Game-based learning or game-based teaching?

Emerging technologies for learning report - Article exploring games based learning and its potential for edcuatio

Internet and gaming addiction: a systematic literature review of neuroimaging studies

In the past decade, research has accumulated suggesting that excessive Internet use can lead to the development of a behavioral addiction. Internet addiction has been considered as a serious threat to mental health and the excessive use of the Internet has been linked to a variety of negative psychosocial consequences. The aim of this review is to identify all empirical studies to date that used neuroimaging techniques to shed light upon the emerging mental health problem of Internet and gaming addiction from a neuroscientific perspective. Neuroimaging studies offer an advantage over traditional survey and behavioral research because with this method, it is possible to distinguish particular brain areas that are involved in the development and maintenance of addiction. A systematic literature search was conducted, identifying 18 studies. These studies provide compelling evidence for the similarities between different types of addictions, notably substance-related addictions and Internet and gaming addiction, on a variety of levels. On the molecular level, Internet addiction is characterized by an overall reward deficiency that entails decreased dopaminergic activity. On the level of neural circuitry, Internet and gaming addiction led to neuroadaptation and structural changes that occur as a consequence of prolonged increased activity in brain areas associated with addiction. On a behavioral level, Internet and gaming addicts appear to be constricted with regards to their cognitive functioning in various domains. The paper shows that understanding the neuronal correlates associated with the development of Internet and gaming addiction will promote future research and will pave the way for the development of addiction treatment approaches

Mom, Dad It’s Only a Game! Perceived Gambling and Gaming Behaviors among Adolescents and Young Adults: an Exploratory Study

Gambling and gaming are increasingly popular activities among adolescents. Although gambling is illegal in Portugal for youth under the age of 18 years, gambling opportunities are growing, mainly due to similarity between gambling and other technology-based games. Given the relationship between gambling and gaming activities, the paucity of research on gambling and gaming behaviors in Portugal, and the potential negative consequences in the lives of young people, the goal of this study was to explore and compare the perceptions of these two behaviors between Portuguese adolescents and young adults. Results from six focus groups (three with adolescents and three with young adults, comprising 37 participants aged between 13 and 26 years) indicated different perceptions for the two age groups. For adolescents, gaming was associated with addiction whereas for young adults it was perceived a tool for increasing personal and social skills. With regard to gambling, adolescents associated it with luck and financial rewards, whereas young adults perceived it as an activity with more risks than benefits. These results suggest developmental differences that have implications for intervention programs and future research

Bacteria Hunt: A multimodal, multiparadigm BCI game

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) allow users to control applications by brain activity. Among their possible applications for non-disabled people, games are promising candidates. BCIs can enrich game play by the mental and affective state information they contain. During the eNTERFACE’09 workshop we developed the Bacteria Hunt game which can be played by keyboard and BCI, using SSVEP and relative alpha power. We conducted experiments in order to investigate what difference positive vs. negative neurofeedback would have on subjects’ relaxation states and how well the different BCI paradigms can be used together. We observed no significant difference in mean alpha band power, thus relaxation, and in user experience between the games applying positive and negative feedback. We also found that alpha power before SSVEP stimulation was significantly higher than alpha power during SSVEP stimulation indicating that there is some interference between the two BCI paradigms

Flow and immersion in video games: The aftermath of a conceptual challenge

One of the most pleasurable aspects of video games is their ability to induce immersive experiences. However, there appears to be a tentative conceptualization of what an immersive experience is. In this short review, we specifically focus on the terms of flow and immersion, as they are the most widely used and applied definitions in the video game literature, whilst their differences remain disputable. We critically review the concepts separately and proceed with a comparison on their proposed differences. We conclude that immersion and flow do not substantially differ in current studies and that more evidence is needed to justify their separatio

Reward system and temporal pole contributions to affective evaluation during a first person shooter video game

