If causality proven, begin attempting to narrow down the variables

Though there is plenty of correlative data indicating role-playing gamers seem to have many advantages in skills and cognitive benefits over those that do not engage in role-playing gaming, it will take time to find out if it is just those kinds of people drawn to RPGs to exercise those skills, or if anyone that participates in RPGs can actually benefit.

If the research begins to show that those who never gamed before, begin showing results in the before,during, and after tests indicating changes, then it will establish some level of causality (depending on the levels of controls and blinds used of course), but we still won't know which components of role-playing gaming are the most crucial for maximal measurable therapeutic benefit.. It will then require a series of experiments subtracting different variables from the typical RPG sessions, and looking for patterns that seem to indicate differences in results.This will take a considerable amount of time. Hopefully, one by one, we'll begin to isolate specific aspects of RPG's and control the different benefits. Once that begins to be possible, we can finally develop specific adventure modules to target the specific needs of clients.