Yu-Hao Lee

Are there cultural differences in how we play? Examining cultural effects on playing social network games

Digital games embedded in social network sites are one of the driving forces behind the expansion of digital gamer populations. Previous studies have observed different usage patterns between users in different ethnic groups and countries, suggesting that culture orientations may affect how people play and interact through social network games. This study examined how peoples culture orientations affect usage patterns with measures of vertical and horizontal individualism-collectivism. The findings indicate that culture does not directly affect usage patterns. Instead, the effects on usage patterns are mediated by peoples expected outcomes of playing social network games. Vertical culture orientations predicted social expected outcomes. Individualism predicted status expected outcomes, but in different directions on the dimensions of vertical or horizontalness. Vertical collectivism was the only culture orientation that indirectly predicted buying in-game products with real money. Implications for game designers and markers are discussed.

Mind Your Errors Evidence for a Neural Mechanism Linking Growth Mind-Set to Adaptive Posterror Adjustments

How well people bounce back from mistakes depends on their beliefs about learning and intelligence. For individuals with a growth mind-set, who believe intelligence develops through effort, mistakes are seen as opportunities to learn and improve. For individuals with a fixed mind-set, who believe intelligence is a stable characteristic, mistakes indicate lack of ability. We examined performance-monitoring event-related potentials (ERPs) to probe the neural mechanisms underlying these different reactions to mistakes. Findings revealed that a growth mind-set was associated with enhancement of the error positivity component (Pe), which reflects awareness of and allocation of attention to mistakes. More growth-minded individuals also showed superior accuracy after mistakes compared with individuals endorsing a more fixed mind-set. It is critical to note that Pe amplitude mediated the relationship between mind-set and posterror accuracy. These results suggest that neural mechanisms indexing on-line awareness of and attention to mistakes are intimately involved in growth-minded individuals’ ability to rebound from mistakes.

Building common ground and reciprocity through social network games

Social network games (SNG) are an extremely popular and rapidly growing application of social network sites (SNS). But are SNGs really social? A survey based on a social cognitive theory approach to uses and gratifications revealed that people are motivated to play the game to create common ground, reciprocate, cope, and pass time. People play SNGs to create common ground for future social interaction rather than seeking direct social interaction in the game. Customization was strongly correlated with social motivations; in particular, use of avatar customization was different from use of space customization. Reciprocity was facilitated more by the design of the game than social motives.

Impacts of Forced Serious Game Play on Vulnerable Subgroups

Three vulnerable subgroups of players non-gamers, resistant players, and females were studied to understand how each approaches and plays serious games. The authors explore forced required play using four different online casual games. Their research strongly suggests that the most important threat to a serious games impact is when players dislike the game. Serious games are less effective for players who dislike a game and most effective for those who like the game. Non-gamers were at a distinct disadvantage as far as gameplay performance. They experienced a more negative effect in two of the four games. Finally, males tended to seek more difficult challenges in games than females. The optimal amount of challenge may be the most important gender difference to consider when designing serious games.

Beyond player types: gaming achievement goal

Education and psychology studies have used motivational constructs called achievement goals to predict learning success and response to failure. In this article we adapted classroom achievement goal scales to instead measure gaming achievement goals. We collected survey data from 432 university students to empirically examine the applicability and utility of achievement goal constructs from education research to gaming. We introduced a new approach to player types based on mastery and performance gaming achievement goals. Four types are studied: super-achievers, mastery-only, performance-only, and non-achievers. We also examined the relationship between our four achievement goal player types to the traditional achiever, explorer player types. We found that Interest in exploration in games can exist in any of the four types, but those with strong mastery goals have the lowest interest in exploration. Gender and gaming frequency were significantly related to gaming achievement goals. The implications and suggestions for designing games for learning and entertainment are discussed.

