We developed a technique to observe and characterize a novice real-time-strategy (RTS) player's mental model as it shifts with experience. We then tested this technique using an off-the-shelf RTS game, EA Games Generals. Norman defined mental models as, "an internal representation of a target system that provides predictive and explanatory power to the operator." In the case of RTS games, the o...

In earlier research, Narayanan and Hegarty developed a model of how people comprehend multimodal information displays of systems in VSC domains. This model, although described in detail with empirical support elsewhere (Narayanan & Hegarty, 2002), is reiterated in the following paragraphs since it forms the theoretical foundation for RID designs that I will investigate in proposed research. The...