Another useful health application developed with game engines. Relax in a beautiful virtual world when you can’t go there. The real environment is to be preferred but not everyone is able to go there. Interesting research, not only a good idea but also proven effective after the research, hopefully.
Reporter Daniel Cressey takes a trip to the University of Birmingham for a walk through a virtual world. By recreating the positive effects of spending time in natural environments, Bob Stone and his team hope to help those who can’t get out and about by bringing these environments to them.
Now that’s a very interesting idea. The end of the social media decade, starting the new decade: The Decade of Games. How to use this layer to get people to take their medication on time? Watch this video and enjoy.
By now, we’re used to letting Facebook and Twitter capture our social lives on the web — building a “social layer” on top of the real world. At TEDxBoston, Seth Priebatsch looks at the next layer in progress: the “game layer,” a pervasive net of behavior-steering game dynamics that will reshape education and commerce.
This link with video was very appreciated on twitter when I had it on my tumbler blog. Thought I share it with my other readers as well. It’s a reproductive health ed game for teenagers based on one of my old time favorite games: Worms. It has nice graphics and funny characters.
Privates is a platform twin-stick shooter in which you lead a teeny-tiny gang of condom-hatted marines as they delve into peoples’ vaginas, mouths and bottoms and blast away at all manner of oozy, shouty monsters. It’s rude, funny, bitingly satirical and technically pretty accurate if you don’t count the tiny people or the germs with teeth. Coming, soon.
Here is another trailer for an educational game for teenagers, The Curfew, a game that explores issues of surveillance, authoritarianism and liberation in a near-future Britain where a law-and-order party has taken over the country.
Brain-training computer games are a multimillion pound industry. But this week, a study published in Nature suggests they may not live up to their promise. Neuroscientist Adrian Owen teamed up with the BBC popular science programme ‘Bang Goes The Theory’ to recruit more than 11,000 volunteers for a massive online experiment. To read the story in full, go here
Besides getting better at the game your training does brain training improve cognitive functioning? Want to know, have a look at this video.
As always the answer to this question is not simple. From recent research it’s concluded that brain training games on paper are more effective and efficient than on computer consoles (Nintendo DS, in this research). Meaning that the task completion time was shorter on paper and the error rate was lower on paper. Many elderly people at this age are retired and can´t live on their own, that´s why these senior home care services are great to assist anybody in need.
However the advantages of using the console Brain Training is that games are more arousing and induces “a heightened sense of flow”. Flow being loss of self-consciousness, blurred feeling of time, and feeling of enjoyment and control during gaming. Moreover, these effects were for gamers of all ages.
The only difference between younger (18-25 years) and old gamers (> 64 years) was that logic problem-solving is associated with positive feelings for the elderly but with negative feelings in the young.
So if you want to do your granny a favor, buy her a logic training game on her console.
Elderly people take less time to solve on paper than on the console
Elderly people in general take more time than younger people to complete the task
Gender did not influence the time to complete tasks nor did it relate to the number of errors nor any other outcome measure.
Neither age nor form (paper or console) did influence the pleasure when playing
The feeling of control over a game for the elderly was regardless of form (paper or console) while the younger group felt less in control especially when playing the console. Feeling in control is not influenced by form but by age.
Decreased technological sophistication evokes lower levels of arousal in flow regardless of age
Arousal might be an important facilitator for flow for the younger age group, while for the older age group, pleasure, competence, and positive affect are all contributors to their flow experience
To my opinion this proofs that computer and console games makes it more pleasant, challenging and enjoyable to the elderly and each and every institution for the elderly should provide gaming opportunities like on Ocean Gardens because this retirement village has a very peaceful community. (yes thinking ahead here), what do you think?
Why is this important? It’s assumed that brain training games benefit elderly. It was never known whether you needed consoles or computers for this to achieve. Do games on paper worse than on console? The answer to this question was unknown. And does age have an influence on game play experience.
How was this study done?
This study employs a 2 by 2 mixed factorial design (age group: young and old by game form: paper and Nintendo DS) to investigate effects of age and game form on usability, self-assessment, and gameplay experience in a supervised field study. Effectiveness was evaluated in task completion time, efficiency as error rate, together with self-assessment measures (arousal, pleasure, dominance) and game experience (challenge, flow, competence, tension, positive and negative affect).
Nacke, L., Nacke, A., & Lindley, C. (2009). Brain Training for Silver Gamers: Effects of Age and Game Form on Effectiveness, Efficiency, Self-Assessment, and Gameplay Experience CyberPsychology & Behavior DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2009.0013
I’ve told you that so now and than I am playing computer games. Not only at home but since I’ve installed some games on my IPhone I also play while waiting for patients, meetings etc. It relaxes me. Getting my mind of. That’s why a recent study got my attention. The study investigated the recreational use of video and computer games in the workplace. Also, don’t forget to maintain your computer and devices clean. Want to know what is the best computer vacuum cleaner? It helps you to save your computer peripherals from the malfunction that dirt, dust, crumbs or other kind of debris when accumulated in your devices, can cause.
