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