Week 2

LISTENING 1: Video games: Lessons for life

Questions 1 – 6
Choose the correct answer, A, B, or C.
1 According to the professor, what do video games do to motivate us?
A They offer us very strong emotional rewards.
B They make us addicted to them.
C They provide us with specific skills for studying.
2 On which part of our body can video game have an influence?
A The eyes
B The hands
C The brain
3 What can dopamine be related to?
A learning style
B reward-seeking behaviour
C connect the neurons
4 According to Dr Paul Howard-Jones, what can video games offer us?
A an understanding of what makes learning difficult
B an understanding of where learning takes place
C an understanding of how learning takes place
5 When can the level of dopamine spike?
A at the moment of anticipating only
B at the moment of receiving the reward only
C at the moment of anticipating and receiving the reward
6 In what way can dopamine enhance our potential for learning?
A It helps engaging us to our learning process.
B It helps focusing our attention.
C It helps motivating us.
Questions 7 – 24
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Five specific points of learning that can be fostered by gaming

A. Long-term and short-term 7 …………………..

 Small tasks in game  finished  get reward  get closer to your long-term goal 
complete the game

 Relation to learning:
  8 …………………. your work into smaller pieces
 Draw 9 …………………. to how you can achieve real life long-term goals.
B. Reward for 10 ………………….

 Games can satisfy player with accumulative goal 11 …………………., not only final
results.

 Such skills as persistence, speed and observation skills can win 12 …………………. 
You can earn more points or advancement.

 Relation to learning:
 You should try doing something.
 You should use different 13 …………………. and skills to tackle problems and
tasks.
C. Feedback

 Gamers learn that there are positive and negative 14 …………………. to their actions
 Relation to learning: Students can think more 15 …………………. and 16
…………………. if they consider possible effects of an action
D. Enhanced 17 …………………. attention

 Some items are selected for further processing while others are left
18 ………………….

 Video games can help us focus on not only what we need to see but also things
around us.

 Real life benefits:

 Drivers: monitor more object at the same time  drive more safely.
 Academic context: students can develop the reading skills such as 19 ………………….
and 20 …………………. .
E. Creativity

 Child gamers can be creative in activities such as drawing pictures and

21 …………………. .

 22 …………………. and the kind of video game don’t have any impact on creativity.
 Boys prefer sports games or games with 23 …………………. content.
 Girls loves games that have 24 …………………. with others.