This study found that games have a positive influence on the recovery process by facilitating psychological detachment and relaxation. Games have a high cognitive demand, you have to concentrate while playing a game and it distracts from negative cognitions and ruminations. Games can provide relief from stress and can lead to feelings of relaxation. Increasing the game performance due to training and keeping track of your achievements in the game can increase the feeling of mastery and control.
Working activities can lead to feelings of tiredness and work related fatigue. Playing games can make someone recover from this lack of energy, making it a attractive recreational activity to fight work related fatigue and stress. Have to let my Boss know and let him read this publication.
Ten thousand German users of the online gaming portal GameDuell were invited via e-mail to participate in an online survey on the use of computer games during working hours….833 participants. The sample comprised 387 men (46.5%) and 446 women (53.5%). Their ages ranged from 16 to 66 years
From 833 participants 383 participants (46.6%) reported playing games during working hours: daily, 10.0%; several times a week, 15.5%; once a week, 7.0%; once per month, 3.6%; less than once per month, 10.6%. They associated substantial levels of recovery experience with playing computer games at work and make moderate use of computer games after stressful and exhausting situations.
Using a recovery experience questionnaire the researchers could proof that gameplay at work was associated with recovery experience. This doesn’t mean that there is a causal relationship just an association found with a questionnaire about the subject of research. The stronger the recovery experience by the individual the more often games are played in the office. Moreover, work related fatigue was related to recovery experience associated with game play.
Those receiving less social support from colleagues and supervisors at work, played games at work more frequently than did individuals with higher levels of social support. Participants who had more influence on the timing and sequence of their work were better able to choose a recovery activity that best fitted their recovery needs, such as playing computer games.
Gameplay at work can have positive effects on employees. You shouldn’t play games to long because otherwise you might get tired due to gaming instead of working since playing games costs a lot of concentration, what do you think?
Reinecke, L. (2009). Games at Work: The Recreational Use of Computer Games During Working Hours CyberPsychology & Behavior DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2009.0010
Welcome to the 66th installment of the venerable Encephalon — the premier brainy / psychology-y blog carnival! My hosting philosophy is to be minimalist, so I figured I’d make this an official no-frills, no-fuss edition, presented with ‘just the facts, ma’am’ (with apologies to Orac).
It’s no secret that Dr Shock enjoys a video game now and then. Time flies when I am having fun, at least that’s what I thought.
In recent research this phrase: “time flies when having fun” doesn’t apply to playing video games. Surprisingly the enjoyment values recorded for each task in this trial, 8 minutes reading from screen and 8 min video game play, and 24 minutes game play, were not correlated with the time estimation values. It didn’t matter whether you enjoyed your self or not, this didn’t influence your time estimation (wrong or good).
The results from this study shows that video game dependence defined as longer usual playing length and a greater number of hours spent playing per week are all associated with lower time estimations in the 24-min video game task. Since only the 24-min task is affected by the gaming profile, and not the 8- min task, the gamers seem to lose the track of time only when they immerse themselves in the game for a longer period. Moreover, the ones playing longer and a greater number of hours estimated the total duration of the study correctly. This indicates that they are able to perceive long durations adequately.
Their time estimation mechanisms for long durations are normal, and they just have difficulty estimating long video game playing sessions.
Compared to reading from a computer screen during 8 minutes, video game play for 8 minutes was estimated as shorter than the 8-min reading task. An attention-based hypothesis might explain this finding. The literature provides empirical evidence that an increase in mental workload yields shorter time judgments. Time may be estimated as shorter in the video game task because this Tetris task might require more mental effort than reading. Tetris requires a constant visual-motor coordination in addition to spatial abstraction to make sure the blocks are correctly aligned. As more resources are required to play the game, less attention is available and directed to the passage of time. That’s only for Tetris, can you imagine what would happen when playing Doom or Call of Duty 4.
How was this study done?
116 adolescents (14–15 years old) had to judge prospectively or retrospectively the duration of three consecutive tasks: a 8 min and a 24 min task of playing video game (Tetris) and an 8 min task of reading on a computer screen (control task).
Why is this important?
Adolescents play for a long duration of time not because their timing mechanism is disrupted by the video game but because their time mechanism is disrupted they play longer. The Chicken and Egg problem.
These findings are coherent with the hypothesis that time perception might partially determine playtime; adolescents who have a greater tendency to play video games tend to lose track of time when they play. As adolescents underestimate time when they play, they play for longer that they expected or planned to play. Moreover, they like to play because they lose the track of time when they play. Therefore, timing mechanisms might not only be disrupted by video games, but they might likely also be part of the reason why they play for long periods.
So does Dr Shock play a lot because he has inaccurate time estimations or does he have inaccurate time estimations because he plays a lot? What do you think?
