3D-Multiple Object Tracking training task improves passing decision-making accuracy in soccer players

ObjectivesThe ability to perform a context-free 3-dimensional multiple object tracking (3D-MOT) task has been highly related to athletic performance. In the present study, we assessed the transferability of a perceptual-cognitive 3D-MOT training from a laboratory setting to a soccer field, a sport in which the capacity to correctly read the dynamic visual scene is a prerequisite to performance.DesignThroughout pre- and post-training sessions, we looked at three essential skills (passing, dribbling, shooting) that are used to gain the upper hand over the opponent.MethodWe recorded decision-making accuracy during small-sided games in university-level soccer players (n = 23) before and after a training protocol. Experimental (n = 9) and active control (n = 7) groups were respectively trained during 10 sessions of 3D-MOT or 3D soccer videos. A passive control group (n = 7) did not received any particular training or instructions.ResultsDecision-making accuracy in passing, but not in dribbling and shooting, between pre- and post-sessions was superior for the 3D-MOT trained group compared to control groups. This result was correlated with the players' subjective decision-making accuracy, rated after pre- and post-sessions through a visual analogue scale questionnaire.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this study represents the first evidence in which a non-contextual, perceptual-cognitive training exercise has a transfer effect onto the field in athletes.     

Violent video games and anger as predictors of aggression

Considerable research has demonstrated that playing violent video games can increase aggression. The theoretical framework upon which a good deal of this research has rested is known as the General Aggression Model (GAM; [Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 27–51]). The current study tested an assumption of the GAM by examining if the dispositional trait of anger moderated the relation between violent video games and aggression. A total of 167 undergraduate students (79 females, 88 males) first completed a measure of anger and were then randomly assigned to play either a non-violent or violent video game. After the video game play period, participants completed ambiguous story stems in order to assess aggression. Consistent with predictions of the GAM, anger significantly moderated the effect of video game violence on aggression. Specifically, participants who were angry were more affected by violent video games than participants who were not angry.     

The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence

Past research shows that violent video game exposure increases aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiological arousal, aggressive behaviors, and decreases helpful behaviors. However, no research has experimentally examined violent video game effects on physiological desensitization, defined as showing less physiological arousal to violence in the real world after exposure to video game violence in the virtual world. This experiment attempts to fill this gap. Participants reported their media habits and then played one of eight violent or nonviolent video games for 20 min. Next, participants watched a 10-min videotape containing scenes of real-life violence while heart rate (HR) and galvanic skin response (GSR) were monitored. Participants who previously played a violent video game had lower HR and GSR while viewing filmed real violence, demonstrating a physiological desensitization to violence. Results are interpreted using an expanded version of the General Aggression Model. Links between desensitization, antisocial, and prosocial behavior are discussed.     

暴力电脑游戏对个体攻击性的影响

以75名大学生为被试,采用3×2×2被试间设计,探讨电脑游戏暴力对个体的攻击性行为、攻击性情绪和攻击性认知的影响。结果表明:(1)暴力电脑游戏导致个体的攻击性行为增加。游戏与性别和攻击性特质的两重和三重交互作用不显著;(2)暴力电脑游戏对个体的攻击性情绪无显著影响;(3)暴力电脑游戏启动了攻击性认知。游戏、性别和攻击特质这三个变量在攻击性认知上交互作用显著,对于男性,暴力电脑游戏在高攻击性个体身上比低攻击性个体启动了更多的攻击性认知;对于女性,暴力电脑游戏对高低攻击性个体攻击性认知的启动没有显著差异。     

Giles’s Game and the Proof Theory of Łukasiewicz Logic

In the 1970s, Robin Giles introduced a game combining Lorenzen-style dialogue rules with a simple scheme for betting on the truth of atomic statements, and showed that the existence of winning strategies for the game corresponds to the validity of formulas in Łukasiewicz logic. In this paper, it is shown that ‘disjunctive strategies’ for Giles’s game, combining ordinary strategies for all instances of the game played on the same formula, may be interpreted as derivations in a corresponding proof system. In particular, such strategies mirror derivations in a hypersequent calculus developed in recent work on the proof theory of Łukasiewicz logic. Presented by Daniele Mundici     

