This study looks at three key areas:
-immersion
-player's experience of need satisfaction (PENS)
-affective theory of mind (ToM)
Previous research suggests that videogames are associated with basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (self determination theory). These needs are key determinants of human motivation and wellbeing. Game narratives may satisfy psychological needs via immersion. Literary fiction may play a role in abstracting and simulating social experience, and may be correlated with affective ToM.
Aims
To examine the potential effects of in-game storytelling on immersion, player's experience of need satisfaction (PENS), and affective Theory of Mind (ToM). Players were either exposed to a game rich in storytelling or to a game which didn't have a story (story neutral). Players exposed to the storytelling game were primed to either ignore the given narrative or immerse themselves in it.
Method
112 undergraduate students were randomly organised into three equal groups (story, neutral, ignore story). The story and ignore story groups were asked to play Gone Home, a heavily narrative based game. The story group were given a description of the game's background story, whereas the ignore story group were primed to focus on the game mechanics as objectively as possible. The neutral group were given a different game to play, Against the Wall, which lacked a narrative.
After 20 minutes of playtime, the participants were told to end their session. They were given a 'Reading the Mind in the eyes' test to measure affective ToM. This test requried them to assess facially expressed emotions.
Participants were then handed the PENS, a self reporting tool which measures self-perceived competence, autonomy and relatedness.
After this, immersion was measured by asking participants a series of questions where they would rate their physical, emotional and narrative presence.
Further questions were asked of the participants to filter out any possible confouding variables - e.g. the extent to which they were familiar with the game, and how often they played games.
Results
There was a significant difference in immersion scores between the story group and the ignore story group, as well as the neutral group, with the story group having a higher immersion score overall. Similar results were found in the PENS and affective ToM scores.
Taking into account the confounding variables, it was found that the frustration, fun, arousal and mood experienced by participants was associated with immersion. Gender, frustration, arousal, and mood were associated with PENS. And mood was associated with affective ToM.
Discussion
Narrative elements may have an impact on the player. In-game storytelling increased PENS and immersion. Immersion accounted for the effect of gameplay on PENS. Immersion seems to support players in perceiving opportunities for meaningful choices and relations. This study shows that storytelling enhances short term affective ToM, although the effect of storytelling on PENS may be attributed to other factors.
A limitation of this study might be that the ignore group and story group played the same game, but were merely primed to focus on different aspects of it.
"In-game storytelling might promote the mental simulation and abstraction of social experience through instructing and stimulating players to explore digitally simulated story worlds." (Bormann & Greitemeyer, p. 650). This is evident in the differences of immersion and need satisfaction scores between the ignore group and the neutral group. The presence of a story in the ignore group had some effect on their overall immersion and PENS, even though participants were asked to deliberately ignore the narrative. Interestingly, the affective ToM scores were not that different between the neutral group and the ignore group, suggesting that players need to be engrossed with the story in order to gain a benefit to their affective ToM.
Future research might focus on some of the more prosocial impacts of games (rather than their harmful effects), and how those effects might be fostered by the interaction of in-game storytelling and game content.
Bormann, D., & Greitemeyer, T. (2015). Immersed in Virtual Worlds and Minds: Effects of In-Game Storytelling on Immersion, Need Satisfaction, and Affective Theory of Mind. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(6), pp. 646-652. DOI: 10.1177/1948550615578177
No comments:
Post a Comment