Simply Snake Sprites and Sounds: Snake Detection Theory in Video Games

Snake Detection Theory states that there is an innate evolutionary advantage to respond to snake stimuli stronger and faster than non-snake stimuli. This theory has been supported by studies measuring brain activity in infants looking at images of snakes (Bertels et al., 2020), reactions in wild monkeys and marmosets (Wombolt & Caine, 2016; Isbell & Etings, 2017; Van Strien et al, 2016; Dinh et al., 2021), and in peripheral attention tasks in adults (Kawai & He, 2016; Kawai & Qui, 2020; Gallup & Meyers, 2021). Also, over 53% of UK citizens report anxiety around snakes, and it is one of the most common animal-specific phobias (Davey, 1994). The current study uses a video game to explore the psychological and physiological responses when interacting with a snake and non-snake “boss”. Conditions are counterbalanced, and heart rate variability, blood pressure, reaction time, and breadth of attention are measured. This study will provide insight into whether a physiological response to snake stimuli is evident in video-gaming, and whether it is independent of self-reported emotions. Such research provides a deeper understanding of the biomechanics and emotions associated with snakes, which have broad ranging applications from gaming design to research on phobias

Gotta Beat ‘Em All: Social Facilitation and Speedrunning

Social Facilitation is the theory that people who normally succeed at an activity do better when there are more people watching them, and people who normally fail at an activity do worse when they are observed. The presence of mind that the audience has on the individual impacts the magnitude of this effect, and can be studied with who is watching, or how many are watching. Other research includes the differences between social facilitation via competition and cooperation (Williams & Clippinger, 2002; Schafer, 2013; Lau, Schwarz,& Stoll, 2019). The effects of social facilitation on video game performance have been studied in the lab to mixed results (supporting: Bowman, Weber, Tamborini, & Sherry, 2013; Feinberg & Aiello, 2006; against: Kimble & Rezabek, 1992; Emmerich & Masuch, 2018; Williams, 2019), but have many limitations. Participants in the lab know that their data is being recorded; these studies may only be researching mere presence, and not evaluation apprehension. Additionally, dominant responses are difficult to determine after a single attempt of a game in a lab setting. No study has yet looked at the effects of social facilitation on video game performance outside of the lab setting. The current study uses the public speedrun leaderboard Speedrun.com as a database to analyze social facilitation. The prior number of submissions to a speedrun category is used to predict the player’s time, speed (calculated as a ratio of their time to the first-place time), and place on the leaderboard in three separate linear regressions. Data was analyzed in R. Three separate samples were collected, the first with 1932 submissions from 1866 player accounts, the second with 6918 submissions from 6638 accounts, and the third with 1460 submissions from 1365 accounts. Results mostly support social facilitation, but results vary between studies. The limitations of these samples will be discussed

Extracurricular Activities and College Adjustment

This study looked at the relationship between sense of belonging and extracurricular involvement during undergraduate students’ first semester attending a university. Extracurricular involvement is defined as adult-sponsored voluntary activities that are not a part of the school curriculum, often include other participants, are rule-based, and tend to be organized around particular competencies. We hypothesized that (1) extracurricular involvement will positively correlate with positive high school experience with extracurriculars (2) extracurricular intensity and higher workloads will have a negative relationship with extracurricular consistency and (3) school climate will have a positive relationship with sense of belonging and extracurricular participation. Participants (N = 98; 71 = Women, , 22 = Men, 2 =Non-Binary/ Other, 3 = chose not to respond; age range from 18 – 57, mean = 20.0) filled out a survey measuring extracurricular breadth, intensity, and consistency, as well as their sense of belonging and adjustment to college. Students reported participating in an average of 1.49 extracurricular activities (Range:1-18). Results of the study will be presented at Scholars’ Week

The Book Was Better: Children’s Literature and the French Colonialism Narrative

This project looks at how French attitudes toward imperialism have influenced French children’s literature and how French children’s literature has influenced French attitudes from the 1930s to the 1960s. In addition to looking at the primary sources, a part of the project includes an understanding of past historical research on the French empire and imperialism and current interpretations of the sources surrounding these subjects

