Video Game Play as Nightmare Protection

Jayne Gackenbach, Ph.D. Grant MacEwan University & Athabasca University

Thanks to Evelyn Ellerman, Christie Hall, Katherine Wisniewski, & Mary-Lynn Ferguson for their help on this project

Why are dreams important?• Rich history across most cultures• Royal road to the unconscious – Freud

– While opened up dreams as important, he also pathologized them

• With discovery of REM sleep and the sleep laboratory, dreams entered science

• While not local only to REM, those that are most recalled and most often puzzled about are typically REM dreams

Dreams are Brain at Work While “Off-line”

• Like a computer which is not in use thus no input (i.e., keyboard, scan, etc) yet CPU still at work

• During sleep the brain is off line, no sensory input, but lots of processing of information ongoing

Why are dreams important?• Function of dreams increasingly clear

– Evolutionary threat/play (Revonsuo; Humphrey)– Emotional Regulation, especially negative emotions (Kramer; Nielsen;

Zadra)– Memory integration & consolidation (Stickgold)– Problem-solving, creative inspiration (Barrett)– Metacognition (LaBerge; Kahan; Kahn)

• All this serves personal and interpersonal needs if shared and processed but need not be as dreams still do their ‘job’

• Media saturated society– Video game play represents the most immersive and

interactive media experience• Isn’t it all just incorporation?

– Yes gamers dream about games– And no,

Why study gamers dreams?

Gamers dreams may show fundamental structural differences in their dreams

Presence in Games and Dreams• Dreams have been called the “gold standard” for

presence (sense of being there) in VR and games (Revonsuo; Moller & Barbera)

• Never measured until now (Gackenbach & Rosie, 2010)– Presence sum scores from game and dream resulted in FEW

DIFFERENCES between sense of being there while playing a video game and being there in a dream – High End Gamers

Gamer Generally Defined in Research Program

• Play video games on average several times a week• Typical playing session more than 1 or 2 hours• Played 50 or more video games over your lifetime• Been playing video games since early grade school

Type of Game Preferred only considered in latest studies, seemed to make no difference 5 years ago

Dream Dimensions Examined

• Lucid and Control Dreams• Bizarreness and Creativity• Nightmares (Threat Simulation)

Control DreamingIn Class Data Collection

2.052.1

2.152.2

2.252.3

2.352.4

2.452.5

Low VideoGame Play

Medium VideoGame Play

High VideoGame Play

Co

ntr

ol

Dre

am

ing

2= rarely

3=

sometimes

In Class Data Collection

2.32.352.4

2.452.5

2.552.6

2.652.7

2.75

Low VideoGame Play

Medium VideoGame Play

High VideoGame Play

Lu

cid

Dre

am

ing

Fre

qu

en

cy

Lucid Dreaming

2= rarely

3=

sometimes

Gamer Sample Lucid/Control Dream• Subject #014: Lucidity triggered by an event

Well, once Jean Grey (a marvel comic and video game character) got loose and started killing people, I was like this

is really weird this is probably a dream and it was like right after that she showed up and I told myself that I need to wake up. I thought that something bad was supposed to

happen and I didn’t want it to happen so I should wake up.Gackenbach, 2006, 2009a, b; & Kurvilla, 2008;

Gackenbach, et al. (2009).

Original Dream Content Analysis• Hall &Van de Castle Coding System

• Frequency equals intensity

• High inter-rater reliability

• Well developed norms

• Categories pertinent to waking concerns

• Those that lead to further research were:

• characters, aggression and misfortune.

27 gamers56 dreams male norms

Key Differences from Male Norms

• More dead or imaginary characters appearing in dream reports (21% vs 0%).

• Fewer Misfortunes (7% vs 36%)

• Smaller number of dreams with aggression (32% vs 47%)

• Yet more intense aggression (namely physical aggression, 86% vs 50%) when it happened

Nightmares vs Bad Dreams Norms

Dream Content Norms Nightmares (N=170) Bad Dreams (N=276)

Physical Aggression 30.6% 15.8%

Interpersonal Conflict 18.8% 35%

• Nightmares are more intensified versions of bad dreams• The main distinction is that nightmares cause the

dreamer to awaken (Zadra)

Threat Simulation Theory• Dreaming is an adaptive process with an evolutionary

foundation (Revonsuo, 2000). • Dreaming allows us to simulate threatening situations in the

safety of a virtual environment of dreams. • Continued practice would allow an individual to better

prepare for these possibly dangerous instances, were they to arise in the waking world

• Could waking practice (video game play) also serve the same evolutionary function?

Nightmares & Threat Simulation

• Online Questionnaires• night before dreams only• 98 participants/dreams• Threatening content NOT associated with

gaming but rather with TV/movies watched prior to sleep

Dreams of Gamers in the Military• 377 individuals entered

the survey • First set of questions

were screening: (Yes)– Play video games – In the military (1/3 lost)– 18 years or older– High School education

• Reply No to these questions (in last 6 months):– been diagnosed with a

mental disorder– tried to commit suicide– perform risky behaviors

without particular concern for your mortality

– addicted to alcohol or drugs

Demographics (98 got through screening)• 92% male• Average age 32 years• 80% some post

secondary education• 53% single• 75% Caucasian

• 59% US military• 76% enlisted• 70% on active duty• 60% Army• 64% had been deployed

Video Game Group Definition Based on Frequency of Play (High=daily/weekly; Low=monthly/yearly/rarely)

All questions significantly different as a function of gamer group

video game groups* N Mean/label

Std. Dev.

