Paul Skalski

Mapping the road to fun: Natural video game controllers, presence, and game enjoyment

This investigation examines how video game interactivity can affect presence and game enjoyment. Interactivity in the form of natural mapping has been advocated as a possible contributor to presence experiences, yet few studies to date have investigated this potential. The present work formulates a preliminary typology of natural mapping and addresses how several types of mapping impact the experience of a video game, with the expectation that more natural mapping leads to increased spatial presence affecting enjoyment. Two studies were conducted. In the first study, 48 participants played a golfing video game using one of two controller types (Nintendo Wiimote or gamepad). In the second, 78 participants played a driving video game using an even more natural controller (steering wheel) or one of three other controller types. Participants then completed measures of perceived naturalness, presence, and enjoyment. Results of both studies were generally consistent with expectations.

The role of presence in the experience of electronic games

When communication researchers consider computer games (and video games) as a new form of media entertainment, they typically highlight those games’ interactivity because it is the main feature that distinguishes them from most other kinds of entertainment (Grodal, 2000; Vorderer, 2000). Not only do game players actively process information provided by the medium (as do viewers, readers, and users of other noninteractive media), but they also contribute substantially to the quality and progress of the media product itself. Their decisions and actions determine how a game looks, how it develops, and how it ends. Consequently, most theoretical work on the enjoyment of playing computer games has focused on the issue of interactivity and player action during game play (Klimmt, 2003, 2005). In order to handle modern entertainment software successfully, users must stay alert for most of the playing time and be able to respond quickly and appropriately to incoming new information. Some, if not many, of these responses may be automatized (Bargh, 1997) for efficient execution and conservation of cognitive processing resources. But, in general, the use of computer games should be modeled as a complex and multifaceted kind of action. Therefore, research on the psychology of action (e.g., Gollwitzer & Bargh, 1996; Heckhausen, 1977) offers theories and empirical findings that may help explain why people play and what they do during playing. Adopting the perspective of the psychology of action means searching for motifs (and motivations) of playing.

Gender and Age Effects on Information-Seeking after 9/11

This study investigated the relationship between gender, age and information-seeking behavior after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, drawing on uncertainty reduction and placing the study in the framework of a crisis event. Surveys were collected from 1329 respondents from three different geographic regions in the United States between two and five days after the terrorist attacks. Results indicated that females regarded television and radio as more useful than males, while males reported the Internet as a more useful source of information. Differences for age were also found for use of print media and the Internet. These findings are discussed, along with limitations and suggestions for future research.

The Role of Social Presence in Interactive Agent-Based Persuasion

This investigation examines the extent to which interactive social agent technology can influence social presence, information processing, and persuasion. Specifically, it looks at how interactive media using virtual agents can increase the sensation of social presence, or the extent to which a person feels “with” a mediated being. Using logic based on the Heuristic Systematic Model (HSM), social presence is posited to impact indicators of heuristic and systematic processing, leading to changes in attitude and intention toward a health issue. A 2 × 2 between subjects experiment was conducted (N = 125) with manipulations of interactivity (interactive or not) and source attractiveness (attractive or unattractive). Results of causal model tests suggest that interactive agents facilitate social presence leading to increased message processing, which in turn affects both attitude and behavioral intentions toward the issue of healthy blood pressure. Contrary to expectations, however, social presence with an unattractive source did not impede attitude and intentions. These findings are interpreted in light of presence, new media, and HSM scholarship.

Predictors of Audience Interest in Adopting Digital Television

Although the deadline for mandated digital transmission for broadcast television (DTV) is fast approaching, we still know relatively little about viewer knowledge about and interest in adopting the new, higher resolution television receivers. This study profiles likely DTV adopters in terms of social locators, media adoption, orientation toward adopting new media, and affective measures. The relative success of the latter in distinguishing between likely DTV adopters and nonadopters underscores the utility of a new set of attitudinal variables to supplement demographics and technology adoption measures. These elements were less successful in explaining DTV awareness levels, which were relatively low.

Comparing Survey and Diary Measures of Internet and Traditional Media Use

Considerable debate exists over the accuracy of self‐reported media use measures. This report compares two methodologies for studying Internet and traditional media use: online surveys and diaries. A study was conducted with undergraduate students from two universities. Participants were asked to (a) complete a survey and (b) keep a diary over the course of one day. Both instruments assessed how frequently they engaged in various media use activities, including television viewing, radio listening, Web surfing, email sending and receiving, music listening, and video game playing. Results indicate that survey estimates of media use are consistently higher than diary use, but both methods are significantly correlated with each other, within a given medium. Given uncertainty about which method is more accurate, a third method of data collection, electronic tracking, is described.

Effects of Humor on Presence and Recall of Persuasive Messages

This investigation examined how exposure to a humorous persuasive message affects antecedents of presence (i.e., the sensation of being “in” a mediated environment) facilitating message recall. Participants in an experimental study viewed either a humorous or non-humorous version of an alcohol public service announcement and then completed measures of positive emotion, perceived credibility, psychological reactance, presence, and message recall. As predicted, positive emotion was related to an increase in perceived credibility and a decrease in reactance. Increased perceived credibility was associated with greater feelings of presence, negatively affecting recognition memory. These findings suggest that presence may sometimes impede persuasive message recall, although not necessarily to the detriment of attitude change.

Proxemic Effects on Information Seeking after the September 11 Attacks

This research investigated the relationship between proximity to a crisis event and the desire for information to reduce uncertainty. The dataset was collected between two and five days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It included 1329 responses from three different cities in the USA. Results indicate that as proximity to a crisis event increases, individuals report significantly higher levels of emotional response. Differences were also found among geographic region as to types of information desired.

Blinded by the light: Illuminating the dark side of social network use through content analysis

The present study reveals the results of a content analysis of the descriptive, textual communication, and photo content found in 208 college student Facebook profiles. An a priori coding scheme was developed for this investigation based on (1) news reports and stories on controversies surrounding online social network use, (2) research on social uses of the Internet, and (3) insights from the author, a longtime Facebook user. Results show that all categories of controversial content were more frequent than any of the prosocial content categories, suggesting that there is an overrepresentation of negative content on Facebook, even though many of the specific frequencies are low. In addition, the vast majority of students did not disclose personal contact information on their profiles, and males and females differed in the amount of personal contact information and controversial content disclosed. The study results document the nature of online social network content and point to possible effects of displaying and/or being exposed to controversial content online.

The Language of Laughter: A Quantitative/Qualitative Fusion Examining Television Narrative and Humor

This study utilizes multiple methods to analyze the effects of a laugh track on audience response to four episodes of the classic sitcom, “The Andy Griffith Show.” An experimental design and a narratological approach are used in concert. One of the four episodes stood out quantitatively in terms of perceived humor and overall enjoyment, and was the only episode for which the laugh track had a negative impact. Narratological richness might explain the anomalous episode, as it was found to possess a more complex story structure, higher levels of satire, and other distinctive elements found to have high audience appeal.