnicholson.bsky.social scottnicholson.com/pubs/stateof...
scottnicholson.com
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Saturday at #SARMAC2025 (8:45am; Boardroom 1) I'll be contributing to Teaching About Research in Memory & Cognition (TARMAC) @psychualberta.bsky.social @ualberta.bsky.social 'Assessing the replicability of Cognitive Psychology during remote experiential learning via mobile phone technology'
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
An extremely fun morning at #LinCon25 playtesting Tenure Track as a finalist for the Swedish Annual Game Award (Anvil Category). Looking forward to seeing some of the other finalists this afternoon! @psychualberta.bsky.social
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Very fun playtesting session of Tenure Track this afternoon as part of the Festival of Teaching and Learning, including some critical feedback regarding resource management...
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
b) 2:00 pm - 2:30 am ECHA 1-490 What is it like to be an academic? Simulating higher education systems via board game actions in Tenure Track c) 2:45 pm - 3:45 am ECHA 1-490 Playtesting Tenure Track: The simulation of higher education systems via a board game
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Looking forward to hosting a few sessions at the 2025 Festival of Teaching and Learning tomorrow (14 May) at University of Alberta a) 10:15 am - 11:15 am ECHA 1-490 Overcoming a barrier in the use of games in education via the use of a generic card game system allowing for specific content overlay
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Charlie Hind @hindcharlie.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
New study from the Women in Supramolecular Chemistry (WISC) revealing the unique challenges resulting from being First Gen (first generation of a family to access Higher Education) in science and showing how these persist at every stage of a career in academia: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
pubs.rsc.org
Being a first generation university graduate, the impact on a career in science
Being in the first generation to access Higher Education (First Gen) is a barrier to academic success. First Gens face difficulties transitioning into, completing, and attaining competitive grades in ...
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Ben Dyson @benjdyson.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Thanks to #AGRI25 for hosting such a fun and interesting conference @banffcentre.bsky.social. Lots of great conversations in spectacular surroundings! Here are Yajing and Eunchan doing an amazing job representing @psychualberta.bsky.social
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