Love games and I do love paintings by Kandinsky. Was surprised to read a bout a Dutch game designer: Joost “Oogst” van Dongen. The previous link is to his blog were he writes a lot about designing the game and his admiration for early 20th century painters especially Kandinsky
Proun was made because there were ideas in my head that wanted to come out. They wanted to be a game. I wanted them to be a game. Design choices in Proun were not made to make it the best game for the player, or to make as much money as possible. Proun was made because I love the experimental art from the early 20th century, and I wanted to express this love in a game. Proun was made because I was fascinated by having a world where there is no up or down, and everything rotates.
Marc Owens’s augmented reality project “Avatar Machine” puts its users in VR helmets that display the world around them as though they were playing a third-person game, so that their own body is seen from behind. Owens theorizes that “The system potentially allows for a diminished sense of social responsibility, and could lead the user to demonstrate behaviors normally reserved for the gaming environment.”
Those video game players with more autonomy, competence and relatedness, thus who feel free to be themselves, and usually feel capable and have closeness and intimacy with others, often play video games because they like to. Those low on these traits often become obsessive game players, they have to play a video game. Moreover the first group enjoy their game play and feel energetic afterwards, while those in the latter group often feel more tension after game play and they usually play more hours.
In the end you have those video game players that want to play and those that have to play. The self-determination theory says that those with high self determination have a harmonious passion for video game play while those low on this dimension have a more obsessive passion for video game play. These groups of low or high level on this dimension also differ in outcome of game play. Those with obsessive passion usually play longer, have higher feelings of tension after the game and they have less game enjoyment.
Why is this important?
Many in popular culture assume that unhealthy relationships with games are rooted primarily in the experiences games provide. An important takeaway from this research is that these intuitions may be inaccurate, or at least incomplete.
The current findings suggest that the ways in which players approach games, either as a volitional, enhancing pursuit or as a compulsive, deleterious one, can be considered a consequence of the psychological need supports players experience in their day to day lives.
Players whose lives are more need satisfying are more likely to pursue games with a harmonious passion, accompanied by experiences of choice, energy, and enjoyment. Need thwarting, on the other hand, presents a risk factor for a disordered pattern characterized by long hours of compulsive, tense, and unenjoyable play.
Another important suggestion from this research is that with problematic game play the improvement of competence, autonomy and relatedness might help protect against obsessive game play. Teachers, parents and therapists can benefit from these results in their approach to obsessive game play.
How was this study done?
Mostly male video game players were recruited (n=1324) from members of a popular online community, ranging in age from 18-43 years. They had to be playing video games for at least a month. They participated in a survey and those completing the questionnaire received 100 dollar.
This shows the limitations of this study. First the generalizabilty is limited, only young adult males. The survey was done only once.
Przybylski, A., Weinstein, N., Ryan, R., & Rigby, C. (2009). Having to versus Wanting to Play: Background and Consequences of Harmonious versus Obsessive Engagement in Video Games CyberPsychology & Behavior DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2009.0083
This is from an excellent overview about video games and the brain: Video Games Affect the Brain—for Better and Worse. The most important conclusion to be drawn after reading the post on Cerebrum of the Dana Foundation is:
With the exception of educational games, most video games’ effects on brain and behavior are unintentional on the part of both the designers and the players. Nonetheless, research suggests that the effects are real. Video games are neither good nor bad. Rather, they are a powerful form of entertainment that does what good entertainment is supposed to do—it influences us.
Since I am biased first the good news about playing video games:
playing action video games can improve visual attention to the periphery of a computer screen
action games can improve adults’ abilities to make fine discriminations among different shades of gray (called contrast sensitivity), which is important for activities such as driving at night
games requiring teamwork help people develop collaboration skills
video games that include “pro-social” content—situations in which characters help each other in nonviolent ways—increase such conduct outside of game play, too
video game play improved surgical skill, as measured in a standardized advanced-skill training program. In fact, the surgeons’ amount of game time was a better predictor of advanced surgical skill in the training drills than their number of years in practice or number of real-life surgeries performed
Playing violent video games has effects on brain activity in different brain regions. From the discussed studies it has been shown that playing violent video games leads to suppression of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. This area involves cognitive control and planning. It could also mean suppression of the emotional response.
The authors propose 5 aspects of video games that can affect players: amount, content, structure, mechanics and context. Together, these aspects can explain different research results. These 5 aspects are of importance when judging about video games and their effects.
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
Recent gadgets such as the handheld portable Nintendo DS video game console, portable Sony Playstation Portable (PSP), iPhone and iPod touch go with video games. The advantage being obvious that any moment waiting can be used to play a video game.
Screens of these portable media consoles are comparable with television and video monitors in terms of resolution and fidelity but not in size. Gaming on a video screen or television is in my experience much nicer. In a recent published study they compared how physiological and psychological effects of portable consoles may differ from those of television-based consoles. Difference in experience of video games and movies between television and gadgets may precipitate differences in the delivered content’s effectiveness. They looked at physiological arousal and flow experience.
The 62 participants viewed a clip from the film Kingdom of Heaven and played a game from the Prince of Persia series on one of the consoles and television. All participants were assigned to play a video game and view a movie clip, with the order randomly counterbalanced to rule out order effects. Physiological arousal was measured through recording the skin conductance level, the flow experience was examined with questionnaires administered after each game or movie fragment.
Four other measures were included to collect descriptive information about participants and their relevant media use.
The preexposure questionnaire asked participants’ sex, age, estimated hours per week watching movies, and estimated hours per week playing video games.
The results showed that portable media consoles elicited less physiological arousal and self reported flow experience compared to television-based consoles, and this effect of console type was for both the video games and the movie clip. The video game elicited more arousal than the movie clip on both the console and television.
