Exploring social gambling: scoping, classification and evidence review

The aim of this report is to speculate on the level of concern we might have regarding consumer risk in relation to ‘social gambling.’ In doing so, this report is intended to help form the basis to initiate debate around a new and under-researched social issue; assist in setting a scientific research agenda; and, where appropriate, highlight concerns about any potential areas that need to be considered in terms of precautionary regulation. This report does not present a set of empirical research findings regarding ‘social gambling’ but rather gathers information to improve stakeholder understanding

Closing in on the picture : analyzing interactions in video recordings

This paper provides a detailed account of the processing and analysing of data, obtained through video recording during reflective practitioner research. It sets out five stages in the analysis of video recordings of classroom interactions during a series of educational drama lessons: from decisions relating to the selection of data for close analysis, to the seeking of themes, and finally to the presentation of conclusions. The researcher adapted and synthesised several processes derived from discourse analysis (Wells, 2001; Spiers, 2004; Gee, 2005) to produce a range of instruments for use in transcription and analysis of verbal and non-verbal discourse. These include: a simple transcription key; classifications for verbal and non-verbal discourse; and a template for a transcription and analysis matrix

Implicit attitude toward caregiving: The moderating role of adult attachment styles

Attachment and caregiving are separate motivational systems that share the common evolutionary purpose of favoring child security. In the goal of studying the processes underlying the transmission of attachment styles, this study focused on the role of adult attachment styles in shaping preferences toward particular styles of caregiving. We hypothesized a correspondence between attachment and caregiving styles: we expect an individual to show a preference for a caregiving behavior coherent with his/her own attachment style, in order to increase the chance of passing it on to offspring. We activated different representations of specific caregiving modalities in females, by using three videos in which mothers with different Adult Attachment states of mind played with their infants. Participants' facial expressions while watching were recorded and analyzed with FaceReader software. After each video, participants' attitudes toward the category "mother" were measured, both explicitly (semantic differential) and implicitly (single target-implicit association task, ST-IAT). Participants' adult attachment styles (experiences in close relationships revised) predicted attitudes scores, but only when measured implicitly. Participants scored higher on the ST-IAT after watching a video coherent with their attachment style. No effect was found on the facial expressions of disgust. These findings suggest a role of adult attachment styles in shaping implicit attitudes related to the caregiving system

Expressing social attitudes in virtual agents for social training games

The use of virtual agents in social coaching has increased rapidly in the last decade. In order to train the user in different situations than can occur in real life, the virtual agent should be able to express different social attitudes. In this paper, we propose a model of social attitudes that enables a virtual agent to reason on the appropriate social attitude to express during the interaction with a user given the course of the interaction, but also the emotions, mood and personality of the agent. Moreover, the model enables the virtual agent to display its social attitude through its non-verbal behaviour. The proposed model has been developed in the context of job interview simulation. The methodology used to develop such a model combined a theoretical and an empirical approach. Indeed, the model is based both on the literature in Human and Social Sciences on social attitudes but also on the analysis of an audiovisual corpus of job interviews and on post-hoc interviews with the recruiters on their expressed attitudes during the job interview

