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Social and psychological effects of computer games

Social and psychological effects of computer games. Erica Gallinaro , Marta Grodzicka , Micha ł Skrzypek, Błażej Grzechnik. The product Motivation& Selection Reception & Process Effects & Consequences KUHL- survey. Research on the effects of game playing. Concentrates on:

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Social and psychological effects of computer games

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  1. Social and psychological effects of computer games Erica Gallinaro, Marta Grodzicka, Michał Skrzypek, Błażej Grzechnik

  2. The product • Motivation& Selection • Reception & Process • Effects & Consequences • KUHL- survey

  3. Research on the effects of game playing • Concentrates on: • Negative effects of violent entertainment games • Utility of educational games • General effects of game playing • Positive effects of violent entertainment games (except for the catharsis theory) andnegative effects of educational games are not discussed.

  4. 5 4 3 2 1

  5. 1. Positive effects of educational games • Learning • Motivation • Retentionmemory • Utility for specialgroups (attention-deficit children, patients)

  6. Learning Why might computer games be more effective? (Malone, 1981) Characteristics of the computer game • Fantasy- attractiveness, attention Endogenous fantasy- it has to do something with the learning material (Rieber, 1996) • Challenge- goals must be uncertain to gain, obvious, meaningful to players and the player needs feedback if he had achieved them • Curiosity

  7. Learning Electronic simulations/games vs. conventional methods (Randel, Morris &Wetzel, 1992)

  8. Learning • Depend on subject matter • Math has the best results (Randel et al., 1992) • Mathematics problem solving, reading comprehension, word study (Blanchard, Stock & Marshall, 1999) • Visual and interactive components (Sedbrook, 1998) • no improvement in the knowledge • increase of enjoyment

  9. Learning Is it the effect of the game or of the computer? • Wiebe& Martin: geography “non-computer classroom games and activities” vs. “computer-based adventure games” • no differences • Antonietti & Mellone (2003): computer-based and traditional version of Pegopolis • no differences in performance or strategy • Perhaps it is the effect of thegame,notthe computer

  10. Motivation Educational games have positive effects on motivation. For example in studies with • learning-disabledchildren(Malouf, 1987) • intermediate-level students with learning disabilities (Okolo, 1992) higherlevel of continuingmotivationwas found. Does a higher motivation lead to better learning effects? • Yes (Lepper, 1992) • No (Druckman, 1995)

  11. Retention Memory Why should computer games improve retention memory? • attention for media stimuli is higher than for other stimuli • higher engagement • In 86% of the studies educational computer games produced greater retention memory than conventional classroom instruction (Randel et al., 1992) • personalized vs. neutral messages (Moreno & Mayer, 2000) personalized messages are better for retention memory and problem solving

  12. Utility for special groups • Children with learning disabilities or attention-deficit disorder • difficulty of the game increases, when the child becomes less attentive (brainwaves)(Pope & Bogart, 1996) • Elderly people • faster reaction times and higher sense of well-being after playing Super Tetris (Goldstein et al. 1997) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWn32bCXnRE

  13. Positive effects of educational games-Summary Learning • In 39% of the studies they are better than conventional methods • This might be the effect of learning during play, not the effect of the computer as a media Motivation • is higher, but do not necessarily increase the learning effect Retentionmemory • Increases Utility for specialgroups • It can help children with learning disabilities or attention-deficit disorder and elderly people

  14. 2.Positive effects of nonviolent entertainment games • Training • Spatial skills • Sociability • Academicperformances • Therapy • Cognitiveabilities

  15. Training • Games and simulations created for Military • Doom was modified (by the Marine Corps Modeling and Simulation Management Office) to teach the combats tactics • America’s Army has been used for Army recruitment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iedBodvPLiY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpgD5yuUAA4&feature=related

  16. Spatial Skills Playing computer games showed a development in 2 and 3-dimensional mental rotation among • students (McClurg & Chaille, 1987; Miller & Kapel, 1985) • boys and girls equally (Greenfield, 1996; De Lisi & Wolford, 2002) • Kindergarten children (Perzov & Kozminsky, 1989) • college students (Pepin & Dorval, 1986) But there are also results that suggest no improvement, e.g. • Seventh-grade students (Pepin & Dorval, 1986) • Elderly participants (Pepin & Dorval, 1986; Gagnon, 1985) Possible explanation • Noncontrollable variables in the study, e.g. experience with computer games

  17. Sociability Popular hypothesis: children who play computer games stay at home alone what has a negative effect on their social adjustment Computer game players • scored higher sociability (Shimai, Masuda & Kishimoto, 1990) • more often see their friends after school (Colwell, Grady & Rhaiti, 1995) • In an Australian study (Durkin & Barber, 2002) among sixteen- year-old (N=1304) • High players scored higher family closeness and attachment to school • Low players scored lower in depressed mood, aggression and disobedience and higher in self-esteem • Nonplayers did not score high in any measure • Playing computer games is a positive feature of a healthy adolescent (playing with friends, exchanging game experience)

