Calmness in Virtual Environments Enhance User’s Spatial Presence Experience

Presence has been described to be crucial in several virtual reality (VR) applications. Among the factors influencing presence, realistic virtual environment has been examined extensively from the angle of geometry-based virtual reality (GBVR) application. The visual of the applications has been manipulated by altering numerous technological characteristics or by adding more sensory information (such as touch and smell). However, realistic virtual environment in GBVR application often required complex programming and takes longer time to develop. As such GBVR application is not acceptable for the application that needs to have a collection of realistic panoramic virtual environments. An alternative solution for above statement is image-based virtual reality (IBVR) application. IBVR refers to photo-based images, stitched together to develop a realistic panoramic virtual environment. Based on this method, many realistic virtual environments can be created in much less time but with limited interaction function. Despite this limitation, realistic virtual environment in image-based virtual reality is expected to enhance user’s spatial presence experience, which is supported by spatial presence theoretical model. There a few levels in this theoretical model before the formation of spatial presence, and the most important part in this theoretical model is primary egocentric reference frames (PERF), adapting calmness to produce spatial presence experience. Thus, this chapter describes the summary on adapting calmness as PERF

Violent video games DO promote aggression

In this chapter, we provide a brief review of the research investigating the connection between playing violent video games and aggression, summarizing key approaches and findings from survey research and experimental methodology. We trace through some of the main features of the debate surrounding the topic, present the grounds on which we arrive at our own interpretive position, and make some suggestions for future research. We find that effects are often contingent on (or made stronger or weaker by) features of games themselves and how they are played as well as differences that different users bring to the gaming experience. On balance, we make a case for the interpretation that playing violent video games does, indeed, contribute a small but meaningful influence on aggression

Impact of violent video game realism on the self-concept of aggressiveness assessed with explicit and implicit measures

We compared the standard 2D representation of a recent violent computer game to its 3D representation realized by shutter-goggles in a lab experiment. Assuming that the higher degree of realism of media violence would impact stronger on players in a pretest–posttest design, we analyzed the influence of violent video game exposure on implicit and explicit measures of aggressiveness. According to an explicit questionnaire on aggressiveness, participants reported having becoming more peaceful, whereas an Implicit Association Test on aggressiveness (Agg-IAT) indicated that the association between self and aggressive behavior became stronger after violence exposure, confirming the unique utility of Agg-IATs in media research. The 3D visualization mode, however, did not further strengthen this association, and a mediation model of increases in aggressiveness by participants’ flow experiences was not supported. When inspecting flow experiences, an interaction effect between gender and visualization mode was evident: Male participants were more likely to have flow experiences in the high-realism (3D) format, whereas female participants were more likely to experience flow in the standard (2D) mode. We discuss the findings in the context of automatic information processing in aggression, and we contend possible changes in automatic behavioral precursors due to media influence

A Quantitative Examination of the Impact of Moderating Variables on the Experience of Eudaimonic Outcomes

There has been a growing body of research looking into effects beyond enjoyment of media content. However, these explorations have primarily been outcome focused and have failed to analyze variables that could be mediating eudaimonic effects. This thesis examined the results of an experimental study investigating the variables of flow and realism and their possible impact on eudaimonic outcomes of video game play. Using data collected from 193 participants who played either the game The Last of Us Remastered or Elude, this study examined the possibility of flow mediating the relationship between realism and eudaimonic effects. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that flow and realism play a significant role in the experience of eudaimonic effects. However, flow does not play a mediating role between realism and eudaimonia. This study extended past research by providing evidence that flow and realism are related to the experience of eudaimonia. Additionally, this study continued to provide evidence of media effects beyond enjoyment. These results provide a rationale for future research on mediating variables and the impact they could play on eudemonic outcomes. Keywords: Eudaimonic effects, hedonic effects, flow, perceived realis

A Quantitative Examination of the Impact of Moderating Variables on the Experience of Eudaimonic Outcomes

