PSYC 193 Gaming Midterm

Psychology in Gaming

Studies human mind and behavior (cognition, emotion, and motivation)

Helps understand what drives players & what makes games enjoyable

Helps tailor game experiences that align with how the brain processes information,

Neuro Science in Gaming

Studies how the nervous system develops, its structure and what it does

Helps understand what drives players & what makes games enjoyable

Helps tailor game experiences that align with how the brain processes information

User Experience

Studies how the user interacts with a product and the emotions and behaviors elicited via this interaction by using knowledge from psychology and neuroscience

To ensure the experience is the same as the way its makers intended by shaping the product to fit the human using it

Considered earliest interactive electronic games

Catho-Ray Tube Amusement Device

First Two-player game

Tennis for two

Dates of major accomplishments

1962: Spacewar! First video game for a digital computer

1972: Atatri; A video game company that made the first commercial successful video game

1972: Magnavox Odyssey; First Home console

Sensorimotor play (child development)

Practice motor skills ex: throwing ball, pushing a car

Symbolic/Representational play (Child development)

Abstract thinking ex: playing house, using stick as a sword

Games with Rules (child development)

Practice logical thinking ex: sports, board games etc

Mental models

Internal representations

PredictiveI utility

Guiding behavior

Internal Representation

internal representations of external reality to make sense of the world

Predictive Utility

predict future events and understand the cause-and-effect relationships

Guiding Behavior

Guide decision-making and behavior by simulating potential outcomes of actions

The 3-Level Process

Loop of Sensation, perception, and cognition

Gestalt Principles

Figure/Ground

Multistability

Closure

Proximity

Similarity

Symmetry

Similarity

tend to group up dots into columns rather than rows based on colors

Proximity

Tending to perceive groups

Good Continuation

Tend to see a connection between shapes if one if blocking the middle

Closure

Tend to perceive a shape with a missing parts i.e. a triangle

Simplicity

Tend to interpret a form in the simplest way possible

Affordances

Physical

Cognitive

Sensory

Functional

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Self-Actualization

Esteem

Love and Belonging

Safety Needs

Physiological Needs

Implicit Motivation

Spontaneous Processes and Physiological Events

“Homeostasis”

Biological drives: hunger, thirst, sleep, sex, pain

Power motive

Drive to dominate

Affiliation motive

Drive to form social relationships

Achievement motive

Drive to improve

Extrinsic Motivation

Driven by external rewards

Behavior - reinforcement - probability UP

Behavior - punishment - probability DOWN

Rewards

We have learned that: accomplishing these tasks will bring us direct or indirect rewards of value, such as food, housing, or entertainment

Jenkins et al

Heyman and Ariely

Fixed interval rewards

Given at a set time interval. (ex: daily login rewards)

Variable Interval Rewards

given at unpredictable time intervals. (ex: random spawning of mobs)

Fixed Ratio Rewards

given after a specific number of actions. (ex: skill tree unlock)

Variable Ratio Rewards

given after an unpredictable number of actions (ex, slot machine, loot boxes)

Intrinsic Motivation

Occurs when we engage in a task for our own sake

“doing it because we like doing it”

Impact of INtrinsic nad Extrinsic Motivation

Lepper et al. (1973) found that schoolchildren who were rewarded for drawing were less likely to draw spontaneously later on

The overjustification effect: The overjustification effect occurs when an expected external incentive such as money or prizes decrease, a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a task.

Self-Determination Theory

Three innate psychological needs

Competence

Autonomy

Relatedness

Engagement Reawrds

These incentives given for simply engaging in task

Completion Reward

Rewards for completing a task

Performance Rewards

Given for attaining a certain level of achievement

Non-contingent Incentives

Not related to any specific behavior

External Regulation

doing something purely to gain a reward or avoid punishment

Introjected Regulation

acting from internal pressure, like guilt or obligation

Identified regulation

Recognizing and accepting the personal value of the activity

Integrated regulation

Where the activity alignment with one’s identity and values, even if it’s not inherently enjoyable

The Over-justification Effect is strongest when

Tangible

Expected

Task-contingent

PENS

Player Experience of Need Satisfaction

Game enjoyment and sustained engagement are driven by the degree to which a game satisfies the three basic psychological needs – During gameplay

In-Game Competence

mastery, feedback, optimal challenge

Przybylski, Rigby, and Ryan (2010)

In Game Autonomy

meaningful choices, volitional engagement

In-Game Relatedness

Social play, cooperative/competitive interactions, narrative attachment

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

One of the Founders of Positive Psychology

Studied people who would pour energy into activities with no obvious external reward

The Nine Dimensions of Flow Pt 1

Challenge-Skill Balance

Clear Goals

Immediate Feedback

Action-Awarness Merging

Concentration

The Nine Dimensions of Flow Pt 1

Sense Of control

Loss of Self-Consciousness

Time Transformation

Autotelic Experience

Experiance Sample (ESM)

Random beeps throughout the day; participants report in real time

Flow State Scale (FSS-2)

Retrospective self-report after activity covers all 9 dimensions

Game Experience questionnaire (GEQ)

Includes flow sub scale; widely used in games research

Testing Flow: The tetris study

Keller and Bless

3 conditions: adaptive vs. too easy. too hard

Results: the adaptive condition produced significantly higher flow than either extreme

Game Flow

Concentration

Challenge

Player Skills

Control
Clear goals

Feedback

Immersion

Social interaction

It’s Not about winning

Abuhamdeh & Csikszentmihalyi (2012) asked: what matters more: challenge-skill balance or whether you expect to win?

Implication for game design: The goal of a good matchmaking algorithm isn't to give you easy wins - it's to give you close games.

Team Flow

Most flow research is individual. But games are increasingly social: raids. ranked matches, cooperative survival

Skills and roles are effectively distributed

Team shares collective ambition

Flow Theory

Difficult Curve: Not too hard/Easy

Clear Goals and Feedback: clear goals and immediate feedback

Concentration and Immersion: minimal distractions

Control and Mastery: a sense of control over their actions within the game

Meaningful engagement: the narrative, challenges, and activities should be meaningful to the players

Engagement

Vigor

Dedication

Absorption

Four levers

Goal Setting

Feedback

Social Info

Growth Mindset

Lever 1: Goal Setting

Directs attention

Requires more effort

Requires effort overtime

Requires developing better strategies

Zeigarnik Effect

People remember unfinished or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks

The Endowed Progress Effect

Artificial, initial advancement toward a goal increases their motivation to compete it

Lever 2: Feedback

Abandon the goal

Reject the feedback

Alter the goal

Develop better strategies

Increase your effort

Good Feedback

Are specific, not general

Focus on behaviors and not the player

Are Immediate and frequent

Give information about progress

Frog Pong Effect

Individuals evaluate themselves as worse than they actually are when in a group of higher-performing individuals

Lever 4: Growth Mindset

You can learn to do things better

Growth Mindset

the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, effort, and learning

Fixed mindset

the belief that intelligence, talent, and abilities are innate, static traits that cannot be developed