LISTENING 2: Game theory

Questions 1 – 41
Complete the script about Game Theory.
Student 1: 
I’ve chosen the game Rock, Paper, Scissors. Ummm … for this game basically you need two
1 …………………. . I’m sure you know the rules, but I’ll explain them again. Each player has to
put their hands behind their backs and count to four. On three they have to make a decision and
make the form of a rock (a fist), paper (hand open), or scissors (two fingers outstretched). When
the count four, both players “throw” their 2 …………………. towards each other. You then
calculate who wins using these rules. Rock beats 3 …………………. . Scissors beats paper. 4
…………………. beats rock.
This simple game illustrates the concept of a zero-sum game. The first person to lay the
foundations of this game theory was the 5 …………………. John von Neumann in his 1928
paper “The Theory of Parlor Games.” In a zero-sum game, one participant’s gain is balanced by
another’s 6 …………………. . In other words, there is one winner and one loser, always.
To explain it mathematically, if you add the gains and subtract the losses, the total is
7 …………………. because the number of gains is the same as the number of losses. In real life
there are, I read anyway, that there are few real zero-sum games. But you could find examples
in trade and 8 …………………. . For example, two companies bidding on one contract. Only one
company can win the contract, and the other has to lose.
Student 2:
OK, I’m … well I’m going to talk about a situation called the ultimatum. It’s a 9 ………………….
situation. In the ultimatum, a sum of money is given to two players to share between them.
When the situation begins, the first player makes a proposal as to how the money will be
10 …………………. . If the second player accepts the proposal, they split the money as agreed.
But, if the second player 11 …………………. the proposal, neither player gets any money.
One real-life example of this could be bilateral trade 12 …………………. between countries. If
the negotiation breaks down because the proposal is considered
13 …………………., then both nations lose the benefits of the trading agreement.
This has interesting sociological 14 …………………., as some social scientists say it proves a
human being’s unwillingness to accept 15 …………………. . According to Güth in his 1995
article called “On Ultimatum Bargaining Experiments,” there is quite a bit of debate on whether
human decision making is purely driven by 16 …………………. incentives, and he clearly states
a preference for fairness as one other key factor in the process.
Student 3: 
The best example of the 17 …………………. situation in game theory that I could find was The
Stag Hunt. Two individuals go out on a hunt. Each has to individually choose to hunt a stag or
hunt a rabbit, and they must choose which 18 …………………. to hunt without knowing what the
other chooses. An individual can get a rabbit by himself, but a rabbit is worth
19 …………………. than a stag. If an individual hunts a stag, he must have the
20 …………………. of his partner in order to succeed.
There are two 21 …………………. to the stag hunt. Either both hunters hunt the stag together,
or both hunters hunt rabbits on their own.
I think you could say that this situation is about risk and a test of social cooperation. Both
hunters would prefer to hunt a stag, but they can only do this if they work together. If either
hunter isn’t sure what the other will choose, they will choose the rabbit as a 22 ………………….
option. This scenario was described by the philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau in his book
from 1754, A Discourse on Inequality.
I think we could say it has 23 …………………. in how businesses can cooperate together. This
game represents real life situations in which people or businesses can cooperate together for
greater 24 …………………. – the stag – but if they don’t trust each other, they opt for the less
rewarding but more 25 …………………. choice – the rabbit – and risk less.
Student 4: 
I chose the anti-coordination situation. This one was quite easy, as the example most often
cited is one I’d heard of before. It’s the game of 26 …………………. . Two drivers drive towards
each other on a 27 …………………. course. One of the drivers has to swerve to avoid the other,
or they will 28 …………………. . But if one driver swerves and the other does not, the one who
swerves is called a chicken, meaning a 29 …………………., and is the loser.
So, the principle of the game is that each player prefers not to yield to (or swerve away from)
the other, but if they don’t yield, they get the 30 …………………. possible outcome. It’s also
known as the Hawk-dove game. I was reading Ross Cressman’s book The Stability Concept of
31 …………………. Game Theory from 1992, and he describes the same scenario as a
situation in which there is 32 …………………. for a shared resource and the contestants can
choose either resolution or 33 …………………. . One real-world application here is in the world
of negotiation in international 34 …………………., where neither side wants to back down or
lose face, but risks total loss if they don’t.
Student 5: 
OK, the Prisoner’s Dilemma is the most famous and important of all game theory situations. At
least from what I read. Albert W. Tucker formalized the game aspect in his book Contributions to
the Theory of Games from 1950. The simple scenario to explain this theory is that it’s a
mathematical explanation of why people cooperate. In this game, two 35 …………………. are
both being held by the police for the same crime. They are in different
36 …………………. and the police interview each one separately. Now, each prisoner has a
choice. He can remain silent, or confess and tell the police that his partner is
37 …………………. . More importantly, each prisoner knows that the other has the same
choice.
If both prisoners stay silent, they each get a 38 …………………. sentence. If both confess, if
they both try to blame the crime on each other, they each get three years in 39 ………………… .
But, and here’s the tricky part, if only one confesses and blames the crime on the other, he goes
40 …………………. . But he sends his partner away for five years. What makes it a real 41
…………………. is that, logically, the best strategy for each prisoner individually is to confess
and blame the crime on the other. But it could provide a worse outcome.
I think the real-world application of this is all about cooperating even when something isn’t in
your best interests.

UNIT TEST 2
Questions 1 – 10
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS OR NUMBERS for each answer.

Topic: Research study into how 1 …………………. affect learning in children with dyslexia
Important information:
Research focus:
 2 …………………. dyslexic children in two groups
 group 1 – using specific video game with special 3 …………………. scanning
processes
 group 2 – the 4 ………………….
Results:
 those using the special games showed learning gains, e.g., performed better in
subsequent 5 ………………….
 gains last up to 6 ………………….
 controversial – many believe 7 …………………. are bad for learning
Source of the information:
Lead researcher – Dr. Facoetti
Location – 8 …………………. of Padua, Italy
Published – Current 9 …………………., February 10 ………………….