There has been a growing body of research looking into effects beyond enjoyment of media content. However, these explorations have primarily been outcome focused and have failed to analyze variables that could be mediating eudaimonic effects. This thesis examined the results of an experimental study investigating the variables of flow and realism and their possible impact on eudaimonic outcomes of video game play. Using data collected from 193 participants who played either the game The Last of Us Remastered or Elude, this study examined the possibility of flow mediating the relationship between realism and eudaimonic effects. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that flow and realism play a significant role in the experience of eudaimonic effects. However, flow does not play a mediating role between realism and eudaimonia. This study extended past research by providing evidence that flow and realism are related to the experience of eudaimonia. Additionally, this study continued to provide evidence of media effects beyond enjoyment. These results provide a rationale for future research on mediating variables and the impact they could play on eudemonic outcomes. Keywords: Eudaimonic effects, hedonic effects, flow, perceived realis

The Reification of Structural Violence in Video Games

The Grand Theft Auto franchise features prominently within existing research exploring graphic, virtual, lawless, and damagingly realistic interpersonal violence within video games. Following a review of this literature, we empirically interrogate notions of the ‘realistic’ and the ‘violent’ during gameplay, finding that the undertones of systemic, structural, capitalistic violence are experienced by players as providing the gritty sense of the ‘real’ that the game has been criticised for. Using Galtung’s concept of ‘structural violence’ and Žižek’s notion of the ‘real’, we unpack structural violence as the forerunning violent experience in the open world game. Due to the hidden and subdued nature of this violence, often taken for granted and experienced passively, we argue that it is the most impactful player experience that simultaneously makes the game playable and contextualises violent game activities. For cultural criminology, our data suggest that embedded and discrete forms of violence should be the leading edge of concern when studying the digital economy and playable forms of social harm

Validating Gameplay Activity Inventory (GAIN) for Modeling Player Profiles

In the present study, we validated Gameplay Activity Inventory (GAIN), a short and psychometrically sound instrument for measuring players' gameplay preferences and modeling player pro les. In Study 1, participants in Finland (N = 879) responded to a 52-item version of GAIN. An exploratory factor analysis was used to identify ve latent factors of gameplay activity appreciation: Aggression, Management, Exploration, Coordination, and Caretaking. In Study 2, respondents in Canada (N = 1; 322) and Japan (N = 1; 178) responded to GAIN, and the factor structure of a 15-item version was examined using a Con rmatory Factor Analysis. The results showed that the short version of GAIN has good construct validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity in Japan and in Canada. We demonstrated the usefulness of GAIN by conducting a cluster analysis to identify player types that differ inboth demographics and game choice. GAIN can be used in research as a tool for investigating player pro les. Game companies, publishers and analysts can utilize GAIN in player-centric game development and targeted marketing and in generating personalized game recommendations.</p

Something is Rotten in the State of Aggression Research: Novel Methodological and Theoretical Approaches to Research on Digital Games and Human Aggression

