[How the Human Mind Works in Correlation to Gaming?

]
DISSERTATION

Daniel Burns - Student | Computer Game Animation | January 1, 2016

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3
BRAIN RESPONSES & CONNECTIVITY ..................................................................4
Psychology..................................................................................................................5
Gameplay....................................................................................................................6
Marketing ...................................................................................................................6
Game related technologies ........................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................7
Brain Responses & Connectivity...................................................................................8
Introduction ...............................................................................................................8
Brain Response Time .................................................................................................9
Ability to Process Sensory Information ..................................................................9
Brain Efficiency – Processes Information ............................................................... 10
Science behind (HIP) Human Information Processing ........................................ 10
Cognitive Load vs Cognitive Overload .................................................................. 10
Cognitive Mapping ................................................................................................. 11
Critical Thinking & Importance of Brain Efficiency ..............................................12
Nueroplasticity – Neural Pathways ..........................................................................13
Neuron Experiences Influencing Brain Alterations & Adaptations ......................13
Psychology ................................................................................................................... 14
state of mind – confidence linked with Social Interaction .................................... 14
State of Mind & Subconscious .............................................................................. 14
Psychological Benefits Regarding Confidence & Social Interaction......................15
Placebo Effect ........................................................................................................ 16
Human Behaviour – Game Related Incidents & Actual Statistics ..........................17
Addiction & Gaming ................................................................................................ 18
Game Perception Regarding Brain Disorders......................................................... 19
Hive mind – social media & miniputlation of game related product sales ...........20
Gameplay & Development ...........................................................................................21
adicitive gameplay elements – PLaying games, livestreamed Events ....................21
Efficient Game Development Design Methods ...................................................... 22
Deconstructing Gameplay Emmersion of Ui Methods .......................................... 23

PAGE 1
 Diegetic UI............................................................................................................. 23
Non-Diegetic UI .................................................................................................... 24
Spatial UI............................................................................................................... 24
Meta UI.................................................................................................................. 25
Structure & Importance of Emersion.................................................................... 25
Promoting Marketing Methods.................................................................................. 27
Generating hype....................................................................................................... 27
Game Related Technologies .......................................................................................28
Virtual & Augmented Reality ..................................................................................28
Structure of Development .....................................................................................28
Change of Gameplay Presentation........................................................................29
Future Possibilities ................................................................................................30
Conclusion....................................................................................................................31
References....................................................................................................................36

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Introduction

This dissertation revolves around the subject of gaming and aims to expose

methods and find answers when deconstructing and investigating how the human

mind works in correlation to games. The significance of the document is based

towards the benefits of gaming and relating subjects which affect its position and

what it stands for in the media industry. The contents is looking in depth at such

topics as psychology to portray, support and accurately represent the games

industry by determining its beneficial aspects upon society and individuals in

hopes to terminate controversy and revolutionize the entire industry as a

unquestionably respected therapeutic source.

I believe the importance of what I am setting out to achieve is necessary due to the

negativity, confusion and unanswered questions behind gaming and the accuracy

of how it’s portrayed and blamed in the media. The significance of the study is to

acquire the answers needed to set a line for clear separation between what is

speculative, fact and purely fictitious on the effects gaming has on the world but

more specifically the impact upon the human mind.

The vision I have is creating an understanding of the beneficial aspects of gaming

to help the industry overcome the negativity, blame and controversy it receives for

inspiring and motivating acts of law breaking activities. The purpose for doing so is

I believe this would allow game studios to be bolder in what they produce by

giving developers the leeway needed to create raw uncensored material without

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being interfered with and influenced by controversy and possible restricting legal

limitations. The outcome will allow games to reach more into reality driven and

real world conceptions which are brutally honest but educational at its core. Who

knows maybe someday society will learn truth about the world without

fabrication, censorship and secrecy allowing for an authentic, pure and

understandable world.

BRAIN RESPONSES & CONNECTIVITY

The first argument of the dissertation is discussing the responsiveness and

connectivity of the brain, more specifically the improvement of these subjects after

prolonged gaming experiences. Brain responses will be analyzed and categorized

into two sections (response time and brain reflexes) for the investigation of

deciphering if benefits do indeed exist from playing games on a neurological level.