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Violent content in video games evokes many concerns but there is little research concerning its rewarding aspects. It was demonstrated that playing a video game leads to striatal dopamine release. It is unclear, however, which aspects of the game cause this reward system activation and if violent content contributes to it. We combined functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) with individual affect measures to address the neuronal correlates of violence in a video game.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirteen male German volunteers played a first-person shooter game (<it>Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror</it>) during fMRI measurement. We defined success as eliminating opponents, and failure as being eliminated themselves. Affect was measured directly before and after game play using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Failure and success events evoked increased activity in visual cortex but only failure decreased activity in orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus. A negative correlation between negative affect and responses to failure was evident in the right temporal pole (rTP).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The deactivation of the caudate nucleus during failure is in accordance with its role in reward-prediction error: it occurred whenever subject missed an expected reward (being eliminated rather than eliminating the opponent). We found no indication that violence events were directly rewarding for the players. We addressed subjective evaluations of affect change due to gameplay to study the reward system. Subjects reporting greater negative affect after playing the game had less rTP activity associated with failure. The rTP may therefore be involved in evaluating the failure events in a social context, to regulate the players' mood.</p

Kessel Run: towards emotion adaptation in a BCI multiplayer game

Tese de mestrado integrado, Engenharia Biomédica e Biofísica (Sinais e Imagens Médicas) Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2017O objetivo original de uma Interface Cerebro-Máquina (BCI, do inglês Brain-Computer Interface) é o restauro de função a portadores de deficiências motoras, com aplicações que abrangem desde o mover de um cursor de computador ou de uma cadeira de rodas, a dispositivos complexos de soletração que substituem a fala. No entanto, com o recente aparecimento no mercado de aparelhos de BCI portáteis e económicos, as aplicações de BCI têm vindo a migrar lentamente para áreas fora do âmbito da saúde, como é o caso do entretenimento. Em particular, o desenvolvimento de videojogos em que os modos de interação tradicionais (teclado ou botões, por exemplo) são substituídos por controlos BCI é uma aposta frequente em vários grupos de investigação em neurociências. O uso de paradigmas de BCI como controladores de jogos tem a capacidade de não só possibilitar novos meios de interação mais intuitivos (como é o caso de apenas pensar em mover a personagem do jogo, em vez de pressionar o botão que a move), mas também de criar novos mecanismos de jogo que não são possíveis com dispositivos tradicionais. Para a criação destes novos mecanismos a Computação Afetiva é de relativo interesse, já que esta é a área de investigação encarregue de encontrar relações entre o estado emocional de um sujeito, através de BCIs, por exemplo, e utilizá-las para melhorar a interação com um computador (ou um jogo). Apesar de beneficiarem de um ligação direta ao cérebro, poucos são os videojogos BCI que a utilizam para adaptar o conteúdo do jogo ao estado emocional do jogador, em parte porque são poucas as relações conhecidas entre o eletroencefalograma (EEG) e o estado emocional do indivíduo, especialmente em condições pouco controladas e em cenários realistas. De facto, a maioria dos estudos em Computação Afetiva feitos com o objetivo de procurar correlações entre o estado emocional do sujeito e o seu EEG pecam por serem realizados sob condições pouco realistas, e, em particular, nunca durante uma situação de jogo. Por outro lado, apesar da frequente aposta no desenvolvimento de novos videojogos controlados por um paradigma de BCI, poucos têm em consideração as regras de um bom desenho de jogos, resultando muitas vezes num jogo que mesmo sendo funcional, é aborrecido. Com as perspetivas da aplicação de BCI e Computação Afetiva aos videojogos em mente, esta dissertação tem como objetivo o desenvolvimento de um jogo multiplayer controlado por BCI, que ao seguir as regras de bom desenho de jogos, é capaz de desencadear uma sensação de divertimento nos seus jogadores. Para além disso, o jogo também deve ser capaz de evocar um conjunto diversificado de estados emocionais nos seus jogadores, de forma a poder estudar-se as correlações entre o EEG e o estado emocional de cada indivíduo no espectro da frequência. Desta forma, poder-se-á comparar as correlações obtidas num cenário realístico de jogo com o estado-da-arte, frequentemente realizado em situações controladas, e assim contribuir para o avanço da adaptação emocional em videojogos BCI. Para concretizar estes objetivos, o videojogo Kessel Run foi desenvolvido. Kessel Run é um jogo 3D de uma corrida espacial para dois jogadores, em que ambos devem cooperar um com o outro de forma a direcionar uma nave espacial para longe de asteróides e assim conseguir finalizar uma corrida de 2 minutos com o mínimo de danos possível. Neste jogo, as regras básicas de desenho de jogos (Teoria de Flow e o Paradoxo de Controlo) foram aplicadas de forma a criar uma sensação de divertimento e de controlo no jogador. A sensação de controlo por parte do jogador é particularmente importante na criação de um jogo BCI, uma vez que a sua falta poderá levar a perda de imersão no jogo e, consequentemente, à diminuição do divertimento. Assim, de forma a garantir o bom controlo do jogo o paradigma SSVEP (do inglês Steady-State Visually Evoked Potential) foi