The past 15 years of social science research have seen an explosion in curiosity surrounding video games as a legitimate object of study – a medium that traces its roots back to at least the 1950s. While early research on games tended to quixotically focus on the anti-social effects of video games on users, emerging perspectives consider myriad uses and functions of video games as a psychological, communicative, and social tools. Much of this diversity can be attributed to a renewed focus on the player, with scholars working to understand the experience of the “squishy bits” behind the computer screen. Drawing from a variety of original studies, the presentation will translate player-focused media research to a diverse audience of designers, programmers and researchers. Topics covered include the mechanics of cognitive skill and game challenge, psychology of audience effects, habitual and (morally) intuitive decision-making, the social nature of player-avatar relationships, and the overall complexity of entertainment experiences as “more than just games.”

1. WHO’S THAT
BEHIND THE
SCREEN?
A player-focused perspective to
understanding video game
research and design
Bowman, N.D.
6 March
University of Utah
Media and
Interaction Lab

2. ABSTRACT
The past 15 years of social science research have seen an explosion in curiosity
surrounding video games as a legitimate object of study – a medium that traces its
roots back to at least the 1950s. While early research on games tended to
quixotically focus on the anti-social effects of video games on users, emerging
perspectives consider myriad uses and functions of video games as a
psychological, communicative, and social tools. Much of this diversity can be
attributed to a renewed focus on the player, with scholars working to understand the
experience of the “squishy bits” behind the computer screen. Drawing from a variety
of original studies, the presentation will translate player-focused media research to
a diverse audience of designers, programmers and researchers. Topics covered
include the mechanics of cognitive skill and game challenge, psychology of
audience effects, habitual and (morally) intuitive decision-making, the social nature
of player-avatar relationships, and the overall complexity of entertainment
experiences as “more than just games.”

4. WHO AM I?

5. BABY COWBOY
Organism
Stimulus
Response

6. TOPICS
• Mechanics of cognitive skill and game
challenge
• Psychology of audience effects
• Habitual and (morally) intuitive decisionmaking,
• Social nature of player-avatar relationships
• Games as “meaningful carrots”

8. COGNITIVE SKILL
• Games as cognitive puzzles

9. COGNITIVE SKILL
• In video game, skill is
based on our ability to
control the interactivity
(form + content)
• One such control is
our cognitive
abilities
(a few) cognitive skills
found to correlate w/
game performance:
2D mental rotation
3D mental rotation
Moving targeting
Fixed targeting
Eye-hand coordination
Fine motor skill
Word completion

10. GAMES AND COGNITIVE SKILL
@JenovaChen
• We tap our skills
when we want to
attain or sustain a
state of flow…
• …but other “things”
can also impact skill

11. GAMES AND COGNITIVE SKILL

12. COGNITIVE SKILL

14. AUDIENCE EFFECTS
• SFT is a behavioral approach
linking arousal to performance
– Triplett (1898) found that
cyclists were faster around
others (~30s)
– Zajonc (1960) found that
audience stimulate arousal in
many organisms (Blatta
orientalis)

15. AUDIENCE EFFECTS
Drive theory specifies the relationship between drive and response in predicting performance:
E = f (H x D)

16. AUDIENCE EFFECTS

17. AUDIENCE EFFECTS
• Audience sparks drive,
increasing our habits/skill
response…
• …but, what do these look
like in a video game
environment?

18. AUDIENCE EFFECTS
When playing in front of an
audience, easy games
became easier…
…but hard games
didn’t change at all!

19. AUDIENCE EFFECTS
• And sometimes, we
might even want an
audience because
they make us feel
included

20. University of Utah
HABITUAL AND (MORALLY)
INTUITIVE DECISION-MAKING

21. DECISION-MAKING
• How virtual is virtual?
– Media used in habit
training
– Our minds don’t
separate “actual”
and “virtual”

22. DECISION-MAKING
β
T
Sig.
Walking not dominant lifestyle activity
Step one
Step one
Video game skill
-.264
-1.72
.093
Video game skill
Body shame
.165
1.07 Body.289
shame
F(2,47) =
3.78
p = .030
R2 = .139
Step two
Step two
Video game skill
-.189
-1.24
.221
Video game skill
Body shame
.218
1.45 Body.154
shame
Experimental condition
-.285 Experimental condition
-2.21
.039
(0 = waypoint, 1 = freeplay)
(0 = waypoint, 1 = freeplay)
F(3,46) =
4.50
p = .039
ΔR2 =
.077
Walking as dominant lifestyle activity
-.382
.338
-3.05
2.71
F(2,47) =
12.6
p < .001
R2 = .348
.004
.010
-.387
.326
-.109
-3.08
2.59
-.919
.003
.013
.363
F(4,46) =
.844
p = .363
ΔR2 = .012
Walkers relied
on their
dominant
habit, while
non-walkers
let the game
guide them!