Brain connectivity is also deeply researched in terms of efficiency before and after

games influence the mind in the hopes not just to clear up the negativity behind

this subject but provide results that could assist future game related technologies

becoming more challenging as well as beneficial to the human mind and possibly

even related scientific studies.

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PSYCHOLOGY

The psychological impact of gaming is the most important aspect of this

investigation so therefore will be researched and deconstructed excessively so that

the verdicts which I come to are backed up with indisputable evidence so the

credibility of the document cannot be debated with. Critical thinking and

cognitive load are suspected to be the two most influenced and useful advantages

gamers can have so all documentation for these subjects is never speculation. Such

psychological studies as human behavior and health states will also be considered

and explored to support the reliability of the investigation. Interesting experiments

regarding manipulation of the hive mind is credited as relatable and valid content

so will be deconstructed and concluded with every matter which provides a

definitive and unquestionable outcome that support or even argues against the

case of the project.

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GAMEPLAY

The purpose of this sections is to analyzing the elements of gameplay which cause

addictiveness to gamers resulting in sometimes an unhealthy addiction to games.

By looking at the design and development of games particularly features and

mechanics which are consistently used in the industry it’s possible to learn why

people can become so immersed and hypnotized in gameplay for long stages of

time. This supports the investigation by providing evidence on how gaming can

affect the mind on a psychological level and also why the brain is prone to such

manipulation.

MARKETING

Marketing is an extremely competitive field for making money and promoting

products, in this subject we see how the gaming industry uses methods of

generating hype among the gaming community effectively manipulating people

into purchasing their products over others. Such influences as reviews, trailers and

demos are taking into account for this section and studied to reveal the

subconscious feeling of hype.

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GAME RELATED TECHNOLOGIES

As gaming evolves and expands through time it adapts to changes so therefore new

technologies which are game related must be considered for this investigation.

Technologies such as virtual and augmented reality will be explored as well as

possible human capabilities in the future regarding trans-humanism and changes

in our evolutionary traits. As this sections deals with new present and future

matters what is concluded is mostly speculation, so the purpose is to inform

people of the possibilities that could lie ahead regarding the connection between

brain activity and functionality to gaming.

CONCLUSION

The conclusion sets out to answer questions which provide indisputable evidence

for support and clear up matters of confusion that appear commonly in the gaming

industry, media portrayal and controversy is defined as accurately as possible with

the evidence given to set a line of separation between what is true and speculative

in the news. A solid as possible statement is given explaining the state of the

games industry and how much of the psychological negativity and positivity

gaming is actually accountable for. Followed by a verdict of the successfulness of

the investigation and what questions remain unanswered due to lack of evidence.

Finally a backed up closing argument is giving supporting the right of the gaming

industry to be allowed complete censorship within reason by considering outright

blatting offensiveness and stability of subjects when producing content for games.

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Brain Responses & Connectivity

INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of gaming psychologist and neurologists have investigated the

possible beneficial aspects there could be from prolonged game exposer,

particularly the impact upon the human brain such as its responses, receptors,

connectivity and efficiency. Through the different uses of methodology

experiments, we can specifically test a wide array of brain functions such as

cognition, hand-eye coordination, spatial visualization, visual anticipation and

reaction time speed. Due to relevancy and complexity of modern day gaming

compared to their predecessors many years before, reviewing and testing games

from the 21st century will increase the accuracy and reliability when recording

alterations of the modern day brain.

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BRAIN RESPONSE TIME
Ability to Process Sensory Information

Brain response time originates from the study of neuroscience which consists of

the sciences behind anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and the molecular biology

of the nervous system especially relating to behavior and brain memory. Gaming

can be linked to the scientific study of neuroscience ranging from behavior and

increased cognition of the brain. Particularly those games which require players to

be more consciously aware of their surroundings like ‘the last of us’ force gamers

to increase the speed of thinking and performing actions: in other words

advancing the player’s ability to rapidly process sensory information and prompt

actions.

