Psyc327- Game, entertainment and wellbeing

what did research say the maximum amount of screen time should be?

Time spent on recreational screen activities should not exceed 2 hours daily (Kaiser Family Foundation 2009).

what is gamification?

Knowledge and understanding of designing games and making people to want to continue playing games. For example loyalty points in a coffee shop gain reward and level up. commonly employed in contexts where people commonly lack motivation such as education, work and healthcare.

what are wearables?

Technology that you wear to collect data points e.g Fitbit.

what are exergames?

Video games are also a form of exercise. Exergaming relies on technology that tracks body movement or reaction.

what is wiihabilitation?

Describes the use of the wii game technology in the rehabilitation process. used in occupational health and physical therapy

what are serious video games (SVG)?

are digital games applied to train and educate users and are not primarily intended for entertainment purposes.

what was the first gaming in history?

1958: Higinbotham "Tennis for two"

when and how did gaming change?

1971 onwards commercial games. Orignally games were in arcade games had to leave the house. Then moved to consoles in the houses, whole range of technology. Modern day higher immersion through virtual reality.

what are 3 reasons that people play video games (Yee, 2006)?

-achievement

-social

-immersion

why is achievement a reason to play video games?

Yee (2006). •level progression, collecting items defeating an opponent. Succeeding is a primary driver like on social media to get a number of likes. In gaming want to pass a level for example.

why is social a reason to play video games?

Yee (2006) collaboration, "friendly competition", making connection (through chat, likes, or kudos points) to somebody else.

why is immersion a reason to play video games?

Yee (2006) the novelty of immersing yourself into another world, experiencing fantasy, fiction or alternate reality. Becoming increasingly important. Similar to books but more effective particularly if involvement through skill or storytelling.

what are the two theories of game design?

-self determination theory

-flow theory

what is self determination theory?

a theory of human motivation that posits that individuals are motivated to pursue activities which provide a sense of pleasure and satisfaction even when no external rewards, such as money, are present (Deci & Ryan, 1985).

what is a sub theory of self determination theory?

Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET), suggests that this type of intrinsic motivation arises particularly from the satisfaction of psychological needs for autonomy and competence (being good at something) (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

what psychological needs can gaming help satisfy according to SDT?

-relatedness

-competence

-autonomy

hhow is autonomy satisfied in gaming?

•Being able to shape game narrative with decisions gives a feeling of autonomy

•In-game choices: increased opportunity for action and exploration

•Equifinality: multiple roads lead to an end

•Increased choice: skill, achievement, selecting missions, avatars

. Natural as leave home at some point as desire to be autonomous and make our own decisions. Want to be challenged still not too hard or easy

how is relatedness satisfied in gaming?

Internet provides connectivity for:

- virtual central world

- co-operative group play

- competitive play

- develop social bonds

- opportunities for short and long term connections

what did research find with how relatedness can improve activity?

Chen & Pu (2017) Fitness tracker study can wear it or not. Either exercise alone or with a buddy - Diabetic participants with a buddy are more likely to persist

what did research find with neuro reasons for relatedness improving activity?

(Wikström et al 2022) Playing a cooperative game together online can achieve brainwave synchronization . Participants closely aligned and focussed on the same thing

what theory supports the idea of relatedness?

Social identity theory (Tajfel 1979) - Divide the world into "them" and "us".

how does social identity theory explain enjoyment in gaming?

Encourages collaboration and competition

•Even if teams are arbitrary still support and assign characteristics which arent there.

•Often puts you at the top of the board so you are the leader.

what are the flow states?

-flow states (=best games, as don't realise how much time has passed so absorbed in the game)

-relaxation (=not particularly skilled or challenged. Good for mental break and dopamine hit easily)

-anxiety (=when you are unsure and under pressure)

-apathy (=when you know how to do something and so don't want to do it so not challenged)

what is a flow state?

A high level of focus is often accompanied by a feeling that the activity is going well, that one is being successful, and often with feelings of inner peace, joy, or wonder

how can you enable the state of flow in an experience?

•clear goals with manageable rules

•be adaptable to the player's ability

•provide immediate feedback

•screen out distractions to enable concentration

what is the near-miss effect?

The illusion you were close this time, and that you have a higher chance of winning next time (Buy coins to continue).

what is the variable rate reinforcement?

Our brains respond more strongly to uncertain rewards than certain ones (e.g., games with loot boxes). Conditioned for the variable reward.

what is loss aversion?

Linked to competence: large rewards at once and smaller ones spread out over time even if rewards are equal in the end (Kahneman et al.1991)

what is relative deprivation/ aspiration?

Seeing what others have in the game motivates you to work harder playing to get it (e.g., better house, rarer equipment, more money). Not good at delaying smaller rewards even if waiting is better.

what is an example of how gaming can provide gaming health benefits?

•Over 30 days users increased their activity by around 1473 steps a day, a more than 25% increase compared with their prior activity level (P<.001).

•Pokémon Go is able to reach low-activity populations (Althoff et al. 2016).

what did Khamzina et al. 2019 meta-analysis find about increases in physical activity?

•33,108 participants.

•Pokémon Go players and non-players.

•Pre- and post-play time points.

Found clinically modest increases in walking duration, distance walked, and number of steps/day (by 1,446 steps). ----Pokémon GO players perceived that the app made them more physically active, although they still walked less than non-players did (Yan et al., 2020)

what was the problem with pokemon go usage?

•Novelty factor.

•Lack of adherence.

•Downloads v active users?

•Declining motivation.

