Psychology of Video Games

Presented by: Katy Roose

BLUF- Bottom Line Up Front› Game Design is

interdisciplinary› Good games stimulate

players neurologically, cognitively, and socially/emotionally

› Misuse or exploitation= BAD

Psychology in Games (in brief)Neurological● Dopamine● Testosterone● Fear

(physiological)

Cognitive● Attention● Memory● Operant Conditioning● Decision Making

Social/Emotional● Immersion ● Failure

Cognitive Psychology

Attention› Tracking: Max 5 (Pylyshyn

& Storm, 1988)› Exogenous vs.

Endogenous Cues› Channel bandwidth› Glance Time (Rosielle,

2016)

Memory› Visual Working Memory:

16 “features” across 4 objects (Vogel et al., 2001)

› Atkinson and Shiffrin’s 1971 Model

› Implicit Memory (Roediger, 1990)

Operant Conditioning› Reinforcement (rewards) and Punishment

Decision Making› Hedonic adaptation› Need for closure› Ego Depletion› Completionists

Social/Emotional Psychology

Flow› state of consciousness in

which there is a deep minded, and positive focus on the current task being performed (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; 1997)

Failure› Supports learning› Competency› Feedback

Human Factors Psychology

Human Factors› Nielson› Gerhardt-Powal