escolhido como modo de interação BCI. De forma a evocarem-se um conjunto diversificado de estados emocionais nos jogadores, várias estratégias de elicitação foram aplicadas no jogo. Em primeiro lugar, este dispõe de dois níveis de dificuldade (um fácil e um difícil). O primeiro nível desafia as capacidades dos jogadores sem contudo ser demasiado difícil, pelo que se espera que evoque emoções mais positivas. Já o segundo nível aumenta bastante a dificuldade do jogo, tornando-se muito difícil batê-lo. Para além da dificuldade acrescida, o nível difícil do jogo foi programado de forma a que o controlo BCI falhe com frequência sem o conhecimento do jogador. Espera-se por isso que o segundo nível evoque níveis de frustração maiores, e estados emocionais mais negativos e excitados. O jogo Kessel Run foi colocado em prática ao desenvolver-se um protocolo experimental onde 12 participantes jogaram os dois níveis de dificuldade do jogo. A cada participante foi pedido a classificação do jogo em termos de experiência do utilizador, e de cada nível relativamente às emoções sentidas no decorrer do jogo, na forma de questionários. Foram também adquiridos os sinais de EEG de cada participante. De forma geral, o desempenho do paradigma BCI foi menor do o que esperado, conseguindo-se apenas um máximo de 79% classificações correctas. Este resultado deve-se essencialmente a dois factores: o grau deficiente de escuridão da sala laboratorial, responsável pela perda de desempenho na ordem dos 6%, e a deteção individual das frequências escolhidas para estímulo SSVEP (12 e 15 Hz). Neste último, os participantes tiveram maior facilidade em reconhecer o estímulo de 12 Hz, com um desempenho individual médio de 63%, face ao estímulo de 15 Hz com apenas 38%, o que comprometeu a performance geral do reconhecimento SSVEP. No entanto, apesar do desempenho fraco do paradigma, os participantes reportaram uma experiência bastante divertida (média de flow = 2:6 numa escala 0-5) e desafiante (média de challenge = 2:3 numa escala 0-5), com apenas um ligeiro aborrecimento (média de tension=annoyance = 1:1 numa escala 0-5), podendo-se concluir o sucesso do emprego das regras de bom desenho de jogos. As estratégias de elicitação de emoções foram apenas parcialmente bem sucedidas; não foram observadas diferenças significativas entre os níveis de dificuldade do jogo Kessel Run em termos de valência e excitação emocionais. No entanto conseguiu-se uma boa distribuição das avaliações emocionais dos participantes pelos quatro quadrantes das dimensões de valência e excitação, possibilitando o estudo de correlações entre o EEG dos participantes e as suas avaliações para cada nível de jogo em termos de oscilações no espectro da frequência e assimetrias na banda alfa. Encontraram-se correlações significativas na dimensão da valência que parecem contradizer a teoria da assimetria da banda alfa. Em particular, obteve-se uma correlação positiva significativa indicando uma relação de diminuição da activação hemisférica esquerda e consequente aumento da banda alfa. Esta contradição foi também confirmada pela obtenção de uma assimetria esquerda bastante significativa na banda alfa para o córtex frontal. Observou-se ainda uma diminuição da potência central da banda beta e um aumento occipital e temporal direito para a mesma banda relacionado com a dimensão da valência. Para a excitação encontrou-se uma correlação negativa significativa em regiões centrais e frontais na banda alfa, indicando uma activação destas regiões cerebrais aquando de estados mais excitados. Mais ainda, uma correlação significativa indicou uma assimetria direita na banda alfa para um par de eléctrodos fronto-centrais. Espera-se que este estudo possa contribuir para uma futura geração de videojogos com a capacidade de adaptação ao conteúdo emocional do seu jogador.Lately the field of (digital) game research is rapidly growing, with studies dedicated to capture game experience, adopting new technologies or exploring outside traditional input methods. Alongside, research in Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) has significantly increased in its applications for healthy users, such as games. BCIs benefit from access to brain activity which can bypass bodily mediation (e.g. controllers) and enable gamers to express themselves more naturally in a given game context. Moreover, BCI can provide significant insight into the user's emotional state. Recent research points to numerous correlates of emotion in brain signals. A complex challenge is to use BCI for access to the player's affective state in a real gaming context, improving and tailoring the user experience. The goal of this dissertation project is to introduce affective research to BCI games by creating a novel multiplayer Steady-State Visually Evoked Potential (SSVEP) BCI game, capable of providing a fun experience to its players and eliciting emotions for a study on EEG correlates of emotion. The multiplayer game Kessel Run was created, resulting in a space exploration game with a exible system that followed good game design rules with emotion elicitation strategies, controlled by the SSVEP paradigm. Twelve participants played Kessel Run using a 32-electrode EEG cap and rated the emotions felt during gameplay in a questionnaire. The SSVEP game performance achieved a maximum of 79% accuracy and an average of 55%. In addition, players reported that playing the game created a fun and immersive experience. A significant correlation with increased alpha power on the left hemisphere and positive valence led to the contradiction of the popular alpha asymmetry theory, which states that processing of positive information causes a decrease in alpha power on the left frontal hemisphere. Furthermore, correlates in the beta frequency range have been found for valence on right temporal and central sites. In the arousal dimension a significant central and frontal alpha power decrease was found, along with significant alpha asymmetry on fronto-central pairs for increased arousal