Implicit and explicit training in the mitigation of cognitive bias through the use of a serious game

We examine the mitigation of two cognitive biases through a video game.We conducted an experiment (N=708) to compare the game to an instructional video.The game was compared to outcomes testing knowledge and mitigation of the biases.Explicit instruction improved familiarity and knowledge of the biases more than implicit.More exposure through repeated play enhanced learning. Heuristics can interfere with information processing and hinder decision-making when more systematic processes that might lead to better decisions are ignored. Based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM) of information processing, a serious training game (called MACBETH) was designed to address and mitigate cognitive biases that interfere with the analysis of evidence and the generation of hypotheses. Two biases are the focus of this paper-fundamental attribution error and confirmation bias. The efficacy of the serious game on knowledge and mitigation of biases was examined using an experiment in which participants (N=703) either played the MACBETH game or watched an instructional video about the biases. Results demonstrate the game to be more effective than the video at mitigating cognitive biases when explicit training methods are combined with repetitive play. Moreover, explicit instruction within the game provided greater familiarity and knowledge of the biases relative to implicit instruction. Suggestions for game development for purposes of enhancing cognitive processing and bias mitigation based on the MACBETH game design are discussed.

Social network games: exploring audience traits

The audience of social network games is an as of yet unexplored group. Given the growing number of users and people spending time playing social network games, a better understanding of the audience, and how they are using social network games is important to crafting better social networking tools in the future. Respondents of this survey reported personality factors, demographics, habit strength, self-efficacy of social network games, and types of use by different features.

Training Anchoring and Representativeness Bias Mitigation Through a Digital Game

Objective. Humans systematically make poor decisions because of cognitive biases. Can digital games train people to avoid cognitive biases? The goal of this study is to investigate the affordance of different educational media in training people about cognitive biases and to mitigate cognitive biases within their decision-making processes. Method. A between-subject experiment was conducted to compare a digital game, a traditional slideshow, and a combined condition in mitigating two types of cognitive biases: anchoring bias and representativeness bias. We measured both immediate effects and delayed effects after four weeks. Results. The digital game and slideshow conditions were effective in mitigating cognitive biases immediately after the training, but the effects decayed after four weeks. By providing the basic knowledge through the slideshow, then allowing learners to practice bias-mitigation techniques in the digital game, the combined condition was most effective at mitigating the cognitive biases both immediately and after four weeks.

Mitigating bias blind spot via a serious video game

We employed a serious video game to train participants on bias blind spot (BBS), capturing training effects on BBS mitigation and knowledge at three points in time. Experiment 1 (Nź=ź703) compared the effects of hybrid training (a combination of implicit and explicit training) to implicit training; Experiment 2 (Nź=ź620) tested the effects of just-in-time versus delayed feedback; and Experiment 3 (Nź=ź626) examined the effects of singleplayer versus multiplayer learning environments. We also tested differences in game duration (30 vs. 60źmin play) and repetition (single vs. repeated play). Overall, the video game decreased BBS linearly over time and increased BBS knowledge at posttest, but knowledge decayed at 8-week posttest. These and other results are discussed, along with the implications, limitations, and future research directions. We developed a serious videogame to train participants on bias blind spot (BBS).In three experiments, playing the game decreased BBS linearly over time.The game also consistently increased BBS knowledge at the first posttest.However, the effects on knowledge decayed at the 8-week posttest.We also found that repeated exposure to the game increased BBS knowledge.

Digital Game based Learning for Undergraduate Calculus Education: Immersion, Calculation, and Conceptual Understanding

This study has two goals: First, to investigate the effectiveness of using a digital game to teach undergraduate-level calculus in terms of improving task immersion, sense of control, calculation skills, and conceptual understanding. Second, to investigate how feedback and visual manipulation can facilitate conceptual understanding of calculus. 132 undergraduate students participated in a controlled lab experiment and were randomly assigned to either a game-playing condition, a practice quiz condition, or a no-treatment control condition. The authors collected survey data and behavioral-tracking data recorded by the server during gameplay. The results showed that students who played the digital game reported highest task immersion but not sense of control. Students in the game condition also performed significantly better in conceptual understanding compared to students who solved a practice quiz and the control group. Gameplay behavioral-tracking data was used to examine the effects of visual manipulation and feedback on conceptual understanding.