Games as Social Activities
[email protected] Today’s lecture
How Can Games Affect Us? Ethics and Games What possible ethical problems exist with games?
Today’s lecture focuses on the aspects of playing games where it is important that humans are playing it How Can Games Affect Us?
or Can Games Affect Us? Two views from Media Studies
Active media theory The media affects the user Through its content Typically studied through empirical experiments
Active user theory The user interprets the media Based upon previous experience Typically studied through studying/interviewing the users Koster – learning is fun
A Theory of Fun Games are about cognition, and learning to analyze patterns Fun is the body’s way of rewarding the brain for learning something Linderoth – creating meaning
Study of children playing games Focus on how they create meaning while playing games Using the concept of frames (from Goffman)
Five patterns of interaction Frame oriented towards Rules Frame oriented towards Theme Frame oriented towards Aesthetics Frame oriented towards Internal Dynamics (between Frames) Frame oriented towards External Dynamics (primarily Theme frame)
Breakdowns show awareness of these different frames Gee – learning principles
Looks at games as specialized activities
All specialized activities develop own set of meaning – becomes a semiotic domain (similar to the concept of frames) Gee – learning principles, cont.
1. Active Critical Learning 7. Committed Learning Principle Principle Agency 8. Identity Principle 2. Design Principle 9. Self-Knowledge Principle 3. Semiotic Principle 10. Amplification of Input 4. Semiotic Domains Principle Principle 5. Metalevel Thinking about Special Effects Semiotic Domains Principle 11. Achievement Principle 6. “Psychosocial Moratorium” Closures Principle 12. Practice Principle Crawford’s and other’s points about safety What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy Gee – learning principles, cont.
13. Ongoing Learning 19. Intertextual Principle Principle 20. Multimodal Principle 14. “Regime of 21. “Material Intelligence” Competence” Principle Principle Flow Tool use 15. Probing Principle 22. Intuitive Knowledge Reflection in Action Principle 16. Multiple Route Principle E.g. “Muscle memory” Interesting Choices 23. Subset Principle 17. Situated Meaning 24. Incremental Principle Principle Flow 18. Text Principle Gee – learning principles, cont.
25. Concentrated Sample 31. Cultural Models about Principle Learning Principle 26. Bottom-up Basic Skills 32. Cultural Models about Principle Semiotic Domains 27. Explicit Information On- Principle Demand and Just-In- 33. Distributed Principle Time Principle 34. Dispersed Principle 28. Discovery Principle 35. Affinity Group Principle 29. Transfer Principle 36. Insider Principle 30. Cultural Models about the World Principle Illusion of Learning?
Critique of Gee by Linderoth Linderoth, J. (2010). Why gamers donʼt learn more - An ecological approach to games as learning environments Can Games Affect Us?
One stance If they can, they can for both good and bad If they can’t, they can’t for either good or bad
Two other stances They can but only for good They can but only for bad Ethics and Games What possible ethical problems exist with games? Questionable content
Sexist Racist Homophobic Bigotry Inappropriate for the target audience Questionable purpose
Advergaming Product placement
Militainment America’s Army?
Spreading the attitudes shown in the content
Making Money? Wasting Time? Addiction
Types Ways to classify addiction physical dependence Salience psychological dependence Importance of experience in life Typically refers to Mood modification Substance misuse, but sometimes to activities Activity affects mood Negatively affects social and Tolerance professional relations Increased doses required Requires negative effects Withdrawal symptoms “if there is no harm being suffered by, or damage done to, the patient Unpleasant emotions when or another party, then clinically it separated from experience may be considered compulsive, but Conflict to the definition of some it is not categorized as ‘addiction’” User enters conflicts with surroundings, other activities, Activity done to get endorphins | and self due to experience dopamines Relapse Released by the brain when activity is done User quickly reenters habits even after substantial breaks Video Game addiction (Wikipedia) “a form of psychological addiction related to a compulsive use of computer and video games, most notably MMORPGs” Historical perspective on the critic of games
Most new media have been seen as problematic in some way Video games Social networking sites (e.g. My Space) Rap music Role-playing games Videos Heavy Metal Arcade Halls Comic Books Rock’n’Roll Swing Jazz Goethe
Moral Panic Can be described as not understanding the semiotic domain of the new medium Historical perspective on the critic of games, cont.
