I think it varies depending on what you are looking at. For example, if you are looking at people trying to figure out someone else’s goals and acting on that, or trying how to figure out what the villain is doing and plan accordingly, I’d classify that as cognitive. It seems to me that regardless of who you are playing with, these skills are necessary to have a smooth and productive role-playing experience. On the other hand, players with a strong sense of empathy tend to be very good people to play with. They tend to pay more attention to other players’ experiences (“Is she having fun?”) and since the goal of role-playing games is to have fun, these people, in my experience, tend to make it much more likely that everyone is going to come away happier.

If you’re looking at the social dynamic within these games measuring or attending to other players’ experiences, I think the empathy component would be good. Alternatively, if you’re looking at cooperation, anticipation, and trying to figure out what someone is going to do next, try the cognitive component. For an online game specifically run by seniors, I’d focus on one of two things: looking to see how players cooperate or examining the various social roles that tend to form within player groups. For example, all players are nominally equals but certain archetypes can appear in many, such as the leader, the quiet one, etc.

I’d be very interested in seeing what your seniors come up with!