Neural correlates of flow, boredom, and anxiety in gaming: An electroencephalogram study

Games are engaging and captivating from a human-computer interaction (HCI) perspective as they can facilitate a highly immersive experience. This research examines the neural correlates of flow, boredom, and anxiety during video gaming. A within-subject experimental study (N = 44) was carried out with the use of electroencephalogram (EEG) to assess the brain activity associated with three states of user experience - flow, boredom, and anxiety - in a controlled gaming environment. A video game, Tetris, was used to induce flow, boredom, and anxiety. A 64 channel EEG headset was used to track changes in activation patterns in the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes of the players\u27 brains during the experiment. EEG signals were pre-processed and Fast Fourier Transformation values were extracted and analyzed. The results suggest that the EEG potential in the left frontal lobe is lower in the flow state than in the resting and boredom states. The occipital alpha is lower in the flow state than in the resting state. Similarly, the EEG theta in the left parietal lobe is lower during the flow state than the resting state. However, the EEG theta in the frontal-temporal region of the brain is higher in the flow state than in the anxiety state. The flow state is associated with low cognitive load, presence of attention levels, and loss of self-consciousness when compared to resting and boredom states --Abstract, page iii

Games as affective medium, A theoretical framework for studying emotions in the context of digital games

This thesis explores emotion processes in the context of digital games and game research and proposes a framework for studying emotions and emotional individuality in the context of digital games. The focus is on the positive effects of digital games on subjective emotional experiences and well-being, and especially the differences in affective styles since individual differences in emotionality may influence the effects of playing digital games. This thesis is formed from three parts: a literature review, a framework I have built based on the literat­ure, and a pilot study that explores the relation of the suggested two aspects of the framework. The literat­ure review gives an overview of the current knowledge of the emotion processes as large scale neural net­works that are partly developed evolutively and partly through learning throughout life. The emotion pro­cesses are claimed to have three layers: core affects, conditionally learnt emotions, and complex emotional experiences. The positive core affect processes SEEKING and PLAY are claimed to be related to curiosity, positive anticipation, intrinsic motivation and playfulness, which are further linked to increased positive emotionality and may influence the individual's well-being. Interestingly, digital games may elicit the foundations of these positive emotional experiences. I propose that each game has emotion-eliciting elements and that the gameplay influences the player's emotion processes which show as changes in the emotion components and result in different affective states, which may include subjective emotional experiences. The proposed framework introduces four dimensions on how games affect the player: 1) con­text, embodied in the game elements; 2) the player’s affective style; 3) the player’s emotional state; 4) outside of the game context. Aspects of the first two dimensions of the framework, suggested three emotional game elements and two affective traits were tested in a pilot study. The methods include textual analysis, and the pilot study was conducted with self-reports using a questionnaire that gathered data about the participants' emotional game element preferences and affective traits. The questionnaire included a modified version of the short affective neuroscientific personality scale (ANPS-S) questionnaire to gather the affective trait scores. I focused on Seeking and Play ANPS-S scores and analyzed all findings in a person-centred method. The two proposed Seeking game elements divided the participants into six clusters based on their preferences. Interestingly, all participants had high or very high ANPS-S Seeking score, and all parti­cipants reported preferences