The fact gaming punishes players for incorrect split second decision making, it’s

essentially providing large incentive to increase speed and/or accurately

productivity. Forcing people to make decisions and execute responses significantly

greater than typically the amount in everyday life is beneficial due to increased

brain activity training the receptors to function quickly and effectively thus

improving reflexes, problem solving abilities and more. Although health in gaming

is a controversial matter it’s scientifically proven through neuroscience studies that

benefits are existent especially regarding brain functionality.

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BRAIN EFFICIENCY – PROCESSES INFORMATION

Science behind (HIP) Human Information Processing

As we interact with our environment our sense program large amounts of

information which brain efficiency interprets and catalogues. The sensor data

received influences our decisions and how we perceive, understand and interact

with the current environment, the learning experiences and methods of absorbing

information determines the outcome of how we perceive information in the future.

The brain’s efficiency describes how able the brain is at processing quantities of

information, although the human brain is capable of incredible amounts of

information processing and cognitive load we do have limitations.

Cognitive Load vs Cognitive Overload

Cognitive load in psychology refers to the total amount of mental effort the brain

uses in its working memory, the theory of cognitive load explains our ability to

think critically to solve problems and percept other situations. Our limitations of

how efficiently our sensory data can provide our brains with information to

process is limited for good reason, if we bombarded with too much information to

process we sustain what’s called cognitive overload which leads to headaches,

migraines, confusion and in extreme cases delusions or brain/psychological

damages.

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Cognitive Mapping

A cognitive map or mental map/model is a mental representation processed by our

brain memory which purpose is to acquire, code, store, recall and decode

information about the surrounding environments or relative locations through use

of a metaphorical spatial environment. We use environmental landmarks and

other memorable information about the land to creative a map which we

recognize and can navigate effectively, obviously the more information taken given

and common contact with an area will creative more elaborately detailed and

accurate mental maps. This correlates to gaming due to our perception of game

environments requiring easily recognizable information for navigational

understanding, through extensive training of increasing brain efficiency people are

able to conclude the quickest route to an objective the ability to comprehend

possible shortcuts never used before.

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Critical Thinking & Importance of Brain Efficiency

Critical thinking is epitome of efficiency regarding human information processing.

The ability to use long term and short term memory information, past experiences,

common sense and what our brain can fathom to critically solve problems and

overcome challenges is extremely beneficial especially with gamers. Through

critical thinking it’s possible to work out the most probable chance of success

within literally seconds of understanding the situation, this is arguably the most

important addition a player could have in any game arsenal and through years of

personal experiences I support this as an indisputable advantage.

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NUEROPLASTICITY – NEURAL PATHWAYS
Neuron Experiences Influencing Brain Alterations & Adaptations
Neuroplasticity, alternatively known as brain plasticity refers to the brain's ability

to alter and adapt neural pathways as a result of experiences throughout life.

Neurons are nerve cells which form connections in the brain and control the

nervous system. Plasticity represents the brain's malleability to develop complex

transformations. Recently research has demonstrated that the brain's ability to

create neural pathways and alter existing ones continues past the stage of

childhood and adolescence. This means new experiences trigger or stimulate the

brain to adapt by learning new information, creating new memories and generate

new neural pathway connections through intact cells. The importance and game

relativeness of this research is both functional plasticity and structural plasticity

which changes the brain as a result of learning. Neuroscientist (Merzenich, n.d.)

Conducted research and carried out tests resulting in revolutionary findings,

particularly his alleviation of a man who lost segments of his frontal lobe in an

accident rendering him nondependent. The experiments demonstrated the brain’s

ability to adapt and regain control of deficient attributes regarding mind

functionality, conscious awareness and fathoming unfamiliar challenges. So what

was once theoretical, playing games specifically tailored to exercising cognitive

load and other intrinsic elements such as speech is proven to have exceptional

significant benefits to the functionality and structure of the brain.

