Violent computer games and their effects on state hostility and Physiological arousal

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the impact of violent computer games on state hostility, state anxiety and arousal. Participants were undergraduate students, aged from 18 to 25 years old. Before the experimental sessions, participants filled in self‐report measures concerning their video game habits and were also pre‐tested for aggressiveness and trait anxiety. Physiological responses (heart rate and skin conductance) were measured during the experiment. After playing, information about state hostility and state anxiety was collected. The results showed that participants who played the violent game reported significantly higher state hostility and support the assumption that an aggressive personality moderates the effect of playing a violent game on state hostility. Aggr. Behav. 32:358–371. 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Motivational Pull of Video Games: A Self-Determination Theory Approach

Four studies apply self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000) in investigating motivation for computer game play, and the effects of game play on well-being. Studies 1–3 examine individuals playing 1, 2 and 4 games, respectively and show that perceived in-game autonomy and competence are associated with game enjoyment, preferences, and changes in well-being pre- to post-play. Competence and autonomy perceptions are also related to the intuitive nature of game controls, and the sense of presence or immersion in participants’ game play experiences. Study 4 surveys an on-line community with experience in multi-player games. Results show that SDT’s theorized needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness independently predict enjoyment and future game play. The SDT model is also compared with Yee’s (2005) motivation taxonomy of game play motivations. Results are discussed in terms of the relatively unexplored landscape of human motivation within virtual worlds.     

防御机制研究概述

20世纪90年代以来,研究者们对防御机制和无意识过程的兴趣再次增强,出现了一系列实验和临床研究。文章简要回顾了防御机制的研究历史,然后概述当前学术领域和临床实践中对防御机制的研究。     

情绪启动研究的实验范式

情绪启动是探讨情绪和态度自动激活的有效方法,近期其研究范式有了较大的发展,相继产生了经典情绪启动实验、阈下情绪启动实验、向后情绪启动实验以及情绪启动与其他范式相结合的实验等较有影响的研究范式。文章分别梳理了这些范式及其研究结果,并在此基础上,总结研究所采用的范式并展望今后研究的发展趋势。     

The smell of cooperativeness: Do human body odours advertise cooperative behaviours?

Several physical features influence the perception of how cooperative a potential partner is. While previous work focused on face and voice, it remains unknown whether body odours influence judgements of cooperativeness and if odour-based judgements are accurate. Here, we first collected axillary odours of cooperative and uncooperative male donors through a public good game and used them as olfactory stimuli in a series of tasks examining whether and how they influence cooperative decision-making in an incentivized economic game and ratings of cooperativeness. Our results show that having access to the donor's body odours provided a strategic advantage to women during economic decisions (but not to men): with age, women were more likely to cooperate with cooperative men and to avoid interacting with uncooperative men. Ratings of cooperativeness were nonetheless unrelated to the donors’ actual cooperativeness. Finally, while men with masculine and intense body odours were judged less cooperative, we found no evidence that donors’ actual cooperativeness was associated with less masculine or less intense body odour. Overall, our findings suggest that, as faces and voices, body odours influence perceived cooperativeness and might be used accurately and in a non-aware manner as olfactory cues of cooperativeness, at least by women.     

BEAUTY IN THE LIVING WORLD

Almost all admit that there is beauty in the natural world. Many suspect that such beauty is more than an adornment of nature. Few in our contemporary world suggest that this beauty is an empirical principle of the natural world itself and instead relegate beauty to the eye and mind of the beholder. Guided by theological and scientific insight, the authors propose that such exclusion is no longer tenable, at least in the data of modern biology and in our view of the natural world in general. More important, we believe an empirical aesthetics exists that can help guide experimental design and development of computational models in biology. Moreover, because theology and science can both contribute toward and equally profit from such an aesthetics, we propose that this empirical aesthetics provides the foundation for a living synergy between theology and science.     

暴力电子游戏的短期脱敏效应：两种接触方式比较

比较主、被动接触暴力电子游戏的脱敏效应,以44名男性大学生为被试,利用生物反馈仪测量被试主动参与游戏或被动观看游戏录像前后,及随后观看暴力视频过程中皮电与心率的变化（脱敏效应的生理指标）。结果表明：（1）暴力电子游戏可以产生脱敏效应。接触游戏15分钟后,暴力游戏组观看暴力视频过程中皮电的增加值明显小于非暴力游戏组;（2）游戏的接触方式对于脱敏效应的程度无显著影响,但主动参与组对于游戏内容知觉到更高的愉快与更低的沮丧     

SHARING THE WEALTH: FACTORS INFLUENCING RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN THE SHARING GAME

Students chose between two allocation options, one that gave the allocator more and another participant still more (the “optimal” choice) and one which gave the allocator less and the other participant still less (the “competitive” choice). In a within‐subjects design, students' behavior patterns were significantly correlated across the two rounds of decision‐making; however, students allocated more optimally when the allocation involved real rather than hypothetical money, suggesting that both motivational context and individuals' personality and/or experience influence preference patterns. The nature of the putative other participant did not affect the allocation: students allocated in a comparable fashion whether the other participant was said to be male, female, or a computer.     

Effects of realism on extended violent and nonviolent video game play on aggressive thoughts,feelings, and physiological arousal

Previous research has shown that playing violent video game exposure can increase aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings, and physiological arousal. This study compared the effects that playing a realistic violent, unrealistic violent, or nonviolent video game for 45 min has on such variables. For the purpose of this study, realism was defined as the probability of seeing an event in real life. Participants (N=74; 39 male, 35 female) played either a realistic violent, unrealistic violent, or nonviolent video game for 45 min. Aggressive thoughts and aggressive feelings were measured four times (every 15 min), whereas arousal was measured continuously. The results showed that, though playing any violent game stimulated aggressive thoughts, playing a more realistic violent game stimulated significantly more aggressive feelings and arousal over the course of play. Aggr. Behav. 35:213–224, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Prescriptive Analysis: Further Individualization of Hypothesis Testing in Brief Experimental Analysis of Reading Fluency

Brief experimental analyses (BEA) have been used to identify effective individualized interventions for improving reading fluency with school-age children. Interventions involving incentives, modeling, repeated reading, and error correction are most often tested in a BEA. However, these interventions are rarely modified according to individual student needs. The current study examined the effects of varied levels of modeling (passage, sentence, word) and varied contingencies (tracking and fluency) on fluency in non-treated high-word overlap passages and general outcome measure passages. BEA-identified interventions were effective for improving reading fluency on non-treated passages for both second grade students and the third grade student. Notably, the effects reversed when intervention was withdrawn with one of the second grade students. Results are discussed in terms of considerations in the application of BEA technology in the schools.