for one or more Seeking related game element. This finding may indicate that the proposed two elements may be associated with the Seeking trait, however, this finding may also indic­ate that individuals who play digital games have a high Seeking trait or curiosity in general. All participants reported average or high ANPS-S Play score, however, the results varied on the preference for the Playful­ness element, which may indicate the ANPS-S Play questions measure more social patterns than gameplay. Future studies could explore the differences between affective styles and game element preferences when aiming to understand the effects of digital games. Furthermore, there should be more studies comparing players to non-players and their affective styles and effects of digital games.Tässä opinnäytetyössä tarkastellaan emootioprosesseja digitaalisten pelien ja pelitutkimuksen kontekstissa, ja ehdotetaan viitekehystä emootioiden, emotionaalisen yksilöllisyyden ja pelien vaikutusten tutkimiseen. Tutkimuksen fokuksena ovat digitaalisten pelien positiiviset vaikutukset emootioihin, mielialaan ja hyvinvointiin, sekä yksilölliset erot affektityyleissä, koska yksilöllinen emotionaalisuus voi vaikuttaa digitaalisten pelien aiheuttamiin seurauksiin. Tämä opinnäytetyö muodostuu kolmesta osasta: kirjallisuuskatsauksesta, viitekehyksestä jonka olen muodostanut kirjallisuuden pohjalta, ja pilottitutkimuksesta joka tutkii kahden viitekehyksessä ehdotetun ulottuvuuden suhdetta. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa esitetään yleiskuva nykytiedosta emootiotutkimuksen alueella emootioista laajoina neuraalisten verkostojen prosesseina, jotka ovat kehittyneet sekä evolutiivisesti että muotoutuvat oppimisen ja aivojen plastisuuden seurauksena koko elämän ajan. Emootioprosesseilla väitetään olevan kolme eri tasoa: primäärit perusaffektit, konditionaalisesti opitut emootiot ja kompleksiset emotionaaliset kokemukset. Positiivisten perusaffektien SEEKING ja PLAY väitetään olevan kytköksissä lisääntyneeseen positiiviseen emotionaalisuuteen ja niillä voi olla vaikutuksia yksilön hyvinvointiin. Digitaaliset pelit voivat aktivoida näiden positiivisten emootiokokemusten perustuksia, mutta tämä alue vaatii lisää tutkimuksia. Ehdotan, että jokaisella digitaalisella pelillä on emootioita herättäviä elementtejä, ja että pelaaminen vaikuttaa pelaajan emootioprosesseihin, mikä näkyy muutoksina emootiokomponenteissa. Nämä muutokset aiheuttavat erilaisia affektiivisia tiloja ja voivat ilmetä myös subjektiivisina emotionaalisina kokemuksina. Ehdotettu viitekehys esittelee pelien neljä ulottuvuutta jotka vaikuttavat pelaajaan: 1) konteksti, joka ilmenee sisällössä; 2) pelaajan affektiivinen tyyli; 3) pelaajan emotionaalinen tila; ja 4) pelin ulkopuolinen konteksti. Viitekehyksen kahden ensimmäisen dimension osia tutkitaan opinnäytetyön pilottitutkimuksessa. Metodologia sisältää tekstianalyysin ja itseraportointiin pohjautuvan kyselyn, jolla kerättiin dataa osallistujien pelielementtimieltymyksistä ja affektityyleistä. Kyselyssä oli mukautettu ANPS-S -osio, jonka tarkoituksena oli kerätä tietoa osallistujien affektiivisista tyyleistä. Analyysi keskittyi vain Seeking- ja Play-ominaisuuksiin, ja kaikki tulokset analysoitiin yksilökeskeisesti. Kaksi esitettyä Seeking pelielementtiä jakoi osallistujat kuuteen eri ryhmään. Kaikilla osallistujilla oli korkeat tai hyvin korkeat ANPS-S Seeking -tulokset, ja lisäksi kaikki suosivat yhtä tai useampaa Seeking-pelielementtiä. Tämä voi tarkoittaa että ehdotetut emotionaaliset pelielementit voidaan mahdollisesti yhdistää yksilön Seeking -ominaisuuteen, tai että uteliaisuus on yleinen piirre pelaavilla yksilöillä. Kaikki osallistujat raportoivat keskinkertaista korkeampia ANPS-S Play -tuloksia, mutta yksilöiden tulokset vaihtelivat suuresti Playfulness-elementtiä kohtaan. Tämä löydös voi tarkoittaa, että ANPS-S Play kartoittaa enemmän sosiaalista pelaamista tai leikkiä kuin pelaamista. Tulevat tutkimukset voisivat kartoittaa digitaalisten pelien vaikutuksia yksityiskohtaisemmin vertaamalla affektityyppejä ja suosittuja pelielementtejä, sekä yksilöllisiä eroja pelaamisen vaikutuksista emootiokomponentteihin. Lisäksi tarvitaan lisää tutkimusta, joka vertaa aktiivisesti pelaavia ja ei-pelaajia keskenään, sekä heidän affektityyppejään ja pelien vaikutuksia