•Inclement or extreme weather can be physical activity barriers.

what did research find about how games can help low level activity people exercise?

•Sedentary college-aged males playing active digital games (video game bikes) helped them exercise routinely and significantly improve their scores on several markers of good health (Warburton et al. 2007).

why is it essential to translate health benefits to gaming?

In average American households, 88% of children have video game consoles and 85% have computers (Hersey and Jordan 2007).

what are the 3 categories of active games?

Hansen (2009)

•Exergames = technology-driven activities that require a screen and resemble video game play

•Interactive fitness activities = not necessarily screen based but require the player to use his or her body to play the game

.Active learning games = provide children with an academic focus, forcing them to be physically active to play the electronic game e.g. Brain Bike

what did a systematic review find about the gamification of physical activity?

(Koivisto, & Hamari, 2019)

•Point-based mechanics

•Activity goals

•Performance rankings and visualizations

•Teams

•Rewards (real world and virtual) BUT ... • • Positive results were reported mainly in studies with

baseline measurements as a comparison.

• More rigorous study settings seem to provide neutral

results.

• All short-term interventions.

what did the systematic review find about the problem with gamification of physical activity?

Point based and rewards, teams and activities but once you control the factors not any better then other intervention based activity. Work in short term but no longitudinal effect. Gamification helps you get into things but cant keep you doing it.

what are the 4 types of feedback?

-moment to moment

-sustained

-cumulative

-virtual self-modelling

what is moment-to-moment feedback?

offers opportunities to empower mastery via visual, audio, and haptic cues (e.g., ''you're doing great!'' or vibration upon reaching a milestone).

what is sustained feedback?

can offer further context, showing time left until the end of the session and/or progress toward a discrete goal (Fox 2009). Consistent feedback when you might otherwise disengage.

what is cumulative feedback?

uses tools such as workout calendars, or charts to compare with previous sessions and/or with similar players, using progress bars for different specific goals. Reward for doing the activity everyday or logging on.

what is virtual self-modellling?

using a doppelganger avatar (Kim et al, 2014)

why is feedback important?

study found greater enjoyment and energy expenditure in the highest feedback condition. (Jakobsson 2011)

what did research find about the effect of different types of feedback (Burgers et al, 2015)?

Negative feedback was likelier to immediately play the game again than participants with positive feedback.

Evaluative feedback increases the likelihood to play the game again in the near future.

Comparative feedback, however, decreases the likelihood of immediately playing the game again

what did research find about motivation to play?

•Students who played active electronic games during physical education showed an unremitting interest in the activities and did not want to quit playing (Hansen, 2009).

what was the fitness tracker study and its impact on groups with buddies?

Chen et al (2016), Diabetic and obese participants were given a Fitbit, Half the participants were partnered with a buddy and half were working independently.

•Both show an initial increase and a drop off after 3 months with those in the independent group dropping more than the buddy group.

what did research find about leaderboards?

Hydari et al (2019) individuals choose to adopt leader boards:

•Average use was 237 days

•Highly active - decreased steps by 630

•Sedentary - increased steps by 1300

works best for those in the middle.

how is gamification been in exergames?

Virtual badges and achievements, in which rewards serve as performance feedback and indicators of status (Baranowski, et al. 2008). "Glory" rewards give enjoyment by improving

perceptions of competence and relatedness

(Jakobsson 2011). (RELATING BACK TO SELF DETERMINATION THEORY)

what did research find about positives about gamification?

Rahim & Thomas (2017) •Gamification' motivates users into engaging in an activity with a higher intensity and duration.

•Introducing gaming elements into a nongaming context has the potential to transform routine tasks into more enjoyable and motivating experiences.

•E.g. Starbucks Star Dash.

what are serious video games?

digital games applied to train and educate users and are not primarily intended for entertainment purposes (Sawyer & Rejeski 2002)

what are benefits for serious games in healthcare?

SVG may be a promising tool for promoting vaccination as well as an opportunity to describe and associate other preventive measures according to disease (Ohannessian, et al 2016).

what is real life application for serious games in healthcare?

•A poll by Epilepsy Research UK showed that half of the respondents forget to take their epilepsy medication at least once a month use of the game increased adherence and understanding of the condition (Rahim & Thomas, 2017). A hospital in Portugal trialled the use of gamification of

personal smart tags to increase the compliance of hand

hygiene in Nurses (Lapão et al. 2016).

how can gaming be used in education?

•In traditional learning, a teacher provides recognition, but in gamified environments, players can reward each other, encouraging participation in the class/community (Pesare, et al 2016).

How would SVG in education work

Players are motivated to learn, in part, because learning is situated and occurs through a process of hypothesizing, probing, and reflecting upon the simulated world within the game (Hamari, et al 2016).

Hands et al. 2014 - gaming to learn educational materials

Hands et al. 2014 - gaming to learn educational materials

3 conditions:

1. Lecture condition (recorded lecture using staff

member)

2. Interactive fiction condition - Participants chose

actions to create their own story by selecting

hyperlinks

3. Gaming condition - participants played the first 20

minutes of the game Fallout 3 (Bethesda)

178 participants took a test following a 20-minute filler

task (fruit word search) and a subsection (N= 42)

repeated the test after three weeks

Results showed significantly lower scores for interactive fiction than the gaming/lecture conditions. There was no significant difference between gaming and lecture conditions. There were no significant differences between conditions at the second time point.

issues w research

The effects of intrinsic motivation on continued play in

education and behaviour change games are still not well

understood (Peng, et al. 2012).

adherence and lasting effects remain an issue as there is

little longitudinal evidence on it