S TOBIN, S GRONDIN (2009). Video games and the perception of very long durations by adolescents Computers in Human Behavior DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2008.12.002
Playing a video game increases cognitive performance, this increase is similar with a non violent and a violent video game. The cognitive ability increase was similar for both types of video games, which suggests that content does not seem to affect the overall cognitive outcomes of video game play.
Participants were randomly assigned to three groups: the control group (n = 54), the non-violent video game experimental group (n = 27), and the violent video game experimental group (n = 32).
Participants in the non-violent experimental condition played one session of marked numbers for four minutes, the tile game for ten minutes, and the marked numbers game again for four minutes. Participants in the violent experimental condition played Red Alert 2 for 18 min. Finally, participants in the control condition used the Internet to search for information relating to air traffic controllers for 18 min.
In contrast to earlier research this study addressed some of the problems in the past literature. First, the participants had to perform the outcome test four times. This was studied in a pilot in which the researchers determined how many trials were needed to reach asymptote on the criterion measure used in the randomized trial. This way it was ensured that any observed change in scores of this measure were not based on a practice effect.
Second, they did not specifically sample video game players. Thus, the generalization of the findings can be applicable to more than just game players.
What kind of cognitive performance was tested?
Working memory
A task of adding three numbers, e.g., to add 482 to 123, or 193 to 12.
An auditory perception task. Participants heard a series of high and low pitched tones over headphones. Participants’ task was to click a button on the screen which signifies that they heard the high tone but were to ignore the low tones
A selective attention task
The participants playing video games showed increased cognitive performance compared to the control group. This increase is similar with a non violent and a violent video game.
Other cognitive tasks shown to improve with video games in other research
Visualization refers to the ability to mentally manipulate visual patterns. For instance the ability to visualize a 3-D object from a 2-D object improves with practice with video games.
Selective attention is the ability to focus on relevant information that is pertinent to the task, while filtering out or irrelevant information
Scanning is defined as repetitive sequences of fixations and saccades that occur upon re-exposure to a visual stimulus, facilitating recognition of that stimulus
tracking in the computer game literature is viewed as a dual process consisting of hand tracking (using the keyboard/controller) and visual tracking (attending to objects on the screen).
Warning Dr Shock is biased when it concerns scientific literature on video games C BARLETT, C VOWELS, J SHANTEAU, J CROW, T MILLER (2008). The effect of violent and non-violent computer games on cognitive performance Computers in Human Behavior DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2008.07.008
Computer game players with more physical-aggressive personality manifest more violent behaviors in game playing with more violent interactions, more frequent punching and kicking actions, and more frequent shootings. This research is one of the first to show that personality is an important factor in how a game is played.
The most important contribution of this study is that it investigated the individual experience of game playing. Most of the existent studies, especially experimental studies, simply compare a group of people playing a violent game and another group playing a nonviolent game without taking into consideration that the violent content people are exposed to can vary to a great extent even when playing the same game. This study is the first that goes beyond contextual variables and actually considers the unique experience of each individual player.
How was it done?
Screen captures of 40 undergraduate students were studied. They independently played the game for 70 minutes, sitting separately from each other and wearing earphones. The video stream of the last 10 minute portion of their game playing was recorded using the software Snagit for content analysis.
Two popular computer games The Godfather (Game 1) and True Crime: Streets of LA(Game 2) were used. Both are third-person action games rated as Mature with violent physical force. Participants played either as a gangster in Game 1 or as a violent police officer in Game 2. Both games involved driving, shooting, fighting, and interactions with nonplayer characters (NPCs). In both games, players could use natural means (e.g., punch, kick) or weapons during violent interactions. Using two games rather than one was aimed to reduce the influence of a specific game. Eighteen of the 40 participants played Game 1, and 22 played Game 2.
Physical-aggressive personality was measured a week before participation using the physical aggression subscale in Buss and Perry’s Aggression Questionnaire.
Five dependent variables were used to measure the aggressiveness of participants’ game play: (a) frequency of PAT, (b) frequency of nonviolent interaction, (c) frequency of using natural means, (d) frequency of using firearm, and (e) percentage of two types of consequences: severe and mild. A PAT is an aggressive exchange that occurs between a perpetrator (P) engaging in a particular type of act (A) against a target (T).
The next step would be to examine whether aggressive game play actually mediate the effect of playing violent games. Will a violent game player later show more aggressive thoughts, affects and behaviors.
Limitations
A small sample size with undergraduates makes generalizability limited, the participants were mainly male, only 6 women participated. Aggressive thoughts, affects or behaviors after game playing weren’t measured. This would be of interest for the effect of violent game playing. Other factors such as playing against a human or a computer and playing on a 42 inch screen or a mobile phone screen can also influence game play.
Peng, W., Liu, M., Mou, Y. (2008). Do Aggressive People Play Violent Computer Games in a More Aggressive Way? Individual Difference and Idiosyncratic Game-Playing Experience. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(2), 157-161. DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2007.0026