PAGE 13
Psychology

STATE OF MIND – CONFIDENCE LINKED WITH SOCIAL INTERACTION

State of Mind & Subconscious

The state of mind refers to psychology and more specifically how we perceive

emotions and confidence in times of interaction, pressure, intimidation or conflict

based of experience, beliefs and knowledge of such situations. Subconscious is not

having focal awareness which has the potential to be an advantage or disadvantage

if controlled or temporarily influenced by an alternate source, possibly even

games. It’s possible for humans to control the mind’s state and subconscious

through extensive training and patience, to elaborate the famous ‘Shaolin Monks’

practice ‘philosophy of perception’ though two facets, ‘Chan and Quan’ which use

meditation, Buddhist spiritual awareness, discipline, physical abilities and mastery

over perception of the mind to overcome instinct unleashing the ability to perform

and reach unbelievable feats.

PAGE 14
Psychological Benefits Regarding Confidence & Social Interaction

It’s a fact that training the human mind can cause significant changes in our

psychology and most importantly perception. The article ‘benefits of playing video

games’ summarizes a decade of conducted video game research with the major

points of information extracted supporting the significance of this document.

Research take from ‘the malleability of spatial skills study’ concluded spatial skills

improvements of three-dimensional thinking from playing video games compared

to the average of an age group and education level of non-gamers. Substantial

evidence gathered from multiple reliable experiments show a significant increase

of problem solving capabilities of gamers due to advancements in correlation with

persistence and creativity. Improvements in one’s self builds confidence through

gaming state of mind influences, particularly multiplayer games were people work

together or compete against each other forms communication through gameplay

and/or voice speaking that causes an increase of social skills due to interaction

with strangers. Its proven video games can reduce stress and anger which relaxes

players and through technical gameplay stimulates the mind.

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Placebo Effect
The placebo is a genuinely real psychological effect that changes ones confidence

in overcoming an illness or emotional mood. The concept behind the placebo is by

manipulating a person’s knowledge and beliefs in something through conscious or

subconscious mind control. Essentially the placebo effect is mind over matter and

amazingly simply having a positive attitude can cure illnesses, for example new

research shows prescription placebos can improve medical conditions by having a

person’s mind stimulate neurotransmitters in the brain similar to a powerful drug.

But as beneficial as this could be it also has a major problem, placebos can cause

patients to become increasingly worse than their original state resulting in a more

negative psychological state of mind, and this is called a nocebo. The importance

the placebo could potentially be to the games industry is significant, if scientist are

able to decipher the reasons behind a positive change in psychological health then

gaming maybe could become extremely beneficial. Understanding what triggers

stimulation in brain waves for positive results may mean games can implement

design features to replicate similar effects to the placebo potentially preventing

countless symptoms and illnesses. On a more realistic level gaming should be able

to generate positive emotions within gamers through the use of the placebo effect.

PAGE 16
HUMAN BEHAVIOUR – GAME RELATED INCIDENTS & ACTUAL STATISTICS

Throughout gaming history accusations of human behaviors being negatively

affected causing violence and other wrongful actions have been made, but they is

no sufficient evidence proving these claims with research methods in fact

supporting healthy human behavior thorough games. The ‘American psychological

association argues’ games can negatively affect people by suppressing sensitivity to

aggression due to such reasons as ‘Call of Duty controversies’. On the contrary

research at Villanova University and Rutgers University furthermore the ‘journal of

communication by (Ferguson, 2014)’ believes no link between violent acts and

video games exist. Human behavior is an ongoing investigation in the hopes the

connection between game related incidents and actual statistics can be deciphered

and understood so developments and systems can be setup accurately.

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ADDICTION & GAMING

Addiction is a condition that is caused through extensive use of substances or

engaging activities that are enjoyable but can become compulsive if continually

repeated. Addiction causes psychological strain and instability in life ultimately

resulting in health problems, this is because repeating actions can be pleasurable

but the continued use of substances or activities become compulsive and interferes

with ordinary life responsibilities. Every form of addiction is the result of feeling

helplessness or powerlessness, that’s why a mass amount of people have turned to

addiction because the satisfaction they feel gives them a sense of control and

empowerment where in reality is quite the opposite. Psychologist say most

addictions are due t0 a psychological imbalance or most specifically stress and

depression, this is where gaming can provide an escape through immersive

experiences. The benefits of playing games while suffering addiction is significant,

it can cause a distraction from tempting tendencies for some forms of addiction

but also can be become an addiction itself. Playing games can release stress and

provide enjoyment through an alternative reality, this is important because it

transforms from a purpose of entertainment into a therapeutic treatment of

addiction, depression, and other psychological conditions.

