Wikiracing

The present work aims to compare the utility of a game called “The Wikipedia Game” (WG) against extant measures of knowledge (or Crystalized Intelligence). The object of the WG is to navigate from an origin article to a target article quickly and efficiently using only Wikipedia hyperlinks. The WG has the potential to improve upon extant measures in two key ways. First, while extant measures tend to assess rote knowledge of a single topic (e.g., “Who is Louis Armstrong?”), the WG allows for an evaluation of the quality of one’s network of knowledge (e.g., Q: “What is the relationship between Louis Armstrong and Neil Armstrong?” A: “They both have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame”). Second, the items constituting extant measures tend to be fixed (i.e., the test loses integrity after one administration), whereas the WG has the potential to generate novel items at each administration while retaining reliability.