Episode 91 - Avatars

FromPsychology of Video Games Podcast

Start listening View podcast show

Episode 91 - Avatars

FromPsychology of Video Games Podcast

ratings:

Length:

56 minutes

Released:

Feb 1, 2024

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

What do research and theory say about how our avatars in video games and virtual reality may shape our behaviors --and how they don't?Audio Credits:“Robot Motivation” by The Polish Ambassador, licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Released:

Feb 1, 2024

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (93)

Examining how psychology explains why video games are made how they are and why gamers behave as we do.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3329893/advertisement

Skip carousel

006 - Psychology and UX: User Experience ("UX" for short) is one of those disciplines in the gaming industry often tied to psychology. And given how it's interested in understanding and quantifying the experiences of the people who play video games, interact with hardware,... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
52 min listen
011 - How do video games affect our physical and mental health?: I admit it: I'm turning into my parents. When I was a kid I played a lot of games, and they had concerns about how it was affecting my physical and mental health. My mom and dad thought it would wreck my attention span, stunt my social skills, and... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
62 min listen
014: Why Do YOU Play Games?: Hey. I've got a question for you: Why do you play games? That's going to be the topic of discussion in this episode of the podcast, with my guest Dr. Nick Yee from Quantic Foundry. He's going to share some research that he and his colleagues have... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
57 min listen
007 - Video Game Debates and Research: I talk to Rachel Kowert and Throston Quandt about their new book on the the many debates surrounding video games as the scientific study of games. Kowert & Quandt's book, "The Video Game Debate" More about the podcast here:... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
50 min listen
001 - Video Game Frustration, Aggression, and Rage Quitting: Text. Pfft. Text is dead, am I right? Voice without video, THAT'S the future. Given that, I've decided to dip into the world of podcasting and have recorded my first episode. I talked to Dr. Andrew Przybylski from Oxford University about research... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
45 min listen
004 - Toxic Behavior in Video Games: I think most of us have been there: we join an online multiplayer game and suddenly someone is screaming all kinds of nasty things at us, telling us to die in a fire, or spamming us with some hateful string of letters or another. This sort of toxic... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
62 min listen
005 - Psychology and Game AI: Playing with and against other humans is great in many ways (and not so great in others) but the fact is that gamers spend a lot of time interacting with computer-controlled agents. Enemies, shopkeeers, quest givers, teammates, other NPCs --they can... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
61 min listen
023 - Self Determination Theory and Video Games: There's a substantial body of literature that identifies a triforce of motivation: Competence, Autonomy, and Mastery. That is, we're motivated to do something to the extent that we feel like we can get better at it, that we feel like we have... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
66 min listen
022 - Research on Addiction and Aggression: Turns out that doing science is hard. And doing science involving people is particularly tricky and comes with all kinds of caveats. And then doing research on humans involving something as diverse and personal as video game experiences is even more... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
63 min listen
015: Simulation Sickness and Virtual Reality Game Design: In this episode I talk with Ben Lewis Evans, a psychologist and UX researcher at Epic Games, about simulation sickness and virtual reality. We talk about what causes it and what limitations hardware and game designers have to design around in order to... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
57 min listen
Podcast 54 - Sexualization in Games: Should you expect playing as a sexually objectified avatar like Lara Croft to impact women's attitudes towards their own bodies or to create other harmful attitudes? My guests this episode engaged in what they called "adversarial collaboration" to run... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
49 min listen
003 - Psychological Flow: Ever just get "in the zone" with a video game? Like it just clicks with you and it's challenging enough to hold your interest but not too difficult as to get frustrating? This is a mental state called psychological flow, and it's been studied in work,... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
49 min listen
008 - Envy and Microtransactions: I talk to researcher Niels van de Ven about how envy can drive us to make in-game purchases and microtransactions, as well as what effect such purchases have on what we think of other players. What happens if you pay to win while I grind it out?... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
52 min listen
017 - Psychology and the Gamification of Learning: In this episode I talk with Karl Kapp about what video gams have in common with effective classrooms, training, or other learning environments and why an over reliance on "points, badges, and leaderboards" isn't a good idea. About the podcast:... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
