Interview: Expert reveals psychological benefits, appeal of video games
As directorof the Games Research and Interaction Design Lab at QUT, Johnson has beenstudying the human-computer interaction of video games for over five years,viewing this relatively unknown world through his unique lens as both a trainedpsychologist and former game designer, Xinhua reports.
Johnson isamong a growing number of experts and academics who believe that concerns overthe negative effects of video games are overblown.
«You canclearly map concerns about new media throughout our history,» Johnson said.
«I thinkmuch like other media that we've been very worried about in the past, it willsettle down, you don't really hear much concern about rock and roll musicanymore, but that went through a similar process.»
With thevideo game industry beginning to eclipse both music and movies in terms ofpopularity and profitability, it’s worth asking why so many people are drawn tothe pastime.
A good wayto understand it, Johnson says, is to apply a psychological principle whichemerged during the 1970s, known as self-determination theory.
Self-determinationtheory suggests that we tend to be drawn to or enjoy an activity when itsatisfies three fundamental needs, competence, autonomy and connectedness.
Competencerefers to the need to feel good at what we do, autonomy is having the freedomto choose what it is that we do, and connectedness is the sense of feelingrelated with those around us.
«The workthat we've done and others have done, very reliably shows that video games arevery good at satisfying those three fundamental needs,» Johnson said.
«It's viathose things that we see a lot of the positive impacts of video gameplay.»
Autonomy,or having the ability to determine your own path or approach, is central to thedesign of many video games today, be it strategy, RPG, online or even firstperson shooter, games where the player can forge their own path have provenimmensely popular.
Likewise,being good at a game and improving as you go along, is both inherent to thegameplay experience and beneficial for overall well being, with game designersgoing to great lengths to create intuitive controls which make players feelincreasingly competent as they progress through the game.
Finallyconnectedness, not something normally associated with those who spend theirtime playing video games, but in fact with the rise of online multiplayeroptions, people are staying connected with friends in new and exciting ways.
Johnsonsays that with the satisfaction of these three needs, likely comes a range ofother benefits, helping people to overcome issues like anxiety and generally tofeel better about themselves and others.
But as goodas that all sounds, can plugging in too often lead to harmful overuse and evenaddiction? Johnson doesn’t think so.
«We thinkin a lot of cases, what people might consider video game addiction is amisdiagnosed issue and if we are to assume video games are the cause ofproblems in some cases we’ll be missing the real cause,» he said.
«Of course thereare people who have a problematic engagement with video games and we're notsaying that doesn't happen, but regardless of the term you use, it's anabsolute minority of cases where that happens, the vast majority of people arehaving a positive experience with video game play.»
The team atQUT conduct their research using cutting edge biometric equipment, measuring,breathing, heart rate, skin conductivity, eye movements and brain activity.
This allowsthem to receive real time feedback on player experience, without having todisrupt gameplay, and has shown them that regardless of genre, cognitivebenefits are present as long as the player is enjoying the game.
«The bestguide for people is what they enjoy playing if you're someone that loves puzzlegames then you’re going to get the most benefit from that,» Johnson said.
«Whereas ifyou're quite extroverted, you might be more organically drawn to a game thatinvolves play with other people and more connectedness.»
Withstaggering profits and legions of fans worldwide, video games appear more thana passing trend, which is why the research of people like the team at QUT isimportant in helping us figure out how to make the most of them.
«More andmore evidence is mounting for the fact that in the majority of cases, videogames are a positive influence, but I also think like other media we willbetter learn how to engage in a healthy balanced way,» Johnson said.
«I think weare still working out in some cases, the best ways to help young peoplenavigate their engagement with video games and we will get better as time goesby.»