The Benefits of Baby-Face

Past research has found that ratings of baby-face positively predict ratings of trustworthiness and warmth (Berry & McArthur, 1985; Chang, Lee, & Cheng, 2017), are moderated by gender to predict attractiveness (McArthur & Apatow, 1984; Zheng et al., 2009; Zheng et al., 2018), negatively predict ratings of competence (McArthur & Apatow, 1984; Chang, Lee, & Cheng, 2017), and are theorized to negatively predict ratings of threat (Livingston & Pearce, 2009). Individual facial features are more powerful predictors of ratings of baby-face in cultures with analytical thinking styles, while forehead size is more commonly a predictor in countries with holistic thinking styles (Zheng et al., 2009). It is theorized that forehead size indicates that all of the facial features are lower on the face, and that holistic thinking style accounts for where things are located, not just what they are (Nisbett & Miyamoto, 2005; Zheng et al., 2009). The current study investigates these in a cross-cultural replication with Indian faces for Indian and American raters, separately, using the norming data included in the Chicago Faces - Database - India. Facial features are analyzed as predictors of ratings of trustworthiness, warmth, attractiveness, competence, and threat, with baby-face moderating each of these analyses. Results support that Indian raters have a holistic thinking style and need a combination of features to rate a face as baby-faced. Baby-face positively predicted ratings of attractiveness; gender were not a significant moderator. Baby-face also positively predicted ratings of competence, warmth, and trustworthiness. Results indicate that the relationship between babyface and ratings of threat may be moderated by gender. Forehead size was a significant predictor more frequently for Indian raters, while lip thickness and eye size were more frequently significant for U.S. raters. Ratings of baby-face between the two groups of raters was correlated at .64, indicating cultural differences between the groups

Player AFK: Examining Player-Character Similarity and the Motivation to escape in Role-Playing Gamers

Role-playing games (RPGs) have been growing in popularity throughout the last decade (Diamond, 2022). In these games, players assume control of a character, often for the purpose of influencing an overarching narrative. Neustaedter and Fedorovskaya (2009) identified three ways people may role-play as a character: similar to how one truly is, an idealized version of oneself, or a person completely other than oneself. Nacke and Nacke (2021) suggested that the type of character one chooses to play may be a function of the discrepancy between the “actual” self (who one truly is), the ‘ideal” self (who one wishes to be) and the “ought” self (who one believes they should be). The present study examines potential relationships between participants’ escapist tendencies, self-esteem, personality characteristics, and the types of characters they create in role-play scenarios. Participants with some amount of RPG experience are asked to complete a series of questionnaires measuring their motivation to escape (Stenseng et al., 2012), self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), and the personality characteristics of agreeableness, extraversion, and honesty-humility (Ashton & Lee, 2009). Participants then engage in a creative role-play exercise, asking them to describe a setting and create an original character within that setting. They then complete five role-play prompts as the character. Finally, participants rate the personality characteristics of their created character and report the degree of similarity between their characters and their actual, ought, and ideal selves. It is predicted that participants high in escapism will create characters with personality characteristics different from their own and will report that their characters are less similar to their actual self. It is also predicted that subjects low in self-esteem will create characters less similar to themselves. Additional exploratory analysis will investigate how these factors may interact to predict actual-character discrepancy. Further exploratory analyses will investigate what factors predict character similarity to the ideal and ought selves. The exploration of these topics may provide new insight into how individuals perceive themselves, identify psychological links between RPG-players and the characters they create, and potentially highlight the beneficial effects of this increasingly popular pastime

Player-Character Similarity in Role-Playing Gamers

Role-playing games (RPGs) have been growing in popularity throughout the last decade (Diamond, 2022). In these games, players assume control of a character, often for the purpose of influencing an overarching narrative. Neustaedter and Fedorovskaya (2009) identified three ways people may role-play as a character: similar to how one truly is, an idealized version of oneself, or a person completely other than oneself. Nacke and Nacke (2021) suggested that the type of character one chooses to play may be a function of the discrepancy between the “actual” self (who one truly is), the ‘ideal” self (who one wishes to be) and the “ought” self (who one believes they should be). The present study examines potential relationships between participants’ escapist tendencies, self-esteem, personality characteristics, and the types of characters they create in role-play scenarios. Data collection is ongoing and set to conclude in mid-March of 2025, with data analysis set to conclude by the end of that month. Participants with some amount of RPG experience are asked to complete a series of questionnaires measuring their motivation to escape (Stenseng et al., 2012), self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), and the personality characteristics of agreeableness, extraversion, and honesty-humility (Ashton & Lee, 2009). Participants then engage in a creative role-play exercise, asking them to describe a setting and create an original character within that setting. They then complete five role-play prompts as the character. Finally, participants rate the personality characteristics of their created character and report the degree of similarity between their characters and their actual, ought, and ideal selves. It is predicted that participants high in escapism will create characters with personality characteristics different from their own and will report that their characters are less similar to their actual self. It is also predicted that subjects low in self-esteem will create characters less similar to themselves. Additional exploratory analysis will investigate how these factors may interact to predict actual-character discrepancy. Further exploratory analyses will investigate what factors predict character similarity to the ideal and ought selves. The exploration of these topics may provide new insight into how individuals perceive themselves, identify psychological links between RPG-players and the characters they create, and potentially highlight the beneficial effects of this increasingly popular pastime