Bradley M. Okdie

Effect of Playing Violent Video Games Cooperatively or Competitively on Subsequent Cooperative Behavior

Research on video games has yielded consistent findings that violent video games increase aggression and decrease prosocial behavior. However, these studies typically examined single-player games. Of interest is the effect of cooperative play in a violent video game on subsequent cooperative or competitive behavior. Participants played Halo II (a first-person shooter game) cooperatively or competitively and then completed a modified prisoners dilemma task to assess competitive and cooperative behavior. Compared with the competitive play conditions, players in the cooperative condition engaged in more tit-for-tat behaviors-a pattern of behavior that typically precedes cooperative behavior. The social context of game play influenced subsequent behavior more than the content of the game that was played.

Dating deception: Gender, online dating, and exaggerated self-presentation

This study examined how differences in expectations about meeting impacted the degree of deceptive self-presentation individuals displayed within the context of dating. Participants filled out personality measures in one of four anticipated meeting conditions: face-to-face, email, no meeting, and a control condition with no pretense of dating. Results indicated that, compared to baseline measures, male participants increased the amount they self-presented when anticipating a future interaction with a prospective date. Specifically, male participants emphasized their positive characteristics more if the potential date was less salient (e.g., email meeting) compared to a more salient condition (e.g., face-to-face meeting) or the control conditions. Implications for self-presentation theory, online social interaction, and online dating research will be discussed.

What makes a video go viral? An analysis of emotional contagion and Internet memes

What qualities lead some Internet videos to reach millions of viewers while others languish in obscurity? This question has been largely unexamined empirically. We addressed this issue by examining the role of emotional response and video source on the likelihood of spreading an Internet video by validating the emotional response to an Internet video and investigating the underlying mechanisms. Results indicated that individuals reporting strong affective responses to a video reported greater intent to spread the video. In terms of the role of the source, anger-producing videos were more likely to be forwarded but only when the source of the video was an out-group member. These results have implications for emotional contagion, social influence, and online behavior.

Missed Programs (You Can't TiVo This One) Why Psychologists Should Study Media

Media psychology involves the scientific examination of the cognitive processes and behavior involved in the selection, use, interpretation, and effects of communication across a variety of media (e.g., via the Internet, television, telephone, film). Media are central to people’s lives, with projections indicating that an average person spent over 3,515 hours using media in 2012. New technologies are increasing the importance of media. Data from two content analyses demonstrate the underrepresentation of media psychology in mainstream psychological literature and in undergraduate and graduate psychology course offerings. We argue for the importance of a psychological approach to the study of media because of its presence in people’s lives and because psychologists use it in their research and their choices may affect the external validity of their findings. We provide a useful framework from which psychologists can approach the study of media, and we conclude with recommendations for further areas of scientific inquiry relevant to psychological science.

The influence of video games on executive functions in college students

A limited number of studies exist examining the effect of video game play on executive functions.Studies that exist examining video game play and executive functions neglect female participants and active video game play.Participants who actively played video games for 30min showed improved decision making and problem solving. Video game play can have a negative effect on affect and behavior, but its relationship with cognition has been mixed. Previous research has shown both positive and negative effects of video game play on attention, memory, and other cognitive abilities; however, little research has investigated its effects on executive functions other than working memory. Additionally, most studies have utilized predominantly male samples. The present study sought to examine the effects of active video game play on decision making, problem solving, and risk-taking. Two hundred twenty-eight undergraduate students (114 female) played one of five different video games (n=91) or were part of a separate, no-game control condition (n=137). Scores on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) were then compared. Following active video game play, participants decided more advantageously on the IGT, and made fewer errors and completed more categories on the WCST. No group differences emerged on the BART, and gender did not impact any dependent variables. It appears that active video game play may have positive effects on some executive functions with implications for real-world behavior. Implications for future research are discussed.

Seeing the forest through the trees: improving decision making on the Iowa gambling task by shifting focus from short- to long-term outcomes

Introduction: The present study sought to examine two methods by which to improve decision making on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT): inducing a negative mood and providing additional learning trials. Method: In the first study, 194 undergraduate students [74 male; Mage = 19.44 (SD = 3.69)] were randomly assigned to view a series of pictures to induce a positive, negative, or neutral mood immediately prior to the IGT. In the second study, 276 undergraduate students [111 male; Mage = 19.18 (SD = 2.58)] completed a delay discounting task and back-to-back administrations of the IGT. Results: Participants in an induced negative mood selected more from Deck C during the final trials than those in an induced positive mood. Providing additional learning trials resulted in better decision making: participants shifted their focus from the frequency of immediate gains/losses (i.e., a preference for Decks B and D) to long-term outcomes (i.e., a preference for Deck D). In addition, disadvantageous decision making on the additional learning trials was associated with larger delay discounting (i.e., a preference for more immediate but smaller rewards). Conclusions: The present results indicate that decision making is affected by negative mood state, and that decision making can be improved by increasing the number of learning trials. In addition, the current results provide evidence of a relationship between performance on the IGT and on a separate measure of decision making, the delay discounting task. Moreover, the present results indicate that improved decision making on the IGT can be attributed to shifting focus toward long-term outcomes, as evidenced by increased selections from advantageous decks as well as correlations between the IGT and delay discounting task. Implications for the assessment of decision making using the IGT are discussed.