  18. Academic performance Popular hypothesis: decrease of academic performance, because time that should be spend on homework is spend on playing It was found that • there is a positive correlation between time spent on nonviolent entertainment games and intelligence among children in elementary school (van Schie & Wiegman, 1997) • heavy use of computer games has a positive relation to low self-esteem, poor academic performance and less sociability (Roe & Muijs, 1998) • The results are mixed; further research needed

  19. Therapy • Application of video games in psychotherapy session (Gardner, 1991) • Common grounds between the therapists and his patient • Behavioral observation opportunities • Diversion from side effects of cancer chemotherapy and reduction of pain (Redd et al., 1987) • Increase of motivation to exercise and metabolic activity during wheelchair use (O’Connor, Fitgerald, Cooper, Thorman & Boninger, 2001) …. • New tool for psychology and medicine

  20. Cognitiveabilities To play a computer game certain skills are needed e.g.: proactive and recursive thinking, systematic organization of information, interpretation of visual information, means-ends analysis,… (Pillay, 2003) • Playing might develop cognitive skills, which are then transferred to other tasks Research has shown that playing computer games has a positive effect on • understanding and interpreting scientific and technical information presented graphically on a computer screen (Greenfield, Brannon & Lohr, 1994) • generating a wide variety of alternative hypotheses for a problem situation (Doolittle, 1995) • inductive reasoning (Camaioni, Ercolani, Perrucchini & Greenfield, 1990) • complex thinking in problem solving (Keller, 1992) • strategic planning (Jenkins, 2002; Keller, 1992) • self-regulated learning (Rieber, 1996) • development of different learning styles (Jenkins, 2002)

  21. Positive effects of nonviolent entertainment games- Summary Training • Computer games and simulations can be used for training, for example in military Spatial skills • Playing computer games develops spatial skills • there are also results which suggest no improvement Sociability • Playing computer games has no negative effect on children and youths’ sociability; players even score higher Academicperformances • Children playing computer games scored higher in intelligence tests • Heavy playing is correlated with poor academic performances Therapy • Computer games may be used in a wide range of therapeutic methods Cognitiveabilities • Playing computer games develops cognitive abilities

  22. 3. Negative effects of nonviolent entertainment games • Addictionorgamedependency • Genderstereotyping • Physical health problems

  23. Addictionorgamedependency 08.08.2005, South Korea: an adult gamer died after 50 hours of continuous playing Addiction is a compulsion to engage in some specificactivity, despiteharmful consequences to the individual'shealth, mental state or sociallife. Current studies do not support the game addiction hypothesis. Results, which suggest an addiction, are either based on a unrepresentative sample or focus on nonpopular games. • It is suggested not to use the word “addiction” but “dependency” Dependency means that playing is not only a preoccupation, but also serves special social and psychological functions in the player’s life. (Shotton, 1989)

  24. Game dependency Survey with 387 adolescents (12-16 years old) (Griffiths & Hunt, 1998): • 20% were dependent on computer games • boys played more regularly and were oftener classified as dependent • the earlier a child starts to play, the more likely it is that it becomes dependent

  25. Gender stereotyping “Children Now” surveyed 1716 characters of video games (2001) • Female characters were less likely to be player-controlled • Male and female characters were portrayed in a stereotypical way • Female characters were very sexy • Male characters were hypermasculinized • Female characters = victims • Male characters = heroes • Affect on the self-image of girls and expectations of boys

  26. Physical health problems • Study of 387 patients, who were extremely sensitive to electronic visual simulation (Kasteleijn-Nolst et al., 1999) • Patients became more sensitive when playing than when viewing games; especially Super Mario http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_wsEtxpj14&feature=related • Consequences if sitting in front of the computer (vision, spine) instead of outdoor activities

  27. Negative effects of nonviolent entertainment games- Summary Addiction or gamedependency • No reliable surveys on addiction • Dependency concerns 1 out of 5 players, especially boys and those, who started early Genderstereotyping • Stereotypic image of male and female characters, which might effect the self-image and expectations of children Physical health problems • Especially, when playing becomes a substitute for outdoor activities

  28. 4. Positive effect of violent entertainment games Symbolic Catharsis Hypothesis discharging aggression by purging aggressive emotions oremotional purification Psychoanalytic theory: • aggression and sexuality are the major drives • emotional catharsis is based on the hydraulic model of anger • release may happen in real life or in fantasy (for example while playing video games) • Players can release their aggression in a nondestructive way, what has the effect of relaxing (Bowman & Rotter, 1983; Kestenbaum & Weinstein, 1985)

  29. Symbolic Catharsis Hypothesis There is no empirical support for the catharsis effect. (Bushmann, 2002) What could be the reason? • Catharsis means “intellectual clarification” and may not occur for aggression in general or for violence in media • Problems with research. What should an experiment to test this hypothesis look like? • The subjects must feel aggressive and angry at the beginning. • Two experimental groups: • can use media in any way they like • control group without media choice • Second measure of aggression • Further research needed

