Effects of soundtrack music on the video game experience

ABSTRACT

Aesthetic elements such as soundtrack music have been neglected in game entertainment research. Based on previous work in games research and the psychology of film soundtracks (Cohen, 2001), we test the hypotheses that soundtrack music contributes to players‘ enjoyment via intensification of emotions (affective route) and via amplification of the sense of spatial presence and identification with the game character (cognitive routes). Study 1 tested these assumptions with N = 68 young male players of an episode of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag^®, either with the original soundtrack music present or absent, and reported game enjoyment, as well as scores of the assumed mediator variables afterward. In Study 2, N = 59 young males played an episode of Alien: Isolation^® with soundtrack music present or absent and reported their horror experience, as well as the experiential facets as in study 1. Findings clearly show an indirect effect of soundtrack music on enjoyment through positive emotions (study 1) and an impact of (shocking) music on players’ horror experience (study 2). However, a mediation of the effect of soundtrack music on game enjoyment via spatial presence or identification was not established. We discuss implications for future research in game entertainment.     

The importance of feature distribution and correlation for simulating 3 to 4-month-old infants' visual categorization processes

Mareschal, French, and Quinn (2000) and Mareschal, Quinn, and French (2002) have proposed a connectionist model of visual categorization in 3- to 4-month-old infants that simulates and predicts previously unexplained behavioural effects such as the asymmetric categorization effect (French, Mareschal, Mermillod, & Quinn, 2004). In the current paper, we show that the model's ability to simulate the asymmetry depends on the correlational structure of the stimuli. These results are important given that adults (Anderson & Fincham, 1996) as well as infants (Younger & Cohen, 1986) are able to rely on correlation information to perform visual categorization. At a behavioural level, the current paper suggests that pure bottom-up processes, based on the correlational structure of the categories, could explain the disappearance of the asymmetry in older 10-month-old infants (Furrer & Younger, 2005). Moreover, our results also raise new challenges for visual categorization models that attempt to simulate the shift from asymmetric categorization in 3- to 4-month-old to symmetric categorization in 10-month-old infants (Shultz & Cohen, 2004; Westermann & Mareschal, 2004, 2012).     

Why does lag affect the durability of memory-based automaticity: Loss of memory strength or interference?

In Rickard, Lau, and Pashler's (2008) investigation of the lag effect on memory-based automaticity, response times were faster and proportion of trials retrieved was higher at the end of practice for short lag items than for long lag items. However, during testing after a delay, response times were slower and proportion of trials retrieved was lower for short lag items than for long lag items. The current study investigated the extent to which the lag effect on the durability of memory-based automaticity is due to interference or to the loss of memory strength with time. Participants repeatedly practiced alphabet subtraction items in short lag and long lag conditions. After practice, half of the participants were immediately tested and the other half were tested after a 7-day delay. Results indicate that the lag effect on the durability of memory-based automaticity is primarily due to interference. We discuss potential modification of current memory-based processing theories to account for these effects.     

Zuckerman's Revised Alternative Five-Factor Model: Validation of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire in Four French-Speaking Countries

The aim of this study was to analyze the replicability of Zuckerman's revised Alternative Five-factor model in a French-speaking context by validating the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA–PQ) simultaneously in 4 French-speaking countries. The total sample was made up of 1,497 subjects from Belgium, Canada, France, and Switzerland. The internal consistencies for all countries were generally similar to those found for the normative U.S. and Spanish samples. A factor analysis confirmed that the normative structure replicated well and was stable within this French-speaking context. Moreover, multigroup confirmatory factor analyses have shown that the ZKA–PQ reaches scalar invariance across these 4 countries. Mean scores were slightly different for women and men, with women scoring higher on Neuroticism but lower on Sensation Seeking. Globally, mean score differences across countries were small. Overall, the ZKA–PQ seems an interesting alternative to assess both lower and higher order personality traits for applied or research purposes.     

Effects of working memory training in young and old adults

Many cognitive abilities, including working memory and reasoning ability, decline with progressing age. In this study, we investigated whether four weeks of intensive working memory training would enhance working memory and reasoning performance in an age-comparative setting. Groups of 34 young (19–36 years) and 27 older (62–77 years) adults practiced tasks representing the three functional categories in the facet model of working memory capacity: storage and processing, relational integration, and supervision. The data were compared to those of a young and an old active control group who practiced tasks with low working memory demands. A cognitive test battery measuring near and far transfer was administered before and after training. Both age groups showed increased working memory performance in the trained tasks and in one structurally similar, but nontrained, task. Young adults also improved in a task measuring word-position binding in working memory. However, we found no far transfer to reasoning in either age group. The results provide evidence that working memory performance can be improved throughout the life span. However, in contrast to a previous study in which each facet of working memory capacity was trained separately, the present study showed that training multiple functional categories simultaneously induces less transfer.     

The mediating role of positive and negative affect in the situational motivation-performance relationship

Based on self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan in Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum Publishing Co., New York, 1985) and the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson in Am Psychol 56:218–226, 2001), the purpose of the present research was to propose and test an integrative model on the role of positive and negative affect as mediators of the situational motivation-performance relationship. Specifically, the hypothesized model posits that autonomous motivation predicts positive affect, while controlled motivation and amotivation both lead to negative affect. In addition, amotivation negatively predicts positive affect. In turn, positive and negative affect positively and negatively predict performance, respectively. The model was confirmed in three studies using correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental designs (Study 3) with a cognitive task (anagrams). In addition, the role of individual differences (Study 2) and situational factors (Study 3) as triggers of the “Motivation-Affect-Performance” sequence was confirmed. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

On the (In)Compatibility of Attitudes Toward Peace and War

Although attitudes toward peace and war are usually treated as two opposite poles of one dimension, in this article we argue that they may represent two distinct dimensions. To investigate this idea, we developed and tested a new balanced measure, the Attitudes Toward Peace and War (APW) Scale, in three studies (N = 4,742) in the United States and Denmark. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that attitudes toward peace and war formed two distinct, though negatively related, factors. Structural equation modeling showed that antecedents of attitudes toward peace included egalitarian ideological beliefs, the values of international harmony and equality, and empathic concern for others, and consequences included intentions to engage in peace‐related activities. On the other hand, antecedents of attitudes toward war included authoritarian ideological beliefs, the values of national strength and order, and less personal distress, and consequences included intentions to engage in warlike activities. Results also showed that political affiliation had an impact on the relationship between peace and war attitudes, with conservatives less likely to find the attitudes incompatible. The findings support the view that attitudes toward peace and war represent two distinct dimensions.     

Contrasting the effects of suboptimally versus optimally presented affect primes on effort-related cardiac response

Participants worked on an easy versus difficult arithmetic task with integrated happiness versus sadness primes, presented either suboptimally (briefly and masked) or optimally (long and visible). As predicted by the IAPE model (Gendolla in International Journal of Psychophysiology 86:123–135, 2012. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.05.003), the affect primes moderated the task difficulty effect on mental effort in the suboptimal-prime condition: cardiac pre-ejection period response was stronger in the happiness/difficult than in the sadness/difficult condition and tended to be stronger in the sadness-easy than in the happiness-easy condition. These effects were reversed in the optimal-prime-presentation condition, suggesting behavior correction due to controlled prime processing. Moreover, neither suboptimally nor optimally presented affect primes had prime-congruent effects on conscious mood assessed via self-report. The results demonstrate differential effects of implicitly versus explicitly processed affect cues on mental effort and suggest that they can do so without inducing emotional feelings.