It's All in How You Think About It: Construal Level and the Iowa Gambling Task

Recent research has identified a number of factors that can influence performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) when it is used in clinical or research settings. The current studies examine the effects of construal level theory (CLT) on the IGT. Study 1 suggests that when primed with a high construal mindset (i.e., thinking abstractly vs. concretely), individuals learned to avoid Deck A more than those primed with a low construal mindset. Study 2 suggests that when construal level is manipulated through psychological distance (i.e., selecting for a close vs. distant friend), individuals in a high construal mindset instead showed a preference for Deck A compared to individuals in a low construal mindset or a control group. Taken together, these studies suggest that IGT performance is impacted by the manner in which one construes the task. Implications for decision making research and use of the IGT as a clinical and research instrument are discussed.

Have We All Just Become “Robo-Sapiens”? Reflections on Social Influence Processes in the Internet Age

The first author (Rosanna Guadagno) is old enough to remember the dawn of the World Wide Web. In 1994, she was working as a Human–Computer Interaction Engineer at a large Silicon Valley corporation. Her group was asked to learn the language of the web (HTML) in preparation for the webbased products—including a long-forgotten search engine—the company had in the initial phases of the software development life cycle. At this time, there was no Google, no Myspace, no Facebook, no Twitter, or any kind of social networking sites, nor were there any news or celebrity gossip sites to entertain individuals expecting a 24-hr news cycle. In the old days, REG usually ran out of links after The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5,1 Captain Kirk’s Sing Along Page2, and her teammates’ pages. Unlike the Internet of today, where a person can literally spend hours following links from website to website or Google a topic or celebrity and find hundreds, if not thousands, of informative web pages, the early World Wide Web was static and finite. The web has changed so much in such a relatively short time span. In 1994, most web pages comprised information, possibly some pictures, and perhaps some links, but afforded no integrated means of social interaction—at best there were contact forms and mailto: (e-mail) links, otherwise there were references to alternative interactive options such as usenet groups (similar to today’s forums) or IRC channels, or offline contact details (phone numbers and physical addresses). Today, the Internet offers many ways to connect with others (Facebook’s “Like” button and its many imitations, integrated text, audio, and/or video chat and comment systems, e-mail, social media, a plethora of online conferencing and collaboration tools, blogs, microblogs, link-sharing sites, MMORPGs, online classes, etc.), and all of these provide different amounts of social and nonverbal cues. Thus, the Internet has be-

Social Influence Online: A Tale of Gender Differences in the Effectiveness of Authority Cues

This study examined the extent to which communicator salience manipulated by varying communication modes, authority-based social influence, and gender affect persuasion in online environments by utilizing a 2 by 2 between subjects design. Participants of the experiment were either presented with an authority-based influence attempt or no influence attempt. They then engaged in a persuasive interaction with a same-sex confederate via computer-mediated communication CMC or face-to-face. Results revealed that men in the Authority condition who interacted via CMC were more persuaded then men in the Peer condition who interacted via CMC. Additionally, men reported more confidence when interacting via CMC and reported that their decision was more influenced by the confederate online. Moreover, perceptions of the confederate varied by gender and communication mode. Analysis suggests that authority based influence tactics via CMC are more effective for men than for women.

The Prevalence and Prevention of Crosstalk: A Multi-Institutional Study

ABSTRACT It is a common problem in psychology subject pools for past study participants to inform future participants of key experimental details (also known as crosstalk). Previous research (Edlund, Sagarin, Skowronski, Johnson, & Kutter, 2009) demonstrated that a combined classroom and laboratory treatment could significantly reduce crosstalk. The present investigation tested a laboratory-only treatment for the prevention of crosstalk at five universities, along with institutional-level moderators of crosstalk. Results indicated the presence of crosstalk at all universities and that the laboratory-based treatment was effective in reducing crosstalk. Importantly, crosstalk rates were higher (but successfully neutralized) in research pools with higher research credit requirements. Therefore, this research provides valuable guidance regarding crosstalk prevalence and its minimization by researchers.