“But when they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; it is a specific both for the memory and for the wit. Thamus replied: O most ingenious Theuth, the parent or inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility of his own inventions to the users of them. And in this instance, you who are the father of letters, from a paternal love of your own children have been led to attribute to them a quality which they cannot have; for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality." (Phaedrus) Ethical Players
Computer Games Ethics (Sicart) Describes virtuous players Using Aristotelian mean virtues Presents 6 virtues (based on Bartle & sports ethics) Sense of Achievement Explorative Curiosity Socializing Nature Balanced Aggression Care for Game Balance Sportsmanship Ethical Challenge #1
What ethical challenges can The Sims cause? Values Privacy Accountability (freedom of) bias Autonomy Universal Access What principles lie behind these objections? Ethical Challenge #2
What ethical challenges can World of Warcraft cause? Values Privacy Accountability (freedom of) bias Autonomy Universal Access What principles lie behind these objections? Ethical Challenge #4: Dark patterns
Three Categories Temporal Monetary Social-Capital Possible causes for conflicts regarding games Misunderstanding Different Semiotic Domains (re: Gee) Framing problem “This time I’ll kill you!” (re: Linderoth) Actually Different Ethnical Principles Is this then a problem of medium or content? Do games have some inherent ethical principles? Sensationalism Making money or gaining attention to pointing something out to be a problem (Qui Bono?) Possible causes for conflicts regarding games
Examples of topics Violence Addiction Historical correctness Representation Exclusion Cultural Appropriation Negative views on video games
Mainly referenced by other side (the ESA) or Wikipedia Some views on the effect of video games
The present research demonstrated that in both a correlational investigation using self-reports of real-world aggressive behaviors and an experimental investigation using a standard, objective laboratory measure of aggression, violent video game play was positively related to increases in aggressive behavior. In the laboratory, college students who played a violent video game behaved more aggressively toward an opponent than did students who had played a nonviolent video game. Outside the laboratory, students who reported playing more violent video games over a period of years also engaged in more aggressive behavior in their own lives. Both types of studies–correlational— real delinquent behaviors and experimental—laboratory aggressive behaviors have their strengths and weaknesses. The convergence of findings across such disparate methods lends considerable strength to the main hypothesis that exposure to violent video games can increase aggressive behavior. (Anderson & Dill, 2000) Some views on the effect of video games
Jack Thompson, US Attorney Violent video games have repeatedly been used by teenagers as “murder simulators” to rehearse violent plans “In every school shooting, we find that kids who pull the trigger are video gamers” Points to scientific studies that show teenagers process the game environment differently from adults, leading to increased violence and copycat behavior Part of the impetus for violent games comes from the military: “for a way to disconnect in the soldier’s mind the physical act of pulling the trigger from the awful reality that a life may end” Positive (or neutral) voices on video games
From www.theesa.com … Some views on the effect of video games
"VIDEO GAMES AND REAL-LIFE AGGRESSION: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE" -- Washington State Department of Health: Office of Epidemiology "At present, it may be concluded that the research evidence is not supportive of a major public concern that violent video games lead to real-life violence." "YOUTH VIOLENCE: A REPORT OF THE SURGEON GENERAL“ "[t]aken together, findings suggest that media violence has a relatively small impact on violence." Specifically with regard to the research on video games, the report stated that, "The overall effect size for both randomized and correlational studies was small for physical aggression and moderate for aggressive thinking....The impact of video games on violent behavior has yet to be determined." Some views on the effect of video games
Many of the games with violent content sold in the United States – and some with far more violence – are sold in foreign markets. But the incidence of violent crime in these markets is considerably lower than in the United States. This suggests that the cause of violent crime lies elsewhere. Violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased dramatically during the 1990s while video games have steadily increased in popularity and use. From Killing Monsters (2002): Certainly video games haven’t had any significant impact on real- world crime. “The research on video games and crime is compelling to read,” said Helen Smith, forensic psychologist, youth violence specialist, and author of The Scarred Heart. “But it just doesn’t hold up. Kids have been getting less violent since those games came out. That includes gun violence and every other sort of violence that might be inspired by a video game.” (p.167) Some views on the effect of video games
Durkin, K., & Barber, B. (2002). Not so doomed: computer game play and positive adolescent development. Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 373-392. On several measures – including family closeness, activity involvement, positive school engagement, positive mental health, substance abuse, self-concept, friendship network, and disobedience to parents – game players scored more favorably than did peers who never played computer games. It is concluded that computer games can be a positive feature of a healthy adolescence. (p.376) Durkin, K. (1999). Computer Games and Australians Today. Australian Government Office of Film and Literature Classification. Despite several attempts to find effects of aggressive content in either experimental studies or field studies, at best only weak and ambiguous evidence has emerged…. …the accumulating evidence – provided largely by researchers keen to demonstrate the games’ undesirable effects – does indicate that it is very hard to find such effects and that they are unlikely to be substantial. (p.36) Regarding moral panics Faltin 2014
”concern about violence in digital games has been a recurring topic for several decades. This is particularly the case for violence that appears to disrupt norms or otherwise advocate for a disruption of the government’s monopoly on violence. But there are also signs of change, as general concern has gradually shifted from children and youth as groups, to particularly “vulnerable” individuals. Concern about violence has also given way to issues associated with newer genres like MMORPGs and worries about online game addiction.” ”More importantly, the public has now become more familiar with the workings of moral and media panics, allowing for more levelheaded responses and more enlightened historical perspective.” More reading
An overview “Datorspel och skadlighet – en forskningsöversikt” Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen & Jonas Heide Smith "Att leva i World of Warcraft”, Linderoth och Bennerstedt, Mediarådet (2007) Data at the Quantic Foundry http://quanticfoundry.com/ Articles by Christopher Ferguson A personal account Dear, William C. The Dungeon Master: The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III, 1984. Thank you!
Questions?