23. DECISION-MAKING
• Our decisions can also be informed by our
moral intuitions, such as our concern for:
All of this can be read in
more detail at
www.moralfoundations.org

24. DECISION-MAKING
Intuitive Morality
• Innate moral foundations
• “evolutionary ethics”
• Focus on culture and
character
• Moral dumbfounding
• Morality considered on
encounter
Rational Morality
• Tabular rasa approach
• “quandary ethics”
• Focus on actions and
scenarios
• Cognitive (moral)
reasoning
• Morality constantly
monitored

25. DECISION-MAKING
Sig. ∆ High vs.
Low
Non-random
(high salience)
Random
(low salience)
Digital
Immigrants
Yes (.002)
Yes (21%)
Yes (47%)
US Adolescents
Digital Natives
German
Adolescents
No (.118)
No (54%)
Yes (41%)
German Elderly
Yes (<.001)
Yes (24%)
No (77%)
US Elderly
Yes (<.001)
Yes (12%)
Yes* (39%)

26. DECISION-MAKING

28. PLAYER-AVATAR RELATIONSHIPS
• Player is the “squishy thing”
• Avatar is “an interactive, social
representation
of a user” (Meadows, 2008)
• Relationship is “valenced
connection between two
people agents where each
party influences the other” (as
cited in Banks, 2013)

29. Object
Me
Symbiote
Other

30. Avatar as
Object
Avatar as
Me
Avatar as
Symbiote
Avatar as
Social Other
Identification
Low
High
Mid
Low
Suspension
of disbelief
Low
Mid
Mid
High
Sense of
Control
High
Mid
Mid
Low
Sense of
care/
responsibility
Low
Mid
Mid
High

31. PLAYER-AVATAR RELATIONSHIPS
• Entertainment is
– Enjoyment: Pleasure of Control
– Meaningfulness: Pleasure of
Cognition
• Self-differentiation
seems key to
stimulating authentic
meaningfulness
Authentic
emotional
intimacy
requires selfdifferentiation
(Bowen,1978)

33. “MEANINGFUL CARROTS”?
“I can think of a fun game or movie
and a sad, tragic or meaningful film,
but a meaningful game experience?
Its [sic] like asking me to recall
a meaningful carrot.”
~ Reviewer 2

34. “MEANINGFUL CARROTS”?
“…games have said goodbye to the tired
alien invasions and over-the-top fantasy
stories so often found in video games.
Instead, they peer into the dark reaches
of the very real human heart to deliver
stories that are thrilling, chilling and
utterly absorbing” ~ Winda Benedetti
@WindaBenedetti

35. @waltdwilliams
“MEANINGFUL CARROTS”?
@jesseschell
“Are we going to have
a Shakespeare of
games? A game that
was told so perfectly,
and so well, that 200
years later people will
insist we play it
exactly as it was?“ ~
Jesse Schell (2013)
“When you’re using action
as a tool, it’s easy to
disassociate from what
that action is…with a
shooter, that action is killing
another person.” ~ Walt
Williams (2013)

36. “MEANINGFUL CARROTS”?
“When players recall
meaningful gaming
experiences, they
reported on how those
storylines helped them
feel a sense of
poignancy and
insightfulness as they
were able to related to
the story content”

37. FOR MORE INFORMATION
• Nick Bowman, Ph.D. [CV]
Twitter (@bowmanspartan)
Skype (nicholasdbowman)
nicholas.bowman@mail.wvu.edu
Media and
Interaction Lab

38. COLLABORATORS
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Ryan Rogers
Rene Weber
Ron Tamborini
John Sherry
Frank Biocca
Rachel Kowert
Elizabeth Cohen
Jaime Banks
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Ryan Lange
Amanda Lange
Sven Joeckel
Leyla Dogruel
Mary Beth Oliver
Brett Sherrick
Julia Woolley
Mun-Young Chung