65 min listen
009 - How Games Differ From Other Media: In this episode I talk to Dr. Nick Bowman about how video games differ from other media in terms of the demands they place on players and thus how our approaches to studying them should differ. It turns out that video games ARE special and something... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
72 min listen
028 - Avatar Identification and Video Games: In this episode I talk to Dr. Jesse Fox about her research into how we identify with our video game avatars, how that affects how we play, and how it may affect what we take away from games. Specifically, we review a paper entitled "Playing for Love... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
57 min listen
024 - Electronic Gaming Therapy: Games are good for more than just simple fun. Some psychologists and therapists are using them to help people. In this episode I talk to some people who are using video games as part of therapy for kids and families and they explain why games are so... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
60 min listen
010 - Can Games Make You Smarter?: In this episode I talk to Dr. C. Shawn Green about whether or not video games can make us smarter or improve certain mental and perceptual skills. And not just those brain training games --we're talking about mainstream action games that most of us... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
61 min listen
012 - Video Game violence: Does controlling or experiencing violence in video games cause violence, aggression, or other acts of malice outside of the game? This is the main question that I discuss with my guest this episode, Christopher J. Ferguson, Ph.D. He is a prolific... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
72 min listen
021 - Achievements, Goals, and Motivation in Games: Achievements, trophies, badges, and similar rewards are ever present in video games. The assumption seems to be that they motivate players to keep playing a game in order to reach some goal or get some reward, but is that always so? In this episode I... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
59 min listen
020 - Year 1 of Psych of Games Articles: I'm working ahead on new podcasts, new articles, and a conference lecture. In the meantime, enjoy the audio versions of 12 Psychology of Games articles all assembled together for your listening pleasure. About the podcast: Subscribe in iTunes... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
55 min listen
002 - Big Data and Becoming a Video Game Psychologist: Ever wondered how one gets into the field of video game psychology? Is there even such a field, really? In many ways Dr. Nick Yee is the answer to both those questions. He has a background in psychology and experimental design and he has published... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
52 min listen
Podcast 42: Mobile Game Affinity: Say it's time to download a new game for your phone or tablet. What, out of the billions of choices out there, will you choose? Psychology pretty consistently tells us that when we have too many choices we look for strategies and heuristics for making... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
49 min listen
025 - A Parent's Guide to Video Games: Dr. Rachel Kowert returns to discuss her new book, A Parent's Guide to Video Games. We discuss her process for writing the book, who she thinks it benefits, and the questions and concerns that parents tend to have about the mental wellbeing of their... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
45 min listen
013 - Stress, Games, and Recovery: Ever used video games to blow off some steam and recover from a hard day at work or school? Psychologists who study stress and how we recover from it have noted that certain activities are better than others for helping us recharge our reserves and... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
42 min listen
019 - Habit Forming Games: Habits --behaviors we do without thinking about them-- are very powerful forces in our lives. And many products like mobile games are designed specifically to create and maintain habits. In this episode I talk to Nir Eyal about how habits are formed,... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
60 min listen
Podcast 38: Mental Health Professionals and Video Games: It may shock you to hear this, but not everyone is intimately familiar with video games. I know, right? Despite the fact that video games continue to become more mainstream and cut across all kinds of demographic groups, some aspects of games and... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
59 min listen
Podcast 33: Executive Skill Transference and Play Diets: Modern video games are complicated and require a lot of learning, problem solving, memory, planning, and other things that psychologists might identify as executive functions of the brain. There's a lot going on between our ears whenever we play. And... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
63 min listen
018 - Biofeedback and Video Games: I talk to Lennart Nacke from the University of Waterloo about the research he has done around psychophysiology --the physiological basis of psychological phenomena. We discuss how various physiological processes like breathing, heart rate, eye... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
56 min listen
Podcast 48: Loot Boxes Part 2: Special ALL HAWAII EDITION! To give me a little breathing room after finishing up my book manuscript, here are two complete interviews I did while researching the recent loot box podcast episode. One is the full interview with Representative Chris... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
48 min listen

