News

BBC News: Aggression from video games ‘linked to incompetence’

April 7, 2014 by Shannon

Andrew Przybylski and Richard Ryan quoted in BBC article... "We focused on the motives of people who play electronic games and found players have a psychological need to come out on top when playing," said Dr Przybylski. "If players feel thwarted by the controls or the design of the game, they can wind up feeling aggressive. "This need to master the game was far more significant than whether the game contained violent material. "Players of games without any violent content were still feeling pretty aggressive if they hadn't been able to master the controls or progress through the levels at the end of the session."

Wired – Wellness and Prevention: Compelling Design is About Psychology, Not Technology

December 5, 2013 by Shannon

"So if a good gamified solution doesn’t have to look like a game, what does it have to have? I argue that it has to capture the psychology of games, the principles that capture people’s attention and keep them coming back for another experience. Games hook players by fulfilling their psychological needs. Self-determination theory describes what those needs are..."

Huffington Post: What Would You Do With Ten Extra Years of Life

September 9, 2013 by Shannon

"University of Rochester Professor of Psychology, Dr. Edward Deci, says that people who tap into their own natural talents, interests and desires are more inclined to embrace whatever they do with enthusiasm, creativity and joy. He also points out that people who make things happen for themselves are less likely to be manipulated or used."

Wired: Compelling Design is About Psychology, Not Technology

January 14, 2013 by Shannon

December 5th 2013. Image: niallkennedy/Flickr Don’t get me wrong: No one who’s held an iPhone can deny the appeal of beautifully designed technology. But what really makes a product stick has more to do with the psychology behind its design than its physical or functional features. It’s all about the how, not the what. Every...

Wired News: How ‘Gamification’ Can Make Your Customer Service Worse

November 14, 2012 by Shannon

November 14th 2012. They call it gamification. The idea is to take familiar aspects of electronic games and apply them to customer support software and other applications used in the business world. This often involves awarding points for tasks and some sort of system for turning those points into other rewards, like a “badge” attached...

Virtual Environments

RESEARCH STUDY: “Players Love the Game Not the Gore – Psychology Study Shows That Violence Does Not Motivate Video Game Players.”

February 16, 2009 by Shannon

January 16th 2009. “These elements, said coauthor Richard Ryan, a motivational psychologist at the University, represent “the core reasons that people find games so entertaining and compelling. Conflict and war are a common and powerful context for providing these experiences, but it is the need satisfaction in the gameplay that matters more than the...

SCIENCE NEWS: Gamers crave control and competence, not carnage

February 14, 2009 by Shannon

February 14th 2009. Blood, guts and gore aren’t what thrill avid gamers when they slaughter zombies in The House of the Dead III video game, a new study suggests. Instead, feelings of control and competence are what the players crave. The new research, led by psychologist Richard Ryan at the University of Rochester in New...

WASHINGTON POST: Why Video Games May Be Hard to Give Up

January 16, 2007 by Shannon

January 15th 2007. Researchers say they’ve found another reason why video games are so hard to give up: They may help fulfill basic psychological needs. In a study published in the January issue ofMotivation and Emotion, investigators from the University of Rochester and Immersyve Inc. looked at what motivated 1,000 gamers to keep playing...