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GAME PERCEPTION REGARDING BRAIN DISORDERS

Brain disorders, deformities and abnormalities are important as gaming is

designed to play with people’s emotions and the way they perceive information,

meaning games which content expects certain types of emotions and connections

to form between players, the characters and the story could have perceived the

information differently so otherwise are impacted and influenced by scenes of

graphic presentations divergently to entirely functional brains. Psychologist and

such studies as ‘the psychopath test’ say one in every one hundred people are

technically psychopaths or experience psychopathic tendencies, specifically studies

of psychological research looking at the brain’s structure of which sectors are

undeveloped show subjects can have no empathy, are manipulative, deceitful,

seductive, and delusional. The importance is this correlates into gaming because

games are developed to immerse and trigger emotions during gameplay and

cinematic scenes, but if cannabinoid receptors of the brain are damaged,

suppressed or undeveloped the player will endure an alternate experience

potentially increasing curiosity amount and the temptation of the psychopathic

tendencies they suffer from or have suppressed in their sub consciousness.

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HIVE MIND – SOCIAL MEDIA & MINIPUTLATION OF GAME RELATED

PRODUCT SALES

The world is full of manipulation driving people to perceiving information in a

predictable, influential and controllable manner, changing the perception,

understanding and creative freedom of the mind. Brainwashing, programming and

suppressing the state of the human brain means people become essentially

zombies of one particular vision until they are dependent on it resulting in

manipulation influencing people’s actions, lifestyle and even religious beliefs. For

instance such social experiments like ‘changing the hive mind’ and government

operations like ‘operation mockingbird’ prove such power can increase, promote,

and build hype to a mass population. The purpose of exposing the hive mind to an

extent is to show manipulative methods exist and have the power to influence

people to purchase, like and dislike certain products through the use of hype,

reviews, rumors, ratings, news related accusations and more.

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Gameplay & Development

ADICITIVE GAMEPLAY ELEMENTS – PLAYING GAMES, LIVESTREAMED

EVENTS

Game addiction does exist and is a serious matter, with research showing a rise of

gamers and stories about death during gaming marathons protests over

controversy have become popular. The reason behind this is people become so

immersed and fascinated due to the development creating addictive gameplay

elements. The desire to overcome and be powerful is something which lies in lots

of people and dreaming can provide power and importance into ones hand

through alternative reality, through this concept games place gamers in virtual or

augmented fantasy worlds which can provide the a similar experience of power

and importance as well as fascination causing addiction. Certain factors of

gameplay drive a desire for people to play them, for example there is a theory

which states challenging components testing the mind releases endorphins of the

brain similar to exercise that ultimately reduces pain and can actually affect people

emotions and support a positive mind set, although some believe its only addiction

and actually negative.

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EFFICIENT GAME DEVELOPMENT DESIGN METHODS

Efficient game development essentially formulates structure, gameplay and HUD

interfaces to ensure the player isn’t overwhelmed with pressure and don’t

experience cognitive overload. Particularly skeuomorphism, cognitive load, human

information processing (HIP) and fitts’ law all work in unison to limit the

information players process at once. Such design method influence the manner

people perceive gameplay in terms of realism and reality, meaning creative

techniques are devised to combat the potential threat of breaking immersion with

the player.