Digital Australia 2014

This report examines the role interactive entertainment plays in Australian households. Foreword We began national studies of computer game audiences in 2005 to widen the conversation about games and tackle stereotypes that prevented an understanding in the wider community that computer games were a popular medium that had become not only normalised, but a medium valued by Australians of all ages. Rather than challenge negative stereotypes about games with rhetoric, we provided quantitative empirical data using established social and market research practice – something that had not been available for Australia’s journalists and policy-makers who relied on overseas data. Over the five Australian studies since 2005, we documented the ascendency of computer and video games to centre stage in media culture. Game Play Australia 2005 conveyed the reality that Australia is a nation of game-lovers who enjoy playing games on a sporting field and on the screen. In 2005: 76% of households had a device for playing games and PCs dominated consoles, 38% of gamers were female and the average age was 24, Less than an hour was the play duration and twice a week was the frequency 49% of households had broadband connections, 35% played games online, 66% of parents played video games, 88% said Australia should have an R18+ for games, and 68% said classification information was very influential when choosing games for their children. Interactive Australia 2007 and 2009 illustrated the growing ability of games to foster social interaction. Moreover, games consoles and the Internet had matured and grown in popularity. By 2009: 88% of households had a device for playing games and consoles took the lead from PCs, 46% of gamers were female and the average age was 30, An hour was the play duration and every other day was the frequency, 81% of households had broadband connections, 48% played games online, 70% of parents played games, 60% of households were home to 2 or more players, 91% said Australia should have an R18+ for games, and 46% said classification information was very influential when choosing games for their children. Digital Australia 2012 illustrated the rapid maturation of digital media and more avenues for game experiences to anyone who wanted to play. By 2012: 92% of households had a device for playing games and consoles lead and phones outflanked handhelds, 47% of gamers were female and the average age was 32, An hour was the play duration and every other day was the frequency, 83% of parents played games, 70% of households were home to 2 or more players, and 41% said classification information was very influential when choosing games for their children. Digital Australia 2014 completes this phase of reports on computer games and Australians. The profile of the gamer and the gaming household is nearly synonymous with the profile of the typical Australian and Australian household. It demonstrates that multiple screens and game devices are commonplace and that games have expanded from the loungeroom to the pocket, played frequently and for longer durations. It suggests that the moral panic over established media like music, films, television and games is now moving to social media and the Internet. Adult gamers have formed great memories over the years of family time, characters, story, play and interaction from a medium that has emerged from its adolescence.   Authored by Jeffrey E. Brand, Pascaline Lorentz, and Trishita Mathew

Evaluating Engagement in Digital Narratives from Facial Data

Engagement researchers indicate that the engagement level of people in a narrative has an influence on people's subsequent story-related attitudes and beliefs, which helps psychologists understand people's social behaviours and personal experience. With the arrival of multimedia, the digital narrative combines multimedia features (e.g. varying images, music and voiceover) with traditional storytelling. Research on digital narratives has been widely used in helping students gain problem-solving and presentation skills as well as supporting child psychologists investigating children's social understanding such as family/peer relationships through completing their digital narratives. However, there is little study on the effect of multimedia features in digital narratives on the engagement level of people. This research focuses on measuring the levels of engagement of people in digital narratives and specifically on understanding the media effect of digital narratives on people's engagement levels. Measurement tools are developed and validated through analyses of facial data from different age groups (children and young adults) in watching stories with different media features of digital narratives. Data sources used in this research include a questionnaire with Smileyometer scale and the observation of each participant's facial behaviours

Combining explicit and implicit measures to study the effects of persuasive games

Understanding how games influence players is an integral part of persuasive game design. However, evaluating player attitudes to determine the success of a persuasive game can be difficult, e.g., if games deal with sensitive topics that invite socially desirable answers to explicit measures such as questionnaires. In this paper, we discuss the application of an implicit measure – the Implicit Association Test – to support explicit data, and to help game designers and games user researchers better understand the effects of persuasive games on player attitudes

Attitudes Toward Autism

Many studies have been conducted to observe the effect of contact on attitudes toward people with mental illnesses, but few studies have observed the effect of contact on attitudes toward individuals on the autism spectrum specifically. This study investigates the correlation between the amount of contact with an individual on the autism spectrum and attitudes toward individuals on the autism spectrum. In addition, this study attempts to prove that negative symptoms (such as not talking) encourage positive attitudes more than positive symptoms (such as fits of anger). Over a period of approximately 3 months, 218 Ball State University students were asked to complete an online survey which included several scales testing attitudes toward the autism spectrum. They also read vignettes displaying individuals on the autism spectrum with positive and negative symptoms in both a frustrating situation and an everyday social situation. They then completed more attitudinal questions based on the characters in the vignettes. Results showed a significant positive correlation between the amounts of contact a participant has had with an autistic individual and their willingness to spend time with them (social distance). Results also suggested that participants would be more willing to spend time with vignette subjects displaying negative symptoms rather than positive symptoms. The implications of these results and their applications to working with autistic individuals, as well as further possible research, are discussed