This dissertation offers a comprehensive critique of the current state of research on violent game playing and aggressive outcomes. It discusses twenty-five years of research on violence in digital games and aggression, including empirical evidence, theoretical perspectives, and the heated debates in both the public and academia. The main focus here is on methodological issues limiting the conclusiveness of the research, particularly experiments conducted in psychological laboratories. By suggesting methodological advancements in the study of game violence effects, the thesis wants to offer new perspectives on digital games and aggression to move forward the field and the ideological debates that surround it. The thesis comprises a total of 5 peer-reviewed journal articles (of which 3 are published, one is accepted and in press, and one is under review) that include data from one original study and a secondary analyses of 3 further studies. The first part of the thesis consists of a detailed review of the current scientific literature on violent game effects with a focus on the theories that have been developed to explain the relationship between the use of digital games and aggression. Important theoretical shortcomings and fallacies of social-cognitive perspectives on how aggression is acquired through violent media contents are identified and discussed. The second part is a methodological critique of laboratory experiments in research on the effect of violent games. First, common problems and pitfalls in the manipulation of violence as an independent variable and improper control of relevant confounding factors are discussed. The modification of game content (“modding”) is suggested as a novel method to meet the requirements of rigorous internal validity and sufficient external validity in psychological laboratory experiments. The advantages of this method are illustrated by the results of an experiment in which it was used. This is followed by an examination of one of the most popular laboratory measures of aggressive behavior (the Competitive Reaction Time Task), providing evidence from three studies that the unstandardized use in the scholarly literature poses a threat to its interpretability and generalizability. The dissertation concludes with an analysis of the scientific discourse on the game violence-aggression link, and the ways in which it is shaped by ideological convictions that affect both the theoretical assumptions and the methodological procedures. This duality of ideologies present in theory and methods constitutes a threat to violent game effects research, as it causes the field to stagnate. It is argued that this stagnancy can only be resolved through methodological rigor that will, ultimately, advance inadequate theories of media effects

Além da diversão : jogos digitais, carga cognitiva e comportamento prosocial

Tese (doutorado) — Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Psicologia, Programa de Pós-graduação em Psicologia Social, do Trabalho e das Organizações, 2016.O efeito de diferentes tipos de mídia sobre o comportamento é um tema que atrai o interesse do público em geral e dos pesquisadores do comportamento humano, e a investigação sobre os efeitos dos jogos digitais tem crescido na literatura. Várias revisões sistemáticas e meta-análises sobre o tema apresentam evidências acerca da existência de uma relação entre a exposição a jogos digitais e comportamentos agressivos e prosociais. No entanto, evidências sobre o papel da cognição, dentro de uma perspectiva processual, ainda são escassas. A presente tese tem como objetivo avaliar o papel dos recursos cognitivos na relação entre a função desempenhada no jogo e o comportamento prosocial. Para isso, uma série de experimentos foram desenvolvidos com o intuito de se analisar a influência dos jogos no comportamento prosocial, na acessibilidade a cognições prosociais (Experimentos 1 e 2) e no autoconceito prosocial implícito (Experimento 3). Além disso, realizou-se o desenvolvimento e pré-teste de um jogo concebido para experimentos considerando diferentes funções (Experimento 4), bem como a adaptação e teste de uma ferramenta informatizada para mensuração do comportamento prosocial (Experimento 5). Com base nos resultados destes experimentos, delineou-se um experimento para investigar o papel dos recursos cognitivos na relação entre tipo de jogo e comportamento prosocial (Experimento 6). Os resultados apontam a carga cognitiva como uma variável relevante para se compreender o efeito dos jogos digitais no comportamento prosocial, além de levantar a necessidade de se discutir o poder explicativo do modelo teórico vigente.The effect of different media types on behavior is a subject that attracts the interest of general public and researchers of human behavior, and the investigation concerning the effect of digital games has grown. Several systematic reviews and meta-analysis about this subject present evidence supporting the relation between the exposition to digital games and aggressive and prosocial behaviors. However, evidence about the role of cognition considering a processual perspective is still scarce. The main goal of this dissertation is to evaluate the role of cognitive resources on the relation between the role played on a digital game and prosocial behavior. To test that, a series of experiments was developed to investigate the influence of games on prosocial behavior, accessibility of prosocial cognitions (Experiments 1 and 2) and implicit prosocial self-concept (Experiment 3). Besides that, a game with different roles for experiments was designed (Experiment 4), and a computer measure of prosocial behavior was adapted (Experiment 5). Based on the results of the previous experiments, a last experiment was designed to investigate the role of cognitive resources on the relation between game type and prosocial behavior (Experiment 6). Results shows the relevance of cognitive load on the understanding of the effect of digital games on prosocial behavior, as well as the need to discuss the explanatory power of the theoretical model used