For many, listening to music is an enjoyable experience pursued throughout one’s lifetime. Nearly 200 years of music psychology research has revealed the various ways music listening can impact human emotional states, as well as cognitive and motor performance. Music in video games has come a long way from the first chiptunes of 1978 to the full scores written specifically for games today. However, very little is understood of how background game music impacts game performance, behavior and experience. Even less is known for how music variables might affect performance, behavior and experience by individual differences, such as personality type. In this study, 78 participants scoring in the top 30% for their age range of either extraversion or introversion played a cognitive-training game in four music conditions (silence, low tempo, medium tempo, and high tempo). Performance, game play behavior, and flow experience scores were analyzed for each music condition by level of extraversion. While no statistically significant differences were found in game performance scores by level of extraversion, there were statistically significant differences found for play behavior (physical mouse motions) and flow experience for the music conditions. These results suggest that music can both alter the nature of physical game inputs and also provide a more engaging game experience, while not necessarily impacting one’s ability to perform in a game.

As an anomaly on the market of military shooters of the 21st century, Spec Ops: The Line entails a journey of undetermined realities and modern warfare consequences. In this study, the narrative is analyzed from the perspective of Jean Baudrillard’s idea that simulations have replaced our conception of reality. Both the protagonist and the player of Spec Ops will unavoidably descend into a state of the hyperreal. They experience multiple possible realities within the game narrative and end up unable to comprehend what has transpired. The hyperreal is defined as the state in which it is impossible to discern reality from simulation. The simulation of reality has proliferated itself into being the reality, and the original has been lost. The excessive use of violence, direct approach of the player through a break with the 4th wall and a deceitful narrator contribute to this loss of reality within the game. Although the game represents simulacra, being a simulation in itself, the object of study is the coexisting state of hyperreal shared between protagonist and player when comprehending events in the game. In the end, neither part can understand or discern with any certainty what transpired within the game. / <p>Grade: B</p>

This thesis utilises event studies to measure the impact of League of Legends Esports s teams on the share prices of their main sponsors and parent company, namely, the CJ Corporation, Korean Air, the Kt Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Telecom. Hypothetically, the success of a team, the acquisition of a major player or the beginning of a sponsorship would have a positive effect on the corporation reflected in an increase in the firm’s daily share price returns. Results showed that this was indeed true especially for a team’s success in large competitions such as the SBENU Summer Championships 2015 and the annual World Finals. As such, corporations can benefit from increasing their investments into the scene as a result of the quantifiable win-win scenario apparent for both firm and team.

Video games offer a liberating, virtual-community building and meaning-making out-of-body experience for those that wholeheartedly engage in them. The lore and backstory of some of the most popular games (League of Legends, Kingdom Hearts, and World of Warcraft) are heavily influenced by all types of religion. In addition, and contrary to popular perception, a growing number of video games offer a global medium for instilling positive morals in society. As a result, video games become a religious placeholder or pseudo-religion for many of the most devoted gamers, because they offer many of the same experiences that religions do. This can be a potential explanation as to why organized religion is on the downswing in America.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how female protagonists in video games are portrayed. The material analysed consist of two game series of ten games each, which means a total empirical material of 20 games. The game series chosen for analysis are Metroid with its protagonist Samus Aran and Tomb Raider with Lara Croft as its protagonist. These game franchises were chosen because they have the bestselling video game heroines. The method used for this study has been a critical discourse analysis and the results show both a validated and contradicted result. The theories and the result from the analysis can confirm that female video game characters and especially protagonists are visually portrayed in an objectified sexualised manner. The contradiction is shown in the descriptions of the two female leads where they are both depicted as strong, confident and independent women in their fields of expertise.

This study examined the associations between video gaming, sleep, and neuropsychological functioning. A total of 143 mother-children dyads were included in the study. The children’s neurocognitive functions were measured using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children– Fourth Edition (Hong Kong), the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch), and the Grooved Pegboard Test. Sleep quality was measured by the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Problematic behaviors were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). It was found that (1) more video gaming was associated with poorer subjective sleep quality and shorter total bed time, but not any actual reported sleep time or any domains of problematic sleep in children, (2) playing video games before bed was not associated with more sleep problems in children, (3) children with more sleep problems were perceived to have more internalizing and externalizing behaviors, (4) sleep problem was negatively associated with tests of perceptual reasoning abilities, and had a moderating effect on the relationship between video-gaming and a hand-eye coordination task. Results implied video gaming might not be predominantly bad for children, and the use of it as a training tool must target specific cognitive skills in order to be effective. Children’s sleep problems should be part of a clinical computation and adequately addressed. / published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

In this thesis an architecture, similar to subsumption architectures, is presented which uses low level behaviour modules, based on combinations of machine learning techniques, to create teams of autonomous agents cooperating via shared plans for interaction. The purpose of this is to perform effective single plan execution within multiple scenarios, using a modern team based first person shooter video game as the domain and visualiser. The main focus is showing that through basic machine learning mechanisms, applied in a multi-agent setting on sparse data, plans can be executed on game levels of varying size and shape without sacrificing team goals. It is also shown how different team members can perform locally sub-optimal operations which contribute to a globally better strategy by adding exploration data to the machine learning mechanisms. This contributes to the reinforcement learning problem of exploration versus exploitation, from a multi-agent perspective.

Video games provide a competitive, goal-oriented environment. They involve individuals who often seek intentionally to frustrate their opponents’ goals. The gaming community is made up of players who vary in their interpersonal style, learning histories, and skill levels. In this rich and dynamic environment, stress is a common experience. Given the prevalence of gameplay in the population and the frequency of gameplay among gamers, it is important to examine coping responses to stressors, particularly maladaptive ones. The present research entails three studies. In Study 1, I use exploratory factor analyses to develop three scales purported to measure maladaptive coping strategies in response to frustration in multiplayer video games: aggression (CIV-A), catharsis (CIV-C), and self-condemnation (CIV-S). In Study 2, I provide further evidence of the single factor structure identified in Study 1 using confirmatory factor analyses. I additionally provide evidence that the three CIV scales can be used as a single, three-factor measure (CIV-III). Moreover, I conduct a path analysis to provide initial evidence of the scale’s construct validity, wherein I provide evidence that measures of personality (anger and arousal) predisposition predict CIV-III subscale scores. Finally, in Study 3, I examine patterns of these coping styles by running a Latent Profile Analysis. I found evidence for four maladaptive coping profiles: low maladaptive coping, external maladaptive coping, internal maladaptive coping, and low maladaptive coping. Finally, I provide evidence that measures of personality and motivations for video gaming can predict coping profile membership.

My artwork is about the impact of the digital revolution on every aspect of life, such as relationships, war, and self image. I explore this in the creation of sculptures that represent abstracted globes or video game worlds, digital animations concerning the virtual and simulated, and prints as allegories for embodied post-human experience. The visual themes of my work are bitmapped patterns, early computer graphics, and twenty-sided dice.

This study explores the effects on student learning of the inclusion of video games within a Language Arts secondary school classroom. Video Games are often disparaged by both parents and educators as having a significantly negative impact on students’ learning and productive use of time. However, previous studies surrounding youth and video games have revealed that youth engagement with games is often highly complex, involving deep critical thinking and encouraging social engagement. New research has shown that, for some youth, video games can serve as a catalyst for further intrinsically motivated learning. In spite of this research, video games remain on the fringes of formal education. This study focuses on a month long unit where video games were used as a primary text within a grade 10 language arts class. The study makes use of an action research processes and is reported using case study approach. Using class observations, notes, and a series of group interviews with participants, four major themes emerged, namely: community, relevance, student engagement, and student success. / Graduate