A short talk on player psychology by Dr. Nick Bowman (WVU Media and Interaction Lab, Department of Communication Studies) given at the University of Toronto. This presentation was part of a course "Introduction to Immersive Environments" in the Institute of Communication, Culture, and Information Technology at the University of Toronto.

1. THE PLAYER, PLAYING THE PLAY
ND Bowman
University of Toronto
31 Sept 2013
Media and
Interaction Lab

2. PREAMBLE: S  O  R
University of Toronto

3. S  O  R
Stimulus Response

4. S  O  R
Stimulus Response
Organism

5. S  O  R
VIDEO games
• Virtual environments
Video GAMES
• Challenge systems

6. UNCANNY VALLEY
UT Guest Lecture
Mori, M. (1970). The uncanny valley. Energy, 7(4), 33-35. Available at:
http://www.movingimages.info/digitalmedia/wp-
content/uploads/2010/06/MorUnc.pdf

7. UNCANNY VALLEY
• As virtual worlds get
more realistic, we
begin to question
them

8. UNCANNY VALLEY

9. UNCANNY VALLEY
• Suggests that reality is
a perception…
• …but this can extend
beyond graphics
– Control
– Storytelling
– Others?
Novels told us
drama, film and TV
show us conflict, so
what do video
games do?

10. “GUT” OR “GAME”?
UT Guest Lecture

11. “GUT” OR “GAME”
• Virtual worlds allow
us to make “virtual”
decisions…
• But where do these
decisions come
from?

12.  Tabular rasa
approach
 “quandary ethics”
 Cognitive (moral)
reasoning
 Morality constantly
monitored
Intuitive Morality
 Innate moral
foundations
 “evolutionary ethics”
 Moral
dumbfounding
 Morality considered
on encounter
Rational Morality
“GUT” OR “GAME”

13. Harm/Care
Fairness
Authority
Loyalty
Purity
“GUT” OR “GAME”

14. As we become increasingly mediated, we
wonder how folks respond to said mediation.
How might moral salience guide
decisions in mediated environments?
How does this process influence
enjoyment?
“GUT” OR “GAME”

15. “GUT” OR “GAME”

16. The linear relationship (H1) The binary relationship (H2)
“GUT” OR “GAME”

17. A) Sig. ∆ High
vs. Low
B) Non-random
(highest
salience)
C) Random
(lowest salience)
Digital Natives
German
Adolescents
Yes (.002) Yes (21%) Yes (47%)
US Adolescents No (.118) No (54%) Yes (41%)
Digital
Immigrants
German Elderly Yes (<.001) Yes (24%) No (77%)
US Elderly Yes (<.001) Yes (12%) Yes* (39%)
“GUT” OR “GAME”

18. “GUT” OR “GAME”
• Main findings:
– If morality was high, no violation “gut”
– If morality was low, violation was random “game”
• What does it mean for digital media?
– “Game” reaction is default, until “gut” is
primed
– Moral orientations learned in RL seem to drive
decisions in the virtual world…

19. BONUS: HABITS & DECISIONS
• How virtual is virtual?
– Media used in habit
training
– Our minds don’t
separate “actual”
and “virtual”

20. Walking as dominant lifestyle activity
Step one
Video game skill -.382 -3.05 .004
Body shame .338 2.71 .010
F(2,47) = 12.6
p < .001
R2 = .348
Step two
Video game skill -.387 -3.08 .003
Body shame .326 2.59 .013
Experimental condition
(0 = waypoint, 1 = freeplay)
-.109 -.919 .363
F(4,46) = .844
p = .363
ΔR2 = .012
REAL HABITS AS
VIRTUAL BEHAVIOR
β T Sig.
Walking not dominant lifestyle activity
Step one
Video game skill -.264 -1.72 .093
Body shame .165 1.07 .289
F(2,47) = 3.78
p = .030
R2 = .139
Step two
Video game skill -.189 -1.24 .221
Body shame .218 1.45 .154
Experimental condition
(0 = waypoint, 1 = freeplay)
-.285 -2.21 .039
F(3,46) = 4.50
p = .039
ΔR2 = .077

21. REAL HABITS AS
VIRTUAL BEHAVIOR
• Implications
– In decreasingly-”virtual”
spaces, real habits =
virtual habits
– IDs external predictors
of observed game
choices

22. SELECTIVE EXPOSURE
UT Guest Lecture
Bowman, N. D., & Tamborini, R. (2012). Task demand and mood repair: The
intervention potential of computer games. New Media &
Society, 14(8), 1339-1357.

23. • On reason we play is to get rid of our bad
moods! Does it work?
– YES: they are more cognitively and affectively
distracting than other forms of media
– NO: they are too complicated, and they end
up being even more stressful
SELECTIVE EXPOSURE

24. SELECTIVE EXPOSURE
• BOREDOM was
induced with a
bowl of 600 metal
rings and an
“endless” string
• STRESS was
induced with a
modified GRE

25. SELECTIVE EXPOSURE

26. SELECTIVE EXPOSURE

27. SELECTIVE EXPOSURE
• Interactivity = Demanding
– Cognitively demanding
– Behaviorally demanding
– Affectively demanding
– Socially demanding?

28. ENJOYMENT + APPRECIATION
UT Guest Lecture
Oliver, M.B., & Raney, A.A, . (2011). Entertainment as pleasurable and
meaningful: Identifying hedonic and eudaimonic motivations for
entertainment consumption. Journal of Communication, 61(5), 984-1004.
Available at: http://www.looooker.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/j.1460-
2466.2011.01585.x.pdf

29. ENJOYMENT + APPRECIATION
• Zillmann (2000) ends with:
“Humor can serve as the
antidote to gloom”
• But, can it be the case that
gloom can serve as the
antidote to gloom?

30. ENJOYMENT + APPRECIATION
“Indeed, to say that one „„enjoyed‟‟
or was „„entertained by‟‟ a film
such as Hotel Rwanda would seem
decidedly odd, at best” (Oliver &
Raney, 2011).

31. ENJOYMENT + APPRECIATION
• So, if we don’t enjoy these
films, then what do we do
with them?
• Selection is driven by a
different set of motivations

32. ENJOYMENT + APPRECIATION
Hey, this is really:
• Arousing
• Exciting
• Pleasurable
• Diversionary
Hey, this is really:
• Reflective
• Inspiring
• Expressive
• Meaningful

33. BONUS: CONTROL + COGNITION

34. BONUS: CONTROL + COGNITION
• 97.6% fun vs. 71.9%
meaningful
• “insight” as separate need
• “Pleasure of Control”
• “Pleasure of Cognition”

35. BONUS: CONTROL + COGNITION
Enjoyment Appreciation
Step 1: Controls
Gender -.05 -.22***
Age -.09 -.10+
∆R2 .01 .06***
Step 2: Intrinsic Needs
Competence .47*** -.02
Autonomy .13* .02
Relatedness .01 .36***
Insight -.05 .58***
∆R2 .28*** .69***
Step 3: CA
Identification -.08 -.01
Suspension of Disbelief .00 .03
Control .12* -.06+
Responsibility -.08 .10**
∆R2 .02+ .01+

36. BONUS: CONTROL + COGNITION
• Implications

37. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
• Do we make virtual worlds or
virtual games?
– In virtual worlds (video) how do
we engage player’s emotions?
– In virtual games (games) how
do we engage player’s actions?
• When we make both, do
players process both?

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