How long is your typical playing session?

High 64 4.03/2-4 hours 1.140

Low 21 2.90/1-2 hours .831

How many different video games in any format have you played to

date?

High 64 3.97/50-100 games 1.380

Low 22 2.86/20-50 games 1.457

How old were you when you played your first video game?

High 64 7.95/grade 4-6 1.463

Low 22 6.95/grade 7-9 2.360

* all significantly different

Current Favorite Game GenreGenre High End Gamers Low End Gamers

FPS 23/39% 10/48%MMORPG 19/32% 0/0%

Other “hard core” Genre (i.e., strategy, simulation,

adventure, fighting)

15/25% 4/19%

Driving/Sport 2/3% 1/5%Casual 0/0% 6/29%

96% 67%

Just Played a Video Game Prior to Filling Out the SurveyWere you playing a video game in the six hours prior to filling out this questionnaire?

High Gamers

Low Gamers

Yes 33 1

No 30 19

Games Playing Most:World Of Warcraft tourchlight Red Dead Redemption Prototype Perpetuum Modern Warfare 2 mass effect Madden 2011

Games Playing Second Most:The Arena Starfleet Commander Star Trek Online Red Dead Redemtion NCAA Football 2011 marvel ultimate alliance 2 Mafia Wars Ink Ball Halo 3 fear 2 Combat Arms Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2Battlefield Bad Company 2 Baseball 2k10 Arma2 OA All points bulletin Age of Conan ACE2 Modern Warfare Mod

=

Soldiers Comment About Games Played while Deployed

• comment on an article he had read about our research:– I would see many Soldiers, in combat, with PSPs or anything we could

hook up to 220v electricity. When Soldiers weren't on patrol, we often had violent war games on our systems. It was weird. Like we didn't get enough violence.

Other Gamer Group DifferencesDemographic Variable High Low x2

Sex1. Male2. Female

630

175

P < .0001

Education1. High school2. Some post secondary

other than college/univ3. Some college/bachelors

degree4. Advanced Degree

1314

33

4

12

10

9

P<.001

Marital Status nsRace/ethnic background ns

Military Demographic High Low X2

Country of military servicea. United Statesb. Canadac. Other

391212

1381

ns

Military pay gradea. Enlistedb. Officerc. Otherd. Does not apply

6482

1381

p<.04

Service component nsBranch of service nsOccupational category while in the military

ns

58% 86%

59%86%

Military Deployment/Combat• There were no gamer group differences in

– Were you, or are you, deployed while serving in the military?

– Any combat experience– Witnessed others being wounded or killed– Discharged a weapon– Felt in great danger of being wounded– Was wounded– Felt in great danger of being killed

Review and Theoretical Conceptualization of the Nightmare Literature

• Levin and Nielsen (2007; 2009) point out in their model that nightmares occur due to:– affect load, that is situational events like interpersonal

conflict, trauma, etc. (both long term and recent)– affect distress, dispositional traits which may be genetic or

due to life history like attachments issues or unresolved trauma

– interact to result in the experience of a nightmare.

To determine if gaming effects nightmares have to control for affect load and distress• Covariates for those that reported dreams

– Affect Distress: Emotional Reactivity and Numbing Scale (ERNS) (Gamer group differences)

• 5 subscale scores (positive, sad*, general, anger*, fear*) • * low gamers were higher on these scales than high gamers

– Affect Load (no Gamer group differences)• Sum of Traumas from lifetime• Sum of combat experiences• Deployment

Three Dream Content Analysis• Threat Simulation (Revonsuo & Valli, 2000)• War Content (Wilmer, 1996)• Lucid/Control Content (Gackenbach, et al.,

2009)

Statistical Analysis• Gamer Group (high/low) x Dream Type

(recent/military) ANCOVA’s with 5 emotionality (ERNS) subscales and 3 trauma experience covariates on:– Threat Simulation Scales– War dream content Subscales– Lucidity/control Subscales

Nature of Threat (1= no harm, 2= nonagg harm, 3= agg harm)

Military Dream

Recent Dream

High Low

Low threat, military dream, high gamer

• I occasionally have dreams (maybe once ever one to two months) wherein I dream about re-enlisting in the military. It typically involves personal reflection on me wearing the uniform again. Sometimes I'm in a unit I was actually in, other times I'm in a new unit. Generally, the dreams aren't very stressful, other than feelings of...I guess regret over abandoning the current career path I'm on. (Subject #125)

high threat, military dream, low gamer

• I couldn't find my rifle and something was chasing me. I searched the entire forest until I did find my weapon. As i turned around to shoot what was hunting me - the trigger felt like it was a 1,000 lbs trigger pull. The rounds I was shooting were delayed and where not hitting where I was aiming. (Subject #21)

high threat, military dream, high gamer• This was an actual incident that happened in 2003 but a dream I have very often. • I am always going from being myself in the dream to watching it like a movie and it bounces like that

trough out the dream. • im on a knee outside of a building in the middle of a road watching a truck burn and Marines looking

for cover or running for the entrance to the building gate. My friend is on a knee at the gate entrance pushing guys through the gate and into the building complex. He is wounded on the right side of his face ....

