1.MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY AND HUMAN COMMUNICATION AND YOUND Bowman University of Utah 06 March 2013 Media and Interaction Lab

2. SOR I view media psychology as the intersection of human experience and media. In other words, media psychology is the applied study of what happens when people interact with media as producers, distributors, and consumers through the lens of psychology.Media is more than Chicken Little!~Dr. Pamela Rutledge Media Psychology Research Center 3. SORStimulusResponse 4. SOR Organism Meaning is created here! StimulusResponse 5. SOR 6. SOR VIDEO games Virtual environmentsVideo GAMES Challenge systems 7. A MANY-SPLINTERED THING Which of these is violent? 8. A MANY-SPLINTERED THING Content is not just violent 9. A MANY-SPLINTERED THING 10. A MANY-SPLINTERED THING Blood Reign (+G, -R, -J) Very Violent Least Preferred Bloody Justice (+G, +R, +J) Most Violent Most* PreferredUnderlord (-G, +R, -J) Somewhat Violent Most Preferred Mystic Battle (-G, -R, +J) Least Violent Somewhat Preferred 11. A MANY-SPLINTERED THING Of course, this all focused on enjoymentbut what about appreciation? Narrative justification vs. user justification 12. UNCANNY VALLEY As virtual worlds get more realistic, we begin to question them 13. UNCANNY VALLEY 14. 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? 15. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? 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? 16. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? 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). 17. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? So, if we dont enjoy these films, then what do we do with them? Selection is driven by a different set of motivations 18. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES?Hey, this is really: Reflective Inspiring Expressive MeaningfulHey, this is really: Arousing Exciting Pleasurable Diversionary 19. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? 20. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? 97.6% fun vs. 71.9% meaningful insight as separate need Pleasure of Control Pleasure of Cognition 21. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? Enjoyment Step 1: Controls Gender Age R2 Step 2: Intrinsic Needs Competence Autonomy Relatedness Insight R2 Step 3: CA Identification Suspension of Disbelief Control Responsibility R2Appreciation-.05 -.09 .01-.22*** -.10+ .06***.47*** .13* .01 -.05 .28***-.02 .02 .36*** .58*** .69***-.08 .00 .12* -.08 .02+-.01 .03 -.06+ .10** .01+ 22. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? Implications 23. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? Do we make virtual worlds or virtual games? In virtual worlds (video) how do we engage players emotions? In virtual games (games) how do we engage players actions? When we make both, do players process both? 24. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? As we try to understand the psychology of the video game experience, we have to understand our capacity to play as well as our capacity to reflect and our capacity period. 25. THERES NO CRYING IN GAMES? Not UnenjoyableVery EnjoyableNon-meaningfulVery Meaningful but? Very EnjoyableVery Meaningful 26. DEMANDING! interactive texts are inherently unfinished because they require a participant before they can be realized in various forms ~ Collins, 2013 27. DEMANDING!n = 110 (63 )TrainingMission Walkers relied on their dominant habit, while non-walkers let the game guide them!n = 57n = 53Roaming 28. DEMANDING! When players are faced with nonbased moral dilemmas, they tend to make random (game) decisions, unless the game violates their moral intuitions! 29. DEMANDING! Enjoyment- (?) Task Demand-+ - (?)R2 ~ 1.00Narrative Recall-Evaluation+ + Appreciation 30. DEMANDING! Performance? User Perspective 0 = 2D; 1 = 3D++R2 ~ 1.00User Agency 0 = Yes, 1 = NoTask Demand++-+-+ PresenceUser experience drives down task demand.Enjoyment 31. OTHER STUDIES Gender attribution in video games Ostracism and social gameplay* Racial priming and evaluations Habits, intuitions and decision-making* Player-avatar identification* Video games and cognitive demand 32. FOR MORE INFORMATION http://comm.wvu.edu /fs/research/labNick Bowman, Ph.D. [CV] Twitter (@bowmanspartan) Skype (nicholasdbowman) nicholas.bowman@mail.wvu.edu Media and Interaction Lab