Psychology of Gaming

176 Pages·2013·6.604 MB·English

by  Youngkyun Baek

PSYCHOLOGY OF EMOTIONS, MOTIVATIONS AND ACTIONS

P G
SYCHOLOGY OF AMING

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P E ,
SYCHOLOGY OF MOTIONS
M A
OTIVATIONS AND CTIONS

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PSYCHOLOGY OF EMOTIONS, MOTIVATIONS AND ACTIONS

P G
SYCHOLOGY OF AMING

YOUNGKYUN BAEK
EDITOR

New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Psychology of gaming / Editor, Youngkyun Baek, Educational Technology and Game Studio, Boise State
University.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN: (cid:28)(cid:26)(cid:27)(cid:16)(cid:20)(cid:16)(cid:25)(cid:21)(cid:23)(cid:20)(cid:26)(cid:16)(cid:24)(cid:27)(cid:23)(cid:16)(cid:27) (eBook)
1. Game theory--Psychological aspects. 2. Games--Psychological aspects. I. Baek, Youngkyun.
HB144.P79 2013
519.3'2--dc23
2012047143

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York
CONTENTS

Preface vii
Chapter 1 Psychological Game Theory and the Role of Beliefs 1
Tassos Patokos
Chapter 2 Emotional Gaming 11
Filipa Madeira, Patrícia Arriaga,
Joana Adrião, Ricardo Lopes
and Francisco Esteves
Chapter 3 The Taxonomy and Design Criteria
for Health Game Design in the Elderly 31
Linda R. Harley, Laura Levy, Maribeth Gandy,
Simeon D. Harbert and Doug F. Britton
Chapter 4 The GlobalEd 2 Game: Developing Scientific Literacy Skills
through Interdisciplinary, Technology-Based Simulations 65
Kimberly A. Lawless, Scott W. Brown,
Mark A. Boyer, Kamila Browdowinska,
Lisa Lynn, GenaKhodos, Mariya Yukhymenko,
Gregory Mullin and Lindsey Le
Chapter 5 Rethinking Fantasy As a Contributor to Intrinsic
Motivation in Digital Gameplay 83
Beomkyu Choi and Youngkyun Baek
Chapter 6 Indigenous Australian Gamblers and Their
Help-Seeking Behavior 93
Helen Breen, Nerilee Hing, Ashley Gordon
and Louise Holdsworth
Chapter 7 Psychological Factors on Collaborative Gaming 121
M. Romero
Chapter 8 Game Changing: Developing Meet the Earthworks Builders 135
Michelle Aubrecht and Christine Ballengee-Morris
Index 151

PREFACE

1. PSYCHOLOGY OF GAMING

Society needs to have a better understanding of why people enjoy certain digital games so
much because the increase in gaming among youth and adults has grown exponentially in
recent years. Gamers share a similar feeling of euphoria while they are completely caught up
in a game. When gamers are completely focused on playing they tend to forget all other
things around them. In order to fully understand why gamers enjoy certain games I began to
look at what lies below the surface and try to see them as a fellow gamer and researcher on
gaming.
On-line games have unique formats. They can be played against other people, against
yourself, against a computer, or perhaps even against the forces of nature. Computer games
also have goals with set rules in common so that gamers can follow the sequence of events in
order to gain the most enjoyment and of course trigger a desire to continue the game. When
playing a game, gamers are learning details such as the rules, what it takes to win, and how to
continue the game. There are several types of experiences that all gamers go through while
playing a game. Among these experiences, there is competition, the element of chance, a
feeling of vertigo, and make-believe as suggested by Caillois (1961). These activities give
players engagement and pleasure. Thus, people who have played games can most likely relate
to this feeling of engagement and enjoyment that Csíkszentmihályi (2008) calls, “flow” which
is the state of "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake”. The feeling is very
pleasurable and I believe this state of “flow” is closely related to the question of why people
play games.
I am also interested in what makes people continue to play games? A seminal book on
game behavior written by psychiatrist Eric Berne (1964), Games People Play is the most
accessible and insightful book ever written about behavior patterns that reveal hidden feelings
and emotions when playing games. Berne’s work shows the underlying motivations behind
our relationships and provides the keys to unlock the psychology of others and ourselves.
Based on Berne’s explanation of game behavior, the psychology of gaming is defined as a
study of human behavior associated with digital gaming. This study specifically includes
causes and effects of digital gaming, and personality traits associated with gaming.
viii Youngkyun Baek
2. RESEARCH IN THIS FIELD

This section is divided into three main areas of research on gaming. This first section
includes a summary of recent psychological studies and results on digital gaming. One of the
most active areas of research on digital gaming is the psychological perspective of what
makes people play games. The second area includes summarized positive effects of gaming
and the third section is about the negative effects of gaming.
Motivators to gameplay: People play games to have an optimal experience or flow. An
optimal experience is one of the fundamental reasons for people’s gameplay. Flow in
gameplay helps foster an enjoyable experience increasing motivation and enticing players to
continue playing. Various psychologists have explored which factors are related to gamers’
optimal experience. These factors include: self-enjoyment, engagement, intrinsic motivation,
and so forth. Related to game-based learning, flow plays an important role too, introducing
materials, improving understanding, and increasing retention. Thus, flow in instructional
games has the potential to be effective. More recently, psychologists began to concentrate on
socio-cultural factors of gameplay. Recent research found social and cultural aspects
including interaction, communication, community building and so forth, all have a great
impact on gameplay (Murphy, 2011). Intrinsic motivation is another motivator to gameplay.
Frequently, enthusiastic gamers are described as intrinsically motivated (Malone, 1981;
Warren et al. 2008), engaged (Garris et al. 2003), and pathological (Chou and Ting, 2003).
The engaging and intrinsically motivating nature of gameplay draws researchers’ attention to
investigate motivational engagement (Wang et al. 2008). Research investigating variables
related to engagement can be found across multiple fields of education field (Jones, 1998;
Hoffman & Nadelson, 2010; Huizenga, et al. 2009).
Positive effects of gaming: There have been pros and cons about gameplay in terms of its
positive or negative effects. Although some research findings have demonstrated that violent
digital game exposure is related to negative societal outcomes (Barlett et al. 2009) such as
aggressive behavior (Fergerson, 2007) and adolescent hostility (Gentile et al. 2004), some
empirical research also suggests that digital game exposure is related to improvements in
cognition and learning particularly with visual attention (Green & Bavelier, 2003), and spatial
ability (De lisi & Wolford, 2002). Online gaming research has also shown people feel
psychologically better and helps raise their self-esteem (Griffiths, 2005a, 2005b). The
immersive and dis-associative experience of gaming may also be very therapeutic and help
people deal with everyday stress. Research has shown that many gamers enjoy gaming
leading to time lost in something they feel is more meaningful (Wood & Griffiths, 2007;
Wood et al. 2007). Far more positive than drug use, drinking alcohol or other activities like
gambling. Green and Bavelier (2003) found that playing video games was associated with
superior performance on a variety of visual attention tasks. The ability to mentally rotate or
manipulate objects is related to many general learning tests and paradigms, and research has
shown that gameplay and object management in cyber space are related to this spatial ability
(De Lisi & Wolford, 2002; Hwang, et al. 2008). Those who performed well at digital games
performed significantly better on spatial ability and experience in managing objects in cyber
space.
A unique feature of cyber space gaming is communication between players is technically
possible with the use of headsets and microphones. In addition, any social network games can