ITAG 2014.

Nottingham, 17 October 2014.

International Gaming Research Unit

Angelica Ortiz de Gortari & Mark D. Griffiths

@cyberpsyke

Game Transfer Phenomena: The pervasiveness of sounds from video games and their impact on behaviour

What if real life had

sounds effects?

First video games- Simplemelodies of the 8-bit machinesand MIDI.

Most modern VG- High qualitysoundtracks and high auralrealism (Västfjäll, 2003).

Soundtracks or backgroundmusic have even meritedawards, and video game musicby itself is starting to beconsidered a music genre.

Background: Video games & music

Background: Effect of auditory cues

in video games

Auditory cues/sound FX are

typically embedded in movies

or video games since they are

one of the most effective ways

to induce mood (Flannery &

Walles, 2003).

Background: Effect of auditory cues

in video games

Modifying mood states

Physiological reactions while

playing

Immersion

Better sense of presence in the

virtual environment (Anderson &

Casey, 1997; Hendrix & Barfield,

1995).

Background: Video games’ effects

Playing a violent video game

with techno music on lead to

physiological arousal and

anxiety (Freeman, et al., 2008;

Hebert, et al., 2005).

Playing a violent video game

with screams of pain and

increased arousal compared

with the control conditions (Jun,

Bohil & Biocca, 2011).

Holistic & multimodal research frame

work for investigate the effects of video

games

Method & Aim

3 qualitative studies with 1,681 experiences

from 1, 248 gamers.

60 online vg forums.

12% were auditory experiences. (n=155)

30 online video game forums

To identify, classify and explain the auditory

modality of GTP.

Auditory misperceptions

Auditory experiences in Game

Transfer Phenomena

Confuse

sounds

Involuntary auditory imagery

Keep

hearing

music

Inner speechHear your

own

thoughts

Auditory verbal

pseudo-hallucinations

Hear voices

that are not

there

Neuraladaptations

Auditory

after-effects

Multisensory

Hear and

see

something

How common is it to hear sounds after

playing?

97% in a cross-cultural

survey (n=2,565) had

experienced some type of

GTP

85% had experienced some

type of auditory experience

Music Sounds

Voices

Head Ears

ObjectsSome-where

Findings

Large variety of games. A total

of 95 different video game titles.

From tile-matching puzzle

games to first person shooters.

Sound alerts coming from

consoles and computers when

these were shut off (e.g., Xbox

achievement and alerts from

Steam’s message service).

Involuntary auditory imagery

Hearing music/sounds when falling

asleep

“I will wake up sometimes and check if my computer is off

because I swear I heard videogame music coming out of my

speakers. I need help” (AraRider)

Hearing music triggered by daily

activities

“Every time I stack a trolley or cab I heard the Tetris theme in my

head and try to stack everything without gaps” (Pepertony)

Hearing music/sounds triggered by

activities

“I keep a flashlight next to my bed, and sometimes when I walk in

a dark area I hear the sound the radio makes near a monster in

Silent Hill, I turn around if I don't see anything in front of me”

(CrownDave)

Neuraladaptations

Hearing everything in the voice of the game

“After a marathon of Portal/Portal 2, I heard everything in

GLaDOS's voice for about three days” (Peartech)

The Developers noticed that testers were more

motivated when hearing the voice (Gamasutra, 2008)

Schwinberger (2008) demonstrated this in an experiment adaptation to voices. For a long period of time the participants were exposed to female voices, and later on androgynous voices were perceived as more female.

Auditory neural adaptions induce

in laboratory

Inner speech

Hearing sounds in the head

“After years of playing Outrun whenever I drive under a sign on

the road, I hear in my head "CHECKPOINT!” (Yates1000)

Hearing voices in the head

“The Team Fortress 2 announcer. Every time a football

commentator has mentioned that a game might go into overtime,

a voice at the back of my mind has yelled ‘Overtime! OVERTIME!