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DECONSTRUCTING GAMEPLAY EMMERSION OF UI METHODS

Diegetic UI

The purpose of diegetic UI components is providing players with cues and

information without distracting and disconnecting them from the narration of the

game world. Theses cues can be interacted with as player’s avatar and other

characters in the game world have awareness to them, this increases the immersive

experience and makes it more cinematic for gamers. Diegetic UI improves

immersion of a game but if done incorrectly it possibly could have the opposite

effect, confusing or tedious components builds frustration which breaks player

suspense and connection to the game’s reality. ‘Far Cry 2’ has an interesting,

creative and practical diegetic UI component; it utilizes a compass to help players

navigate through the game world without the need to open the pause menu and

break immersion. Diegetic interfaces usually consist of somewhat simple designs

which are restricted by information amount interfaces should display at once

preventing cognitive overload.

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Non-Diegetic UI

What is given to us from non-diegetic UI systems provide key information in a

simple manner and if done correctly has the potential to inform players without

them consciously being aware of it. In gaming non-diegetic UI is associated as an

overlay on top of a game which is presented usually as two dimensional. An

example of a non-diegetic element is weapon switching, instead of weapon wheels

less intrusive UI mechanisms to perform simplistic actions could be used like

shortcuts for selecting weapons, there is no need to show a non-diegetic cue for

swapping weapons. Health and ammo are just some other elements that could

represent multiple forms in games.

Spatial UI

Spatial UI is used to provide extra information on components inside the game

world, although the information is specifically part of the narrative. Spatial UI only

works if the location of the component is the focus of the player, this reduces HUD

clutter and therefore cognitive load amount necessary to process it. To define

spatial UI these are components that are not part of the game world but are

visualized within. Only players are aware of these spatial components and not any

of the game characters. Spatial UI components tend to differ player immersion but

sometimes is necessary for efficient understandable gameplay, for instance the

‘Call of Duty Multiplayer’ system requires spatial UI for informing player on kill

streak rewards, completed challenge and score.

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Meta UI

Meta comes from the word metamorphic and signifies a complementary addition

to a game. A meta-interface is a HUD that conveys information intentionally

noticeably to the player. Meta UI is presented through graphic user interface

elements but is not audible, for instance the ‘Call of Duty’ health system that

functions by a visualized effect of redness around the screen signifying blood when

the player’s character takes damage. Meta UI is directly linked to ‘breaking the

fourth wall’ which is effective and efficient for providing feedback to the player but

inadvertently breaks any immersive connection established between the character

reminding players the false presence of reality effecting depth of self-awareness.

Structure & Importance of Emersion

The more immersive the gaming experience the bigger impact the game has upon

players which can even lead to addiction, making gamers feel they are in another

reality and are the subject of importance causes a connection to be established

that triggers emotions. Psychologist have studied Immersion in gaming and

referred to it as presence, through extensive research and understanding of games

and how the human mind correlates to it a structure and set of heuristics are

formed to support HCI (human computer interaction) development for increased

probability of an impactful immersing gaming experience. Such rules are extracted

from film, TV, games and other media mediums for a greater scope of available

groundwork to ensure a higher level of accuracy and reliability. The method

PAGE 25
behind immersion is a system which involves immense communication and

attention between gaming and the human brain, the quote from ‘Getting Gamers:

The Psychology of Video Games Book’, “ (Rowman & Littlefield, n.d.).

Completeness of sensory information means that the fewer blanks about the

mental model of the game world that the player has to fill in, the better.

Cognitively demanding environments where players have to focus on what’s going

on and getting by in the game will tie up mental resources therefore resulting in an

increased immersive experience.” The impact upon influence of gameplay

emersion is significant although forgivable by the observer if managed

appropriately, to emphasize increasing gameplay emersion experience through

pre-established effective industry methods and practice of related theories such as

the ‘diegesis theory’ will counter, subdue and suppress the connection lost through

detracting UI elements.

PAGE 26
Promoting Marketing Methods

GENERATING HYPE

Hype exist and is a psychological state of the mind [See Psychology: Hive Mind]

consistently recalling memorable information. Generating hype is a method of

advertising awareness by releasing information gradually presented to the public,

creating curiosity and an impactful experience to increase amount of topic

reference in society. The importance behind generating hype relates to production

sales and population awareness, promoting product through establishing or

embedding a memorable connection into ones memory. Gaming methods include

such techniques as trailers, demos, advertisements, emails, notifications, reviews,

opinions, social rumors and even leaked content to an extent.

