Gameplay Experience Research Articles

Improving Children's Mental Rotation Accuracy With Computer Game Playing

The authors investigated the relation between mental rotation (MR) and computer game-playing experience. Third grade boys (n = 24) and girls (n = 23) completed a 2-dimensional MR test before and after playing computer games (during 11 separate 30-min sessions), which either involved the use of MR skills (the experimental group) or did not involve the use of MR skills (the control group). The experimental group outperformed the control group on the MR posttest but not on the pretest. Boys outperformed girls on the pretest but not on the posttest. Children whose initial MR performance was low improved after playing computer games that entailed MR skills. The findings imply that computer-based instructional activities can be used in schools to enhance children's spatial abilities.

Towards an Aesthetics of Navigation

Towards an Aesthetics of Navigation

From Fetish to Factish and Back Again

From Fetish to Factish and Back Again

Controlling Gameplay

Controlling Gameplay

Endogenous monoamine oxidase A inhibitory activity (tribulin), measured in saliva, is related to cardiovascular reactivity in normal individuals.

Salivary monoamine oxidase A inhibitory activity (MAO-AI), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were determined simultaneously in healthy male students (n = 13) at rest, before a mild psychological stressor, twice during the task and 18 minutes after the end of the task. The sample as a whole showed significant differences in MAP and HR across occasions (respectively, p < 0.001 for both). Salivary MAO-AI could distinguish novice and experienced game players (p < 0.02) and was consistently positively correlated with MAP (r = 0.58, p < 0.05 on occasion 2). Pre-task measures of MAO-AI for an increased sample (n = 18) were associated with higher MAP (but not HR) throughout the experiment (p < 0.05). Those subject with falling MAO-AI profiles from task to recovery showed significantly greater simultaneous decline in HR than those with a rising MAO-AI profile (p < 0.05).