  30. 5. Negative effects of violent entertainment games • Affect (hostility, anxiety) • Agressivebehaviors • Priming aggressivethoughts • Physiologicalresponses (heartrate, bloodpressure) • Prosocialbehavior

  31. Why playing violent games can have an effect on aggression- Theoretical foundation • Social cognitive theory (Bandura) • players identify themselves with the characters • justification of violence might be internalized and • transferred to the real world • Excitation transfer model (Zillmann) • the player gets excited while playing • the emotional state of a player is intensified after that • Cognitive priming (Berkowitz) • playing increases accessibility to a subset of cognitions related to violence and aggression • transfer to real-world aggressive behavior

  32. General Aggression Model (GMA) (Anderson & Bushman, 2002; Carnagey & Anderson, 2003; Buckley & Anderson) Violent media • teaches how to aggress • increases arousal and affective aggressive states • primes aggressive cognitions When playing is repeated • aggression-related cognitive structures • aggressive perceptual schema • aggressive behavioral scripts are reinforced and • the aggressive personality of a person increases • changes in the environment, e.g. new peers groups, which are more aggressive • use of more violent media

  33. General Aggression Model (Anderson & Bushman, 2002; Carnagey & Anderson, 2003; Buckley & Anderson) GMA explains • short-termeffectson aggressivecognitions, affects, behaviors and phisiologicalarousal • long-term effectson aggressiveattitudes, schemata, personality and aggressiondesensitization of violent media.

  34. Affect Playing violent games • causes a feeling of aggression; Mortal Kombatand Corner Pocket have been compared (Ballard & West, 1996) • induces temporary higher level of anxiety (Anderson & Ford, 1986) • correlates with general hostility and anger (Chory-Assad & Mastro, 2000) But other surveys suggest that playing video games • is a weak predictor for anger state (Abel-Cooper, 2001) • has no effect on hostility (Anderson & Ford, 1986; Anderson & Dill, 2000) • is in no relation with aggressiveness measured by Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Scott, 1995) • Anderson and Dill suggest that playing violent video games does not influence behavior through the affective path, but the cognitive

  35. Aggressive behaviors Postgameaggressivebehaviorssuch as • theduration and intensity of noiseblast to opponents(Anderson & Dill, 2000; Cohn, 1996) • attacking Bobo doll(Shuttle et al. 1988) • childrens’ aggressivebehaviorinfree play (Silvern &Williamson, 1987) • time spentplayingwith an aggressivetoy (Cooper & Mackie, 1986) showed a relationshipbetweenplayingviolent computer games and later behavior in experimental conditions.

  36. Aggressive behaviors Violent computer games have no effect on • withholding money from another (Winkel et al., 1987) • pushing buttons that could punish or reward others (Graybill et al., 1987) • suggesting punishment or reward to friends (Cooper & Mackie, 1986; Kirsch, 1998) Which behaviors do you find more adequate for real life situations?

  37. Aggressive thoughts Cognitive priming hypothesis would predict that playing violent games increases the accessibility to aggressive thoughts. It is found out that players of aggressive games • have shorter the reaction time to aggressive words (Anderson & Dill, 2000) • list more aggressive thoughts (Calvert & Tan, 1994) • interpret ambiguous situations negative (Kirsch, 1998) after playing (short-term effects). Continuous playing makes aggressive thoughts chronicallyaccessible to players. Aggressive thoughts can beinternalizedin players’ mind.

  38. Physiological arousal Playing violent games • increases heart rate for 15 minutes after play (Griffiths & Dancaster, 1995) • causes more arousal change among girls than among boys (Fleming & Rickwood, 2001) • increases systolic blood pressure (Ballard & West, 1996) Winkel et al. (1987) did not find such effect (N=56).

  39. Prosocial behavior • Playing violent games reduces the amount of monetary donation to charity among children (third, fourth, seventh and eighth graders) (Chambers & Ascione, 1987) • Children with high preference for violent games • show less prosocial behaviors, especially boys(N=278, 10-14 years old) (Wiegman & van Schie, 1998) • have a lower self-perception of behavioral conduct (N=364, fourth and fifth graders) (Funk, Buchman & Germann, 2000) • Playing violent games predicts delinquent behaviors(drinking alcohol and destroying school property) among college students (N=227) (Anderson & Dill, 2000)

  40. Negative effects of violent entertainment games- Summary Affect • results are mixed, it is not clear if hostility and anger are in a relation with game playing Agressivebehaviors • results are mixed; the adequacy of the postaggressive behaviors should be questioned Priming aggressivethoughts • the majority of surveys found a positive relation between playing violent games and aggressive thoughts after doing so Physiologicalresponses (heartrate, bloodpressure) • Increase of blood pressure and heart rate Prosocialbehavior • negative effect of prosocial behavior

  41. Discussion

  42. And next time more about • theoretical foundations • empirical research findings • critic of methodology in research of the relationship between violent game playing and aggression

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