Related podcast episodes

Skip carousel

Podcast 87 - Immersion and Presence in Video Game Worlds: Is technology or game design more important for determining whether we feel immersed and present in the world of a video game? What kinds of things will make us forget about the screen between us and that world, the controller in our hands, and the... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
53 min listen
Podcast 86 - The Psychology of Role-Playing: What do psychologists and games researchers have to say about the idea of role-playing, when you pretend to take on another person's persona, point of view, thoughts, and state of mind? What effects can role-playing games have on us? Tabletop... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
58 min listen
015: Simulation Sickness and Virtual Reality Game Design: In this episode I talk with Ben Lewis Evans, a psychologist and UX researcher at Epic Games, about simulation sickness and virtual reality. We talk about what causes it and what limitations hardware and game designers have to design around in order to... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
57 min listen
008 - Envy and Microtransactions: I talk to researcher Niels van de Ven about how envy can drive us to make in-game purchases and microtransactions, as well as what effect such purchases have on what we think of other players. What happens if you pay to win while I grind it out?... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
52 min listen
023 - Self Determination Theory and Video Games: There's a substantial body of literature that identifies a triforce of motivation: Competence, Autonomy, and Mastery. That is, we're motivated to do something to the extent that we feel like we can get better at it, that we feel like we have... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
66 min listen
Episode 84 - Games and Moral Reasoning: Can playing a lot of games lead us to become better at explaining why a given character or behavior is moral or immoral? Audio Credits: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Polish_Ambassador/Diplomatic_Immunity/05_Robot_Motivation by The Polish... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
36 min listen
006 - Psychology and UX: User Experience ("UX" for short) is one of those disciplines in the gaming industry often tied to psychology. And given how it's interested in understanding and quantifying the experiences of the people who play video games, interact with hardware,... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
52 min listen
005 - Psychology and Game AI: Playing with and against other humans is great in many ways (and not so great in others) but the fact is that gamers spend a lot of time interacting with computer-controlled agents. Enemies, shopkeeers, quest givers, teammates, other NPCs --they can... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
61 min listen
Podcast 40: Our Avatar Relationships: Think about the last avatar you controlled in a video game. What did he, she, or it mean to you? Was it just a tool that you used to get from one end of a maze to another? Was it a richly detailed character that might have been pulled from any given... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
62 min listen
Real Applications of Virtual Humans - Dr. Regis Kopper: Regis Kopper runs the Duke Immersive Virtual Environment, or “DiVE.” His research focuses on the interactions of virtual and real humans. In this interview, he discusses his predictions for the non-gaming applications of virtual reality - and the... by The AI in Business Podcast
34 min listen
022 - Research on Addiction and Aggression: Turns out that doing science is hard. And doing science involving people is particularly tricky and comes with all kinds of caveats. And then doing research on humans involving something as diverse and personal as video game experiences is even more... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
63 min listen
Podcast 85 - The Psychology of Loot and the Diablo Series: What can the psychology of loot drops tell us about the evolution of the Diablo series? Audio Credits: - http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Polish_Ambassador/Diplomatic_Immunity/05_Robot_Motivation by The Polish Ambassador, licensed under... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
35 min listen
Episode 5: Fear of robots: Fear of robots is on the rise -- in science fiction and the tech industry. What causes this anxiety in real life, and how does science fiction imagine the future of human/robot relationships? Are we going to be raw materials for a future AI... by Our Opinions Are Correct
43 min listen
Connor Leahy - e/acc, AGI and the future. by Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)
80 min listen
295: What's at the intersection of law and gaming?: Unravel the complexities of video game ethics as we embark on a dialogue with Dr. Leon Xiao, a distinguished expert at the crossroads of gaming and law. In this episode, we probe into the innovative ways gaming and law intersect, and how they shape... by Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
41 min listen
018 - Biofeedback and Video Games: I talk to Lennart Nacke from the University of Waterloo about the research he has done around psychophysiology --the physiological basis of psychological phenomena. We discuss how various physiological processes like breathing, heart rate, eye... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
56 min listen
Jeff Orkin - Gaming and the Progress of Artificial Intelligence: Gaming and Artificial Intelligence by The AI in Business Podcast
27 min listen
009 - How Games Differ From Other Media: In this episode I talk to Dr. Nick Bowman about how video games differ from other media in terms of the demands they place on players and thus how our approaches to studying them should differ. It turns out that video games ARE special and something... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
72 min listen
010 - Can Games Make You Smarter?: In this episode I talk to Dr. C. Shawn Green about whether or not video games can make us smarter or improve certain mental and perceptual skills. And not just those brain training games --we're talking about mainstream action games that most of us... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
61 min listen
Becoming an AI Companion: Part 1 by #teakink with Dominatrix Eva Oh
27 min listen
014: Why Do YOU Play Games?: Hey. I've got a question for you: Why do you play games? That's going to be the topic of discussion in this episode of the podcast, with my guest Dr. Nick Yee from Quantic Foundry. He's going to share some research that he and his colleagues have... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
57 min listen
How Do You Deal With Sexual Assault and Harassment in Virtual Reality?: #10: A few articles recently discussed an act of sexual assault in VR from the gamer and developer’s perspectives so we discuss how not ok it is to sexually assault someone in VR (or anywhere else), why this can happen in VR more easily than in other g... by Headshots: Psychology + Gaming
51 min listen
Rise of the AI pyschbots: What if generative AI could let you chat with doppelgangers of brilliant people, in their words, at any time? POLITICO’s Mohar Chatterjee digs into unnerving experiments from Beijing to Venice Beach to create AI-generated replicas of living human psychologists. Her story shows a policy vacuum around digital consent - and possibly, a new way for experts to imagine influence and legacy in the age of AI. by POLITICO Tech
16 min listen
We Are VR: (repeat) Will virtual reality make you a better person? It’s been touted as the “ultimate empathy machine,” and one that will connect people who are otherwise emotionally and physically isolated. The promise of the technology has... by Big Picture Science
54 min listen
Better Tech, Better Games | Xterio by GAM3S.GG: Press Play
48 min listen
Podcast 30: Gaming Addiction: I talk to someone who does research on gaming addiction about the concept in general, how hard it is to research it, and the APA's recent decision to (possibly, at some point in the future) include Internet Gaming Disorder as a real mental disorder in... by Psychology of Video Games Podcast
54 min listen
The Proteus Effect: What effect does a virtual reality avatar have on the user? Can it alter your identity? Can it change how you behave in the real world? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick explore the Proteus Effect, named for the sha by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
59 min listen
Part One: Conscious AI / Robert LoCascio by Deepak Chopra’s Infinite Potential
45 min listen
The Kuleshov Effect, Part 1 by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
35 min listen
The Kuleshov Effect, Part 2 by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
64 min listen

Discover this podcast and so much more

Episode 91 - Avatars

Episode 91 - Avatars

Description

Titles in the series (93)

More Episodes from Psychology of Video Games Podcast

Related podcast episodes