• There are men shooting at me from the end of the hall of pillars and i am trying to use the pillars as cover to get closer to them.

• Then i am outside in a different court yard and looking out at building roof tops as rounds hit the ground in front of me ...

• Then i was back in the building with several prisoners and Marines we are trying to keep them still and yelling for them to stop talking there are 2 children there crying and yelling

• I remember getting the chills and then woke up. (Subject # 89)

In reaction to threat, does

self participate?

no

yes

Military Dream

Recent Dream

High Low

Wilmer’s War Content• describes the dreams of

[316] Vietnam veterans about war

• Categories– Actual war dreams– Plausible war dreams– Ordinary Nightmares

• Coding Motif’s • Under attack, War/battle, The

dead, Firefights, Killing women and children*, Killing enemy, Killing Buddies, Captured, Somewhere in war/battle, Being wounded, Chase and running, Home, Being killed, Animals, Decapitation, Looming danger, Shot down, Atrocities/ mutilation, Return to war/battle

Sum of all Coding War Motifs

Military Dream

Recent Dream

High Low

High War Content; Military Dream, Low Gamer

• I was in a near a huge concrete bunker (like one I had seen in Iraq) and someone began firing a rifle at me from above. I couldn't see exactly where it was coming from, so I ran for cover. It followed me, though, and I was afraid it was going to catch up with me and kill me. But I felt like I was being slowed down, like I couldn't run as fast as I should have been able to. As I tried to find cover, I don't think I got hit, but it was very close a few times. Then I woke up. (Subject #76)

Types of Nightmares• “Actual” catastrophic dreams: Characteristically these are

terrifying vivid nightmares of the actual event• “Variable” catastrophic dreams: Are plausible sequences of

war event that could realistically have happened, but as far as we know did not actually happened

• ‘hallucinatory” catastrophic dreams: Are ordinary nightmares, but there is a constant relation to specific impactful event (e.g. War)

Category x dream type and x gamer groupDream

category

Count and Column

Percentage

Recent MilitaryHigh

Gamer Group

Low Gamer Group

Wilmer Viet Nam

Vets

ActualCount 0 4 3 1 189

Column % .0% 12.5% 6.1% 5.6% 53%

PlausibleCount 19 23 27 15 76

Column % 55.9% 71.9% 55.1% 83.3% 21%

Ordinary Nightmares

Count 15 5 19 2 94

Column % 44.1% 15.6% 38.8% 11.1% 26%

Wilmer: With therapy nightmare dream types moved from Actual to Ordinary

Plausible, Low Gamer, Military Dream

• My military dream occurs when im on deployment. i am securing an airport trying to get forgien nationalist out when a group of militia comes up and wants to get in. When they figure out they cant get by they get mad and be head a civilian and all i can do is watch. (Subject #210)

Lucid/Control Content• No difference in gamer group or dream type• High Gamer, recent dream:

– my laptop and computer had been stolen, and I couldn't locate them. I talked to the police and did a search, but nothing came up. I was starting to feel panicky and scared about losing my computers and the data on them, and then I remember thinking "Wait, its ok, I'll just wake up since this is a dream"

Is this typical?• I am currently in Iraq. I just read an article on

video games and dream. I'm a huge videogamer, and I've always wondered why I never have nightmares... they all ways seem so fun to me!

But then there is this……• My name is ……, 30 army vet who has served

in Iraq, I’m an avid gamer, meditate heavily and have experienced vivid dreaming most of my life, I do suffer mild PTSD and wonder if I can contribute in any way with this study.

Comments on Gaming in the Military from a soldier who games and counsels other soldiers

• I was involved with solving or counseling my soldiers on their stress, personal issues, family, peers, and even their level of professionalism.

• the soldiers that did game (both male and female) were quicker to task and also faster at pointing out things to make more efficient.

– I had one soldier that played World of Warcraft with his fiance and it was during this period he is able to talk and connect with her, they were participating with each other which helped their relationship a great deal.

• I have so many soldiers that went over seas and became videogame players due to the work tempo and stress. Meaning that by the end of the tour there were more videogame players

• in many cases that was the only way they could 'escape' from each other and the worries of home.

• From what I've seen gaming just First Person Shooters didn't make my soldiers shoot better, it made them better at identifying potential dangers and where to look at for snipers.

Take Away Points• Gaming may act as an inoculation against some of

the negative experiences of nightmares– This could be a result of habituation or numbing due to

exposure to violence in games

• Nightmares can re-traumatize the dreamer thus minimizing their effect is important.

• Dreams reflect a unconscious level so waking ego defence of Macho posturing does not intrude