Investigating the modulation of cognition and event-related potentials relating to visual attention, working memory, and executive control in habitual videogame players

The overall objective of this thesis was to produce a document that investigated whether habitual videogame playing modulated cognitive processes related to visual processing and where in the processing stream these modulations occur. In this thesis, the term ‘cognitive modulation’ refers to any neurological differences (as identified through ERP) between videogame players and non-videogame players that theoretically may have been a result of videogame playing. Using this method, I am able to ascertain whether differences between the two groups are observed in early sensory ERPs, in which case VGPs might possess an advantage in bottom-up visual processing, later selective attention which might indicate alterations in top-down attentional processing, motor-response waveforms that may indicate difference in stimulus response mappings, and finally any differences in working memory capacity that might be the underlying cause of supposed attentional differences. An example of cognitive modulation was observed by Wu et al., (2012) and discussed in more detail in the introduction of this thesis. Indeed these modulations should also be accompanied by a behavioural difference between the two groups. As ERP was the primary source of neurophysiological recordings in this thesis, modulations could occur in the amplitude, mean activity, or peak latency of ERP waveforms.The paradigms employed in this thesis were chosen and designed so that in combination they provide a measure of potential cognitive modulation across the entire processing stream. That is, from early sensory ERPs, through selective attentional ERPs, including executive control ERPs and concluding at ERPs related to motor response priming. As these studies primarily focused on attentional processes, an ERP chapter towards the end of this thesis was included to identify whether any modulations in attentional ERPs were an indirect result of modulated working memory.Chapters 2 and 3 in this thesis focus on attentional control, resources, and the inhibitory processes of attention. Specifically, these chapters related to the attentional control each group employed when being presented with distracting items. Indeed, I observed modulated cognitive processes in chapter 3 related inhibitory processing in both attention and executive control related processes. In addition to this, the flanker task in Chapter 3 also allowed me to measure and modulation in motor priming between videogame players and non-videogame players.Chapters 4 and 5 looked more closely at ERPs related to selective attention such as the N2pc and P3, alongside early sensory ERPs (N1, P1, etc.). In response to observing differences in how each group processed distractors (related to the N2pc in Chapter 4), Chapter 5 employed a very specific test in order to split the N2pc into its component parts to further investigate whether any cognitive modulation between groups was a result of altered priority on processing targets or inhibiting distractors.Chapter 6 in this thesis sought to identify whether any differences observed in the attentional processing stream was actually the result of modulations in working memory, a cognitive process theoretically closely related to selective attention. Chapter 6 measured the contralateral delay activity, a neurological waveform that correlates with items held in visual working memory.Chapter 7 provided further exploratory psychophysical testing to identify whether any potential behavioural between-group differences extend beyond the usual visual field our groups would play videogames in. This involved testing the crowding phenomenon whereby participants are unable to identify a stimulus when closely flanked by distractors.This these concludes with Chapter 8, an overall discussion of each chapters results and how these theoretically synthesise with one another in relation to the two objectives of this thesis; does videogame playing modulate cognitive, and where in the attentional processing stream does this occur