Effective Affective User Interface Design in Games

It is proposed that games, which are designed to generate positive affect, are most successful when they facilitate flow (Csikszentmihalyi 1992). Flow is a state of concentration, deep enjoyment, and total absorption in an activity. The study of games, and a resulting understanding of flow in games can inform the design of nonleisure software for positive affect. The paper considers the ways in which computer games contravene Nielsen’s guidelines for heuristic evaluation (Nielsen and Molich 1990) and how these contraventions impact on flow. The paper also explores the implications for research that stem from the differences between games played on a personal computer and games played on a dedicated console. This research takes important initial steps towards defining how flow in computer games can inform affective design

Effects of Team-Based Computer Interaction: The Media Equation and Game Design Considerations

The current paper applies media equation research to video game de-sign. The paper presents a review of the existing media equation research, de-scribes a specific study conducted by the authors, discusses how the findings of the study can be used to inform future game design, and explores how other media equation findings might be incorporated into game design. The specific study, discussed in detail in the paper, explores the notion of team formation between humans and computer team-mates. The results show that while highly experienced users will accept a computer as a team-mate, they tend to react more negatively towards the computer than to human teammates (a ‘Black Sheep’ Effect

Rural Depopulation in a Rapidly Urbanizing America

In this brief, authors Kenneth Johnson and Daniel Lichter examine demographic trends in rural America, a region often overlooked in a nation dominated by urban interests. They report that nearly 35 percent of rural counties are experiencing protracted and significant population loss. Depopulation is the result of chronic rural outmigration, mostly by young adults, which contributes to fewer births. As the sizeable older population that did not migrate ages in place, the mortality rate rises. Rural depopulation is not universal. Some rural areas have experienced significant population growth for decades. The authors’ study provides a demographic window to the future and a sober forecast of continuing rural population decline in many economically depressed regions. Future rural population growth and decline clearly are deeply rooted in evolving patterns of migration, fertility, and mortality. It is past time to refocus our attention on the rural people and places left behind

The media equation and team formation: Further evidence for experience as a moderator

This study extends previous media equation research, which showed that interdependence but not identity leads to team affiliation effects with computers. The current study used an identity manipulation that more closely replicated the manipulation used in traditional team and group formation research than the original media equation research in this area. The study also sought further evidence for the relationship between experience with computers and behaviour reflecting a media equation pattern of results. Sixty students from the University of Queensland voluntarily participated in the study. Participants were assigned to one of three conditions: control, human team (a team made of only humans) or human-computer team (a team made of computers and humans). Questionnaire measures assessing participants’ affective experience, attitudes and opinions were taken. Participants of high experience, but not low experience, when assigned to either of the team conditions enjoyed the tasks completed on the computer more than participants who worked on their own. When assigned to a team that involved a computer, participants of high experience, but not low experience, reacted negatively towards the computer (in comparison to high experience participants working on their own or on a team without a computer as a team member) – rating the information provided by the computer lower, rating themselves as less influenced by the computer and changing their own ratings and rankings to be less like those of the computer. These results are interpreted in light of the ‘Black Sheep’ literature and recognized as a media equation pattern of results

The Changing Spatial Concentration of America’s Rural Poor Population

This paper documents changing patterns of concentrated poverty in nonmetro areas. Data from the 1970 through 2000 U.S. Census Summary Files reveal the changing shares of poor people and children living in rural counties with disproportionately poor populations. Nonmetro poverty rates – both overall and for children – declined more rapidly than metro rates in the 1990s. The 1990s also brought large reductions in the number of high-poverty nonmetro counties, and declines in the share of rural people, including rural poor people, who were living in them. In particular, the number and percentage of rural people living in extremely poor counties (i.e., over 40 percent) declined dramatically. This suggests a “drying up” of America’s rural pockets of poverty and indicates a decline in spatial inequality in nonmetro America, at least at the county level. On a less optimistic note, concentrated poverty among rural minorities remains exceptionally high (e.g., almost one-half of rural blacks live in poor counties). Moreover, the recent transformation of concentrated rural poverty may be short-lived. Rural children – especially rural minority children -- have poverty rates well above national and nonmetro rates, the concentration of rural minority children is often extreme (i.e., over 90 percent lived in high-poverty counties), and the number of nonmetro counties with high levels of persistent child poverty remains high. Rural children may be more disadvantaged than ever, if measured by their lack of exposure to middle-class role models, and their economic divergence with the rest of the nation’s children

The Changing Faces of America’s Children and Youth

Recent U.S. Census Bureau projections indicate that by the middle of this century, non-Hispanic whites will cease to be a majority of the American population. In this article we document how for America’s youngest residents, the future is already here. America’s rapidly changing racial and ethnic composition has important implications for intergroup relations, ethnic identities, and electoral politics

The changing faces of America\u27s children and youth

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates indicate that between July 2008 and July 2009, 48.6 percent of the 4 million children born in the United States were minorities. In contrast, nearly 60 percent of the children born ten years ago were non-Hispanic white. This rapid change demonstrates that America\u27s youth are at the forefront of the country\u27s rapidly shifting demographic makeup. This brief reveals the factors causing this increase in the proportion of minority births

Population growth in new Hispanic destinations

Natural increase—more births than deaths—is now the major engine of Hispanic population growth in many large metro areas and their suburbs, as well as numerous smaller metropolitan areas and rural communities. Hispanics now account for half of U.S. population growth, and Hispanic population growth is the reason many communities grew instead of declined