PAGE 27
Game Related Technologies

VIRTUAL & AUGMENTED REALITY

Structure of Development

Augmented and virtual reality structure of development is key to the functionality

of the headset required for efficient usability, due to depth of immersion of

simulated worlds or content amount the realism is a believable reality to the brain

so persistence of vision and structure of the eye’s anatomy needs to be considered.

To emphasize corresponding factors like the eye’s binocular and peripheral vision

has to be contemplated for a successful realistic reality driven experience. For

instance constricting peripheral vision improves the focus and concentration of

the person, and binocular vision uses parallax which is the displacement or

difference in the apparent position of objects viewed between two lines of sight.

These and other factors should be reinvented for technological usage in the virtual

or augmented reality system.

PAGE 28
Change of Gameplay Presentation

With new innovative game related technology particularly virtual and augmented

reality present and further developments on the horizon the way gaming is

presented to players will change dramatically in terms of immersion, psychology

and neurological effect deepening the impact gameplay has on player’s minds.

With the possibility of effecting people either positively, negatively or a

combination of both, systematic research and game development considerations

are crucial for understanding the degree of mind alterations caused by such

technology.

Changing presentation of gameplay to a more realistic reality driven experience

means problems or complications may occur just like they do naturally in the real

world, such effects as fear, emotions and motion sickness or as through virtual

technology is technically converted to ‘simulation sickness’ may become present

during or after gameplay exposer. Studies have been carried out and methods are

available to try in the attempts of preventing pressure upon psychologically related

problems such as simulation sickness.

PAGE 29
Future Possibilities

The future holds many possibilities regarding immersive game relative technology

and brain stimulation. Although the advancements in technology, neuroscience

and psychological understanding in manipulation clearly could have extraordinary

advantages for improving an immersive gaming experience, without moral and

graphical limitations such stimulation could potentially induce actions of rage and

a release of psychopathic suppression within the minds subconscious [See

Psychology: Game Perception Regarding Brain Disorders]. The quote taken from

‘the potential societal impact of virtual reality’ study asks a similar question about

aggressive impulses, “Will the acting out of violent or aggressive scenarios in the

virtual world make us more likely to act violently or aggressively in the real world?

Or, will the release of violent impulses make us more peaceful in the real world?”

Yet on the other hand positive outcomes may occur from violent virtual reality

simulations. It’s possible such violent and raw simulations could help cure or

manage psychopathic tendencies and release lots of stress build up that leads to

aggression. Having fearful situations presented to players may increase confidence

and give people greater control over fear and related conditions such as

schizophrenia. Interestingly soldiers have been known to train from games like

‘Call of Duty’, so theoretically speaking putting soldiers through immersive

simulation training in virtual and augmented reality should give greater results

and help prepare people for stressful situations.

PAGE 30
Conclusion
Brain responses and connectivity through studying neuroscience is essential to

understand how games correlate and challenge the mind. Games require players to

make quick decisions and be aware of their surroundings which over time

improves the ability to rapidly process sensory information effectively. Increasing

cognition by exercising brain receptors to function quicker is proven through

gaming to enhance reflexes, problems solving abilities, critical thinking and brain

efficiency. From a neurological standpoint the benefits of gaming is supported

with indisputable evidence that prove gaming can positively affect brain cognition

and even ameliorate defective brain functionality by establishing new neural

pathway connections.

It’s a fact through extensive training the human mind can be influenced to achieve

extraordinary feats. Important research shows gaming and psychology has the

ability to alter people’s psychological mind state. Evidence shows playing games

can significantly increase persistency and creativity through brain stimulation and

honing three-dimensional spatial skills improving the minds range and awareness

of perception. Due to such stimulation gaming can improve the psychological

mind state by releasing stress, increasing confidence and stabilizing irrational out

of control emotions, which proves gaming is able to be therapeutic to the human

mind. The research carried out present’s sources which have showed disorders

such as brain deficiencies, self-confidence, addictions and some other

psychological problems can be alleviated as a result of playing games.

