Report (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. M.S. 1992. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 25). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis(Ph. D.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Computer Science, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-196).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-165). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

In modern computer video games, the quality of artificial characters plays a prominent role in the success of the game in the market. The aim of intelligent techniques, termed game AI, used in these games is to provide an interesting and challenging game play to a game player. Being highly sophisticated, these games present game developers with similar kind of requirements and challenges as faced by academic AI community. The game companies claim to use sophisticated game AI to model artificial characters such as computer game bots, intelligent realistic AI agents. However, these bots work via simple routines pre-programmed to suit the game map, game rules, game type, and other parameters unique to each game. Mostly, illusive intelligent behaviors are programmed using simple conditional statements and are hard-coded in the bots' logic. Moreover, a game programmer has to spend considerable time configuring crisp inputs for these conditional statements. Therefore, we realize a need for machine learning techniques to dynamically improve bots' behavior and save precious computer programmers' man-hours. So, we selected Q-learning, a reinforcement learning technique, to evolve dynamic intelligent bots, as it is a simple, efficient, and online learning algorithm. Machine learning techniques such as reinforcement learning are know to be intractable if they use a detailed model of the world, and also requires tuning of various parameters to give satisfactory performance. Therefore, for this research we opt to examine Q-learning for evolving a few basic behaviors viz. learning to fight, and planting the bomb for computer game bots. Furthermore, we experimented on how bots would use knowledge learned from abstract models to evolve its behavior in more detailed model of the world. Bots evolved using these techniques would become more pragmatic, believable and capable of showing human-like behavior. This will provide more realistic feel to the game and provide game programmers with an efficient learning technique for programming these bots.

The aim of this dissertation is to analyse problem of computer gaming, the relationship of adolescents who play computer games and the role of computers in young peoples´ lives. The theoretical part of this dissertation is devoted to problem of computer gaming which is covered in the specialized literature. We can look into the positive and negative aspects of playing computer games. The practical part of this dissertation is focused on obtaining the information in spirit with the aim of the work. By suitable methods the research was conduct at the chosen primary schools and the data was collected and evaluated.

In previous research biological sex and gender are defined as the same thing, which has lead to a misconception of Gender. However, the notion of stereotypes being connected to a sex is inevitable. While this may not be true in each and every game, drastic underrepresentation becomes a problem. It is a self-perpetuating cycle; designing for a target group that is constructed from a stereotype, that stereotype then dictates the norm for the target group and society adapts to fit that norm. This cycle has to break, as people are not stereotypes. Our hypothesis is that a queer perspective could provide a more nuanced spectrum of gender thus making games more inclusive for a broader audience. We will test this by using a queer theoretical approach to discourse analysis of segments from the game: Dragon Age: Origins ™ (2009). We chose this game for the chance to explore the possibilities for self-expression and sexuality in an environment which allows a more complex relationship between characters.

The aim of this study review is to seek knowledge about how computer games affect students' motivation and vocabulary in English teaching. This paper will also examine the challenges that may occur when including games in education. The choice of game genre is based on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, which states that learning occurs in social interactions. Using language in order to learn and communicate with others is emphasized in the theory. In order to obtain scientific articles that were of interest to the purpose and questions of the study, several different databases have been used. The studies that have been used are both national and international studies, which have led to a broader perspective in the results of this study. The results of the study show that computer games develop students' vocabulary where they are given the opportunity to both use their abilities and develop them. The students also get the opportunity to interact with other players where they can speak English freely while remaining anonymous. As games increase students' motivation for language learning, teaching becomes more meaningful. Furthermore, the results show that games also develop problems such as gambling addiction and sometimes even aggressive behavior depending on the game's gratification system.

Democratic theorists argue that democratic institutions thrive when the citizens of the society robustly participate in governance (Galston, 2004; Barber, 2001). A traditional indicator of democratic participation is voting in elections or referendums. However, democratic apologetics posit that humans need to be trained in democratic processes in order to be democratic citizens (Dewey, 1916; Gutmann, 1990; Sehr, 1997; Goodlad, 2001). Citizens need to know not only the protocol of participation, they also need to be trained in the processes of mind (Dewey, 1916; 1927). Educational systems in this country have been the traditional place where democratic training has been vested (Spring, 2001). It seems, though, that the methods that educators are using to train young people fail to meet this challenge as voting rates among the youngest citizens (under 30) have never been higher than slightly more than half of eligible voters in the age group. To remedy this situation, Congress and several private civic-education organizations have called for changing curricular approaches to engage more youth. One such method that may hold promise is the use of video game technology. The current generation of youth has grown up in a digital world where they have been labeled "Digital Natives" (Prensky, 2001a). They are "tech savvy" and comfortable with their lives being integrated with various forms of digital technology. Significantly, industry research suggests that over 90% of "Digital Natives" have played a video game in the last 30 days, and business is booming to the level that video games pulled in more money than the movie industry did in 2008 (ESA, 2009). As early as the 1970s, educational researchers have looked at the use of video game technology to engage student learning; however, this research has been limited at best. More recently, educational scholars such as James Gee (2003; 2007) and Kurt Squire (2002; iii 2003; 2006) have sought to make the academic conversation more mature with regard to using video games as a classroom supplement. This study continues that conversation by using quantitative methods to investigate whether or not different groups of middle school students self-report a greater propensity to be civically engaged as a result of civic-themed video gameplay. The investigator collected data from middle school students who were given access to civic-themed video games to see if there were statistically significant differences in self-reported civic-engagement scores as a result of gameplay. This investigation was conducted at a large, urban middle school in the Southeast region of the United States.

No / Digital content is increasingly pervasive. Communication technologies enable the creation and dissemination of content on a transnational basis. However, the relationship between communication technology and society is complex and is impacted both by the requirements of the communicator and also cultural and social norms associated with the context of the user. How does digital technology influence media communication? How far does media communication transcend technology? The boundaries between the various forms of formal communication and social communication are blurring and the user is no longer just a consumer or someone who interacts with information; they are also a creator of new information. Companies with commercial interests in these areas are seeking to exploit new forms of communication without alienating the user.