How Video Games Affect Emotions and Reward Systems
Author Information
Author(s): Mathiak Krystyna A, Klasen Martin, Weber René, Ackermann Hermann, Shergill Sukhwinder S, Mathiak Klaus
Primary Institution: RWTH Aachen University
Hypothesis
Game-related reward is associated with successful actions and negative prediction errors manifest when the player fails in a fight.
Conclusion
The study found no indication that violence events were directly rewarding for players, and the right temporal pole is involved in evaluating failure events to help regulate mood.
Supporting Evidence
- Subjects reported a significant decrease in positive affect after playing the game.
- Failure events led to increased activity in visual areas and decreased activity in the orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus.
- Negative affect correlated negatively with responses to failure in the right temporal pole.
Takeaway
Playing video games can make you feel different emotions, and sometimes failing in the game can help you understand your feelings better.
Methodology
Thirteen male volunteers played a first-person shooter game while their brain activity was measured using fMRI, and their affect was assessed using the PANAS scale before and after gameplay.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to the small sample size and the specific demographic of participants.
Limitations
The study focused only on male participants and did not explore the effects of different types of video games beyond the violent genre.
Participant Demographics
Thirteen male German volunteers aged 18-26 with at least 5 hours of weekly video game experience.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.013
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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