Consoles can be used everywhere and easy to use but the experience they provide is far less compared to television or video monitors.
Why is this important?
When video games or movies are used in education a student may enjoy the convenience of a portable media console when studying for an examination or watching a lecture, but other formats might be more effective for learning.
What do you think?
Ivory, J., & Magee, R. (2009). You Can’t Take It with You? Effects of Handheld Portable Media Consoles on Physiological and Psychological Responses to Video Game and Movie Content CyberPsychology & Behavior DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2008.0279
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).
Online game players score higher in openness, conscientiousness and extraversion compared to non players. They are eager to learn and master new challenges, they are motivated by competition and they enjoy social activities which can all be provided by online game playing.
I like computer games, it keeps my mind of things, help me relax. It is suggested that in order to keep the brain fit as we age it is important to keep it stimulated. Use it or lose it applies to the mind as well as the muscles. It is also suggested recently that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth.
Therefore these fun interactive anti-aging online memory games. To make your brain sweat. There is some advertising but Firefox captured just one pop-up. My favorite: Secret Files.
Since recent Browser Games —mostly persistent game worlds that can be used without client software and monetary cost with a Web browser—have come to town. Quake live is one of Dr Shock’s recent favorites. Use to play this a decade ago online, for those days beautifull graphics and gaming experience, also fun (frag it). Others are making browser games as well: Unity and Instant Action.
First Person Shooters are fairly new as browser games, more common are strategy games. They require players to build up economic structures in order to develop and maintain military capacities for conflict with the armies of other players. Similarly to massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), large communities of players can interact in such browser games; for instance, they can form alliances or participate in mass war campaigns.
Why are these strategy games as browser games appealing, why are they so popular?
Researchers recently published the result of their study on Travian, a German strategy browser game.
Results suggest that multiplayer browser games are enjoyed primarily because of the social relationships involved in game play and the specific time and flexibility characteristics (“easy-in, easy-out”). Competition, in contrast, seems to be less important for browser gamers than for users of other game types.
In order of importance the motivation to play this browser game were: socialization, competition, low cost and flexibility of use, and coping as escapism and receiving social support from gamer friends. The heaviest players assign more importance both to the socializing and competition. They didn’t differ compared to the less heavy gamers on low cost and coping as motivational factors. Browser games do not differ from other massively multiplayer online games in motivational appeal.
This study also tried to connect their results to game addiction, well you’ll probably know what Dr Shock thinks about game addiction and internet addiction.
How was this study done?
In fall 2007, the registered players of a major German browser strategy game, Travian (www.travian.de), were invited
to participate in an online survey. Travian is set in a historical time when the Romans invaded the North. Players start with one village and mostly group in tribes with players in close proximity to their village
Wonder what would be the results when studying First Peron Shooters as Browser Games, I would volunteer as a participant. What do you think?
Christoph Klimmt, Hannah Schmid, Julia Orthmann (2009). Exploring the Enjoyment of Playing Browser Games CyberPsychology & Behavior, 2147483647-4 DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2008.0128
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
While playing video games on a computer men generally exhibit greater activation of the mesocorticolimbic reward circuitry and also greater connectivity. Male were more effective in gaining space and learned the implicit goal faster than females. This was the only observed gender difference in performance.
The mesolimbic pathway is thought to be involved in producing pleasurable feeling, and is often associated with feelings of reward and desire, particularly because of the connection to the nucleus accumbens, which is also associated with these states. Recent research has pointed towards this pathway being involved in incentive salience rather than euphoric mood states.
A possible explanation for this finding is that the goal to ‘‘gain more space” in this game acted as a reward for males relative to females, whether or not it was consciously perceived as rewarding by the subjects. This significant association between goal achievement and learning and brain activation
profile occurs predominantly in males in this study.
The researchers excluded possible confounds due to neuropsychological profiles, lower-level motor performance, and computer and video-game experience.
This study was a functional magnetic resonance imaging study contrasting a space-infringement game with a control condition. The aim was to compare males and females and preform fMRI imaging during active and control situation while playing a video game.
This result could explain why females do not play computer games as much as men. They don’t seem to find playing video games as rewarding as men.
Other explanations for this gender differences are:
Boys and girls are treated differently online, with girls experiencing more unpleasant interactions. An overtly hostile environment toward women could be a reason more women do not play computer games.
Overall, the roles women play in the games are stereotyped and secondary to male characters.
These stereotypes were researched recently in an online survey conducted on women who played computer games and women who used the computer but did not play computer games.
The results:
It appears that women who do not play games experience more sexual harassment online, and that women who play games less experience more sexual harassment online. Moreover, women only play video games online, not chatting, they experience significantly less sexual harassment online.
Women who game at the exclusion of chatting and vice versa did not differ in sex role stereotyping.
Women who chatted without gaming were more accepting of interpersonal violence than women who gamed without chatting. This is not expected. The hypothesis was that women gaming would be more accepting to interpersonal violence.
Women who play computer games have no more masculine gender identities than women who use chat rooms only.
Women who play computer games are no more aggressive than women who use computers for chat rooms but do not play computer games.
In conclusion:
Women who played computer games perceived their online environments as less friendly but experienced less sexual harassment online, were more aggressive themselves, and did not differ in gender identity, degree of sex role stereotyping, or acceptance of sexual violence when compared to women who used the computer but did not play video games
Probably there are more women online playing video games than men realize. Maybe using gender neutral aliases. F HOEFT, C WATSON, S KESLER, K BETTINGER, A REISS (2008). Gender differences in the mesocorticolimbic system during computer game-play Journal of Psychiatric Research, 42 (4), 253-258 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2007.11.010 Norris, K O (2004). Gender Stereotypes, Aggression, and Computer Games: An Online Survey of Women CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7 (6), 714-727 DOI: 15687807