PAGE 31
Games are designed with efficiency and practicality in mind, but some game

elements are developed to promote the ideal that players must spend hours of

time and repeat actions in order to unlock, complete, achieve or be awarded rare

uncommon items in a game which could drive addiction. This is present in

multiplayer games that have addictive elements such as customization, unlockable

weapons and a score/levelling up system. This type of game design ensures players

will return to the game after completing the storyline and experiencing other game

modes. It’s also concluded that game development and design is important when

considering cognitive overload and gameplay immersion. Game development

regarding human computer interaction is important for creating efficient practical

user interfaces for games, the level of immersion a player receives is vital for an

emotional indulging experience so breaking that immersion could result in story

twists and character deaths not being as effective or shocking.

PAGE 32
There are numerous ways games are promoted using marketing methods for the

purpose of generating profit and hype, methods of advertising obviously advertise

a games awareness but also generating sufficient hype that teases gamers creating

a psychological connection to the game significantly increasing the chance of the

person purchasing the product by becoming intrigued. This is present through

multiple media forms, such influences as ratings and reviews often depict what

certain gamers will play and won’t. Promoting marketing methods consist of

strategies to manipulate people into buying certain products, it does this through

delivering small amounts of information to people without giving anything major

away, in other words creates suspense.

The importance of game related technologies is the degree of immersion that is

created during gameplay, the ability to creative environments and scenarios

through virtual or augmented reality driven world opens many doors of potential

possibilities. The fact the experience from such technology is so immersive it’s

possible to create simulations that the brain believes is real, the impact this has on

the human mind could be significantly beneficial for training, therapy and of

course entertainment purposes. But alternatively the danger this could have

especially on the more unstable and manipulative human minds is worrying,

anything which can manipulate the brain into believing in another reality has the

possibility to effect the psychological state of the human mind.

PAGE 33
To conclude there is an abundance of indisputable evidence not just arguing but

proving that multiple factors of playing games have the ability to influence the

human mind both beneficially and negatively. Studies regarding neurological and

psychological research has shown playing video games has the ability to change

the mind state of a human’s mind similar to methods such as endorphins and

placeboes with brain stimulation but also can even improve upon the brains

functionality, structure and efficiency. The possible impact playing games can have

upon the human mind is incredible and disproves all controversies and claims

against the games industry arguing playing games is mostly negative and people

shouldn’t be playing themselves or allowing their children to due to gaming

condoning acts of violence. Unfortunately though evidence has shown gaming is

able to effect the mind negatively especially through examples of addiction which

means gaming is not purely therapeutic and a perfect method of brain training.

Through research exposing the methods and reasons behind the gaming industry

being so manipulative to people, it’s possible to see why the industry can be so

negative in causing addiction in numerous gamers. But to argue immersion, brain

stimulation and neural pathways are all factors to why gaming is one of the most

effective methods of increasing cognition, brain efficiency and alleviating brain

conditions.

PAGE 34
The stories and facts deconstructed from playing games is amazing now but more

importantly they open the door for more research and experiments to be practiced

which is increasing the critical acclaim the gaming industry is receiving from

scientists, neurologists, psychologists and general public. The significance of this

dissertation has presented reasons which directly substantiate in establishing the

achievable benefits gaming has to provide. This industry investigation determines

the truth about how the gaming industry isn’t accountable for all the controversy

and blame it receives abundantly for inspiring law breaking activities and being

psychologically negative for the human mind. It seems definitely seems at least on

occurrence the media has a tendency to stress the negative and be pessimistic

towards a considerable amount of already controversial topics, but it would be

misleading to assume an exceeding percentage of controversy is exaggerated for

the purpose of an interesting story although it’s definitely debatable to a certain

degree. The results concluded have massively supported the beneficial aspects

games have to offer rendering this investigation mostly successful, although the

fact still remains some controversial statements couldn’t as have yet be proven or

disproven so the magnitude of gaming benefits can’t be determined accurately.

Furthermore with new rising emerging technologies in development augments for

debates will increase leading to more unanswered questions and controversy.

PAGE 35
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