Games,Rules, and Practices

We present and defend a view labeled “practiceism” which provides a solution to the incompatibility problems. The classic incompatibility problem is inconsistency of: 1. Someone who intentionally violates the rules of a game is not playing the game.

2. In many cases, players intentionally violate the rules as part of playing the game (e.g. fouling to stop the clock in basketball).

The problem has a normative counterpart: 1’. In normal cases, it is wrong for a player to intentionally violate the rules of the game.

2’. In many normal cases, it is not wrong for a player to intentionally violate the rules of the game (e.g. fouling to stop the clock in basketball).

According to both formalism and informalism, the rules of the game include the formal rules of the game. Both traditional positions avoid the incompatibility problems by rejecting 1 and 1'. Practiceism rejects 2 and 2’: it maintains that the rules are the rules manifested in playing the game, not the formal rules.

Practiceism presents two theses: (a) the real rules of the game are the rules players follow: the practice determines the rules, and not vice versa. (b) the (first order) rules of a game determine what is legitimate within the game.     

Freedom and the value of games

This essay explores the features in virtue of which games are valuable or worthwhile to play. The difficulty view of games holds that the goodness of games lies in their difficulty: by making activities more complex or making them require greater effort, they structure easier activities into more difficult, therefore more worthwhile, activities. I argue that a further source of the value of games is that they provide players with an experience of freedom, which they provide both as paradigmatically unnecessary activities and by offering opportunities for relatively unconstrained choice inside the ‘lusory’ world that players inhabit.     

Friendly fire: Longitudinal effects of exposure to violent video games on aggressive behavior in adolescent friendship dyads

Research on gaming effects has focused on adolescence, a developmental period in which peer relationships become increasingly salient. However, the impact of peers on the effects of violent gaming on adolescents has been understudied. This study examined whether adolescents’ exposure to violent video games predicted their own and their friend's aggression one year later. Among 705 gaming adolescents, 141 dyads were identified based on reciprocated best friend nominations (73.8% male, M_age = 13.98). Actor‐Partner Interdependence Models indicated that adolescent males’ (but not females’) exposure to violent games positively predicted the aggression of their best friend 1 year later. This effect appeared regardless of whether the friends played video games together or not. The study illustrates the importance of peers in the association between violent gaming and aggression.     

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.     

Angry reactions to failure on a cooperative computer game: The effect of trait hostility,behavioural inhibition,and behavioural activation

This study describes the use of a “cooperative” computer game in which the subject has to follow directions, supposedly sent from a partner, and steer a tank to avoid invisible mines. The tank is lost if it hits a mine or does not reach base within a set time limit. The game was designed so that the majority of trials would be lost. Affective (mood self-ratings), cognitive (attribution of blame questionnaire), and behavioural (feedback sent to the “partner”) outcomes were assessed. The game significantly increased ratings of discontentedness and anger. Self-blame for task failure was correlated with the Guilt subscale of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), and blaming the partner was correlated positively with the Motor Aggression subscale and negatively with the empathy scale of the I7, supporting the notion of hostile attributional bias in adults. The importance of individual differences in the strength of the behavioural inhibition system (BIS) and behavioural activation system (BAS) were explored using the BIS/BAS scales developed by Carver and White [1994]. Sending negative feedback to the partner was negatively correlated with scores on the BIS. Scores on BAS drive were positively correlated with increases in discontentedness and with sending negative feedback on trials when the tank was lost due to lack of time. These results are discussed in relation to Berkowitz's [1993] model of affective aggression. Aggr. Behav. 24:27–36, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Academic performance,prejudice, and the jigsaw classroom: new pieces to the puzzle

This field study investigated the effects of a cooperative learning environment and a Jigsaw classroom environment on academic performance, self-esteem, liking of school, liking of peers, and racial prejudice. The subjects were 103 children in Grades 4–6, in two separate schools. The cooperative learning condition was used as a baseline measure of the effects of cooperation, against which the effects of a Jigsaw method, involving both cooperation and interdependence, were compared. The results reveal that Jigsaw produced significant improvements on measures of academic performance, liking of peers, and racial prejudice. In contrast, the effect of the cooperative condition was to exacerbate pre-existing intergroup tensions. The present findings demonstrate that the Jigsaw method can be applied successfully in Australian conditions, and lend support to Allport's contact hypothesis. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

9-16岁儿童的合作倾向与合作意图的发展研究

本研究采用情境故事法,对154名9-16岁儿童的合作倾向与合作意图进行了探讨。结果表明,随着年级升高,儿童的合作倾向逐渐减小,初二到高一之间是儿童的合作倾向发展的转折期,同伴关系是影响儿童合作倾向的稳定因素;儿童的合作意图随年龄增长日趋复杂和分化,维系良好的同伴关系的意图随年龄增长变化不大,自利意图逐渐减弱,利他意图逐渐增强。     

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.     

农村合作医疗制度的现状分析与对策思考——对铜陵县农村合作医疗试点工作的调查研究

铜陵县自2003年9月份正式实施第一轮试点方案以来,新型合作医疗试点工作已经取得了很大的成就.在调查研究的基础上,对农村合作医疗试点中的宣传状况、方案设计、管理制度、保障水平和配套政策等方面进行了客观的分析,指出了试点中存在的制度设计及制度运行问题,并针对这些问题提出了相应的对策思考.