ENG 225 Rhetoric and Gaming

Greitemeyer, T., Osswald, S., & Brauer, M. (2010). Playing Prosocial Video Games Increases Empathy and Decreases Schadenfreude . American Psychological Association 2010, Vol. 10, No. 6, 796 – 802. This article covers two experiments by Greitemeyer, et al, to show levels of malicious pleasure (schadenfreude) after playing games that were rated as “prosocial”, “antisocial”, and “neutral” in regards to the game’s theme. The first experiment used Tetris (Pajitnov, A., 1984) and Lemmings (Psygnosis, 1991) as the neutral and prosocial games, respectively. The participants were then asked how they felt about a celebrity's misfortune. Those who played the prosocial game were more likely to not feel schadenfreude about the celebrity. The second experiment included the antisocial game Lamers (MobyGames, 1992), a parody of Lemmings where the goal is to kill all of the animals, rather than save them. Those who played the antisocial game experienced the highest level of schadenfreude...

Koptur, Evren. Transferable Learning Skills of an MMORPG: A World of Warcraft Quest, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2016. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_NUM:kent1459175932 The basis of this study was focused entirely on the MMORPG World of Warcraft, and the “potential of transferable learning skills gained or improved by playing WoW to real life” (p. ii). This study was focused on “four different learning categories: experiential learning, collaborative learning, leadership, and autonomous learning respectively through playing WoW” (p. ii). Results of this study indicate that these four categories of learning do occur in the game, and participants “perceived [these skills/learning] to be transferable to real life in varying degrees” (p.ii). The author notes that further research is needed in every single aspect of this project. This study got its data from 258 online survey participants. The survey was broken into the four categories mentioned above, and...

Barr, Matthew. "Student Attitudes to Games-Based Skills Development: Learning from Video Games in Higher Education." Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 80, 2018, pp. 283-294, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563217306684, doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.11.030 The purpose of this study “was to document the attitudes of those students involved in the quantitative study and to explore how the game-based intervention was perceived.” (p. 283).  Researchers found a “broadly positive perception of the games' efficacy for skills development” (p. 283). Of the undergraduates that participated in the study, the in-game elements that participated felt contributed the most to skill development. “include the need to communicate with team mates in order to succeed, and the fluid, unpredictable nature of in-game challenges.” (p. 283). This study suggests, based on the factors that undergraduates think are the most important to developing useful skills (like communication, ...

Qian, M., & Clark, K. R. (2016). Game-based learning and 21st century skills: A review of recent research. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 50-58. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.023 The purpose of this paper was to conduct a literature review of the current research of 21 studies that were focused around game-based learning and 21st century skills as the outcome. “The findings suggest that a game-based learning approach might be effective in facilitating students’ 21st century skill development.” (p. 50). This paper also has some recommendations about what future researchers, teachers, and game designers should to about implementation of games as well as educational game design. Or rather that Game-Based Learning (GBL) is dependent on game design. Specifically, game designs which feature a blending of established learning theories with game design elements proven successful in the entertainment game industry are most likely to lead to effective learning. With regard to game genres, ...