Take it or leave it for something better? Responses to fair offers in ultimatum bargaining

We investigated if responders accept a 50–50 split in a modified version of the ultimatum game, in which rejection yields a higher payoff (€7) than accepting the equal offer (€5). Therefore, the decision to accept the 50–50 split in this modified ultimatum game cannot be perceived as a self-interest act, as opposed to the standard game, in which acceptance may reflect resignation in the knowledge that the equal split is the best one can expect. A substantial proportion of responders accepts the equal split in this modified game (Study 1), which clearly establishes egalitarian preferences. Further studies show that the willingness to accept is not an artifact of indifference towards the extra payoff (Study 2), but reflects true concerns for proposers’ outcomes (Study 3).     

The development of the Game Engagement Questionnaire: A measure of engagement in video game-playing

Deep engagement in video game-playing has the potential to be to be one important determinant of the impact of playing violent video games, but there are currently no reliable measures of this subjective experience. To fill this gap, the Game Engagement Questionnaire (GEQ) was developed using both classical and Rasch analyses. In Study 1 Rasch analyses provide support for the reliability and functionality of the GEQ scores. Rasch analyses also demonstrate that the GEQ has adequate separation, fit, rating scale functioning, and dimensionality, suggesting that one’s tendency to become engaged in video game-playing is a quantifiable construct. In Study 2, behavioral and questionnaire data supported the reliability and validity of the GEQ for predicting engagement in violent video games. The GEQ provides a psychometrically strong measure of levels of engagement specifically elicited while playing video games, and thus shows promise for future research examining risk and protective factors for negative game impact.     

Exposure to violent video games and aggression in German adolescents: a longitudinal analysis

The relationship between exposure to violent electronic games and aggressive cognitions and behavior was examined in a longitudinal study. A total of 295 German adolescents completed the measures of violent video game usage, endorsement of aggressive norms, hostile attribution bias, and physical as well as indirect/relational aggression cross‐sectionally, and a subsample of N=143 was measured again 30 months later. Cross‐sectional results at T1 showed a direct relationship between violent game usage and aggressive norms, and an indirect link to hostile attribution bias through aggressive norms. In combination, exposure to game violence, normative beliefs, and hostile attribution bias predicted physical and indirect/relational aggression. Longitudinal analyses using path analysis showed that violence exposure at T1 predicted physical (but not indirect/relational) aggression 30 months later, whereas aggression at T1 was unrelated to later video game use. Exposure to violent games at T1 influenced physical (but not indirect/relational) aggression at T2 via an increase of aggressive norms and hostile attribution bias. The findings are discussed in relation to social‐cognitive explanations of long‐term effects of media violence on aggression. Aggr. Behav. 35:75–89, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

From Context to Code: Information Transfer Constrains the Emergence of Graphic Codes

Humans commit information to graphic symbols for three basic reasons: as a memory aid, as a tool for thinking, and as a means of communication. Yet, despite the benefits of transmitting information graphically, we still know very little about the biases and constraints acting on the emergence of stable, powerful, and accurate graphic codes (such as writing). Using a reference game, where participants play as Messengers and Recipients, we experimentally manipulate the function of the task (communicative or non‐communicative) and investigate whether this shapes the emergence of stable, powerful, and accurate codes for both synchronous and asynchronous modes of information transfer. Only in the Dialogue condition, where Messenger and Recipient are two different persons communicating within the same time frame (i.e., synchronously), do we consistently observe the emergence of stable, powerful, and accurate graphic codes. Such codes are unnecessary for participants in Recall, where Messenger and Recipient are the same person transferring information within the same time frame, and they fail to emerge in Correspondence, where Messenger and Recipient are two different persons communicating across time frames (i.e., asynchronously). Lastly, in the Mnemonic condition, where Messenger and Recipient are the same person at different points in time, participants achieve high accuracy but with codes that are suboptimal in terms of power and stability. Our results suggest that the rarity and late arrival of stable, powerful, and accurate graphic codes in human history largely stems from strong constraints on information transfer. In particular, we suggest that these constraints limit a code's ability to reach an adequate tradeoff between information that needs to be explicitly encoded and information that needs to be inferred from context.