OVERTIME!’” (Souly)

Auditory misperceptions

Misinterpreting sounds

“I walked into the school as the door shut behind me, I

heard the same sound that spiders make when they're

attacking in Minecraft, and I ran like hell” (Jelor)

Auditory verbal pseudo-

hallucinations

Hearing voices triggered by stimuli

“After playing Clive Barker's [Jericho] for a couple of hours I

heard that shivering voice saying ‘looooooook’ when I passed

a painting…I scared the hell out of me” (Radion56)

Constantly hearing voices

“I constantly heard someone whispering 'Death' in the

background. After I played Black and White for a many

hours. It lasted a few days” (Zullo)

Conclusions

What sounds –

Bullets, screams, lasers, music,

coins, breathing, and percussive

sounds, swords, etc.

Circumstances-The auditory

experiences occurred when

doing automatic activities and

when trying to sleep.

Sometimes trigger and regulated

by activities in RL

General characteristics

Video game habits-

Of those who reported how long

they play, the majority of the

experiences happened when

playing long or very long sessions.

No player indicated that the GTP-

AU experiences occurred when

playing short sessions.

Appraisal of the experiences

Positive, neutral or negative.

More negative expressions.

The findings may suggest that re-

experiencing auditory cues from

the game have additional

psychological implications.

But why?

There is a difference between

simpely listening to music than

to actually interact with sound

In-game sounds are embedded

with a purpose

(positive/aversive)

The sounds are presented in

parallel with events and the use

of video game elements

Why may hearing sounds after playing

have further consequences?

Conclusions

In some cases auditory replays

from the game elicit thoughts,

emotions, irrational thoughts

and false expectations.

Objects simulated in the game

have become in “evocative

objects”

I speculated that objects

associated with the game trigger

the activation of the auditory

cortex leading to “ghost sounds”

Conclusions

Developing games:

it is important what and how auditory cues are

embedded in games

How we can take the best advantage of

associations between sounds and events

Consequences prolonged exposure to certain

sounds

“It puts the words

and phrases you

need on the tip of

your tongue, but

also transports them

deep into your long-

term memory”

Conclusions

“It’s important to help gamers

understand their experiences since

re-experiencing sounds and voices

may provoke distress, especially

when associated with dangerous

situations in the game.”

Aversive properties: Bullets, screams,

explosions.

References

• Anderson, D. B., & Casey, M. A. (1997). The sound dimension. Spectrum, IEEE, 34(3), 46-50.

• Eui Jun, J., Bohil, C. J., & Biocca, F. A. (2011). Brand logo placement in violent games.

[Article]. Journal of Advertising, 40(3), 59-72.

• Flannery, K. A., & Walles, R. (2003). How Does Schema Theory Apply to Real versus Virtual

Memories? [Article]. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 6(2), 151-159

• Freeman, D., Pugh, K., Antley, A., Slater, M., Bebbington, P., Gittins, M., . . . Garety, P. (2008).

Virtual reality study of paranoid thinking in the general population. British Journal of

Psychiatry, 192(4), 258-263.

• Ortiz de Gortari, A.B., The Real life effect of virtual interaction: Game Transfer Phenomena in

video game players. (Unpublished PhD dissertation). Nottingham Trent University: UK

• Ortiz de Gortari, A. B., & Griffiths, M.D. (2014). Auditory experiences in Game Transfer

Phenomena: An empirical self-report study. International Journal of Cyber Behavior,

Psychology and Learning (IJCBPL), 4(1), 59-75.

• Hebert, S., Beland, R., Dionne-Fournelle, O., Crete, M., & Lupien, S. J. (2005). Physiological

stress response to video-game playing: the contribution of built-in music. Life sciences,

76(20), 2371-2380.

• Hendrix, C., & Barfield, W. (1995). Presence in virtual environments as a function of visual

and auditory cues. Paper presented at the Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium,

1995. Proceedings.

• Västfjäll, D. (2003). The subjective sense of presence, emotion recognition and experienced

emotions in auditory virtual environments. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 6(2), 181-188.

Haptic Gaming Vest

KOR-fx

“ Feel the sound rather than hear it … it turns

the body into a sub-woofer”

Gamin accessory: Immerz KOR-fx