Chap 3 : Video game addiction

Question 1

What is MMORPG ?

Answer 1

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games

Question 2

What are the symptoms of addiction showed by Everquest players in Chappel’s study ?

Answer 2

salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, craving and relapse

Question 3

So why are some researchers are reluctant to talk about addiction concerning video games ?

Answer 3

• in Chappel’s study, no single account mentionned all the core components of addiction
• they use the word addictionas a way of excusing their behaviour
• impulse control is established around 25, so a lack of control during adolescence is normal

Question 4

In order not to use the word “addicts”, how can we call the players with this kind of behaviour ?

Answer 4

excessive players

Question 5

Studies have found that regular video game players often report playing for longer periods than they intended, due to what caracteristics of the video games ?

Answer 5

• the notion of a persistent world : MMORGPS are endless
• the avatar : receives narcissic reinforcement in the form of recognition by other players
• social interaction is highly essential
• time investment
• excitement / arousal produced by the game
• rewards : a “virtual skinner box”

Question 6

What is a “persistent world” ?

Answer 6

a virtual world which continues after a player stops playing

Question 7

Which writer suggested that addiction represents an escape from too much or too little stimulation ?

Answer 7

Jacob

Question 8

What is an avatar ?

Answer 8

a virtual character representing a player in the game

Question 9

Will the next version of the DSM-V include a diagnosis of video game addiction ?

Answer 9

No
Future editions of mental health classification manuals may include internet and video game addiction as impulse control disorders

Question 10

What are the categories of signs related to video game addiction ?

Answer 10

• psychological symptoms
• physical symptoms
• behavioral symptoms
• relational symptoms

Question 11

What are the risk factors for video game addiction ?

Answer 11

• being male
• having higher levels of traits aggression and neuroticism
• positively evaluating one’s intelligence and negatively evaluating one’s social skills
• favoring online role playing games
• having a greater degree of impulsivity and limited ability to regulate emotions
• having a lot of free time and little involvement in structured activities outside of work or school

Question 12

What treatment is available for video gaming addiction ?

Answer 12

• one-t-o-one counseling with a psychologist
• family therapy
• video game addiction treatment centers
• wilderness therapy

Question 13

What is wilderness therapy ?

Answer 13

complete removal of the individual from environments where video games are accessible

Question 14

The brain imaging study revealed that the structure and activity in the part of the brain associated with reward processing was bigger in frequent gamers, how is called this brain structure ?

Answer 14

ventral striatum

Question 15

According to Daphné Bavelier, what percentage of school-aged individuals are playing video games?

Answer 15

90%

Question 16

A videogame can be best defined by the following description:

Answer 16

The action of the game must take place interactively on-screen

Question 17

What is the experimental procedure initiated in Toronto and described by Daphné Bavelier in order to test mental orientation abilities of action video gamers?

Answer 17

Step1. Mental orientation task // Step2. Play 10 hours of action games : shots of 40 minutes, several days over a period of 2 weeks // Step 3. Tested again after some days on a comparable but different mental orientation task.

Question 18

How would you define Jacob’s general theory of addiction mentioned page 67 of your textbook?

Answer 18

• Any activity that has the capacity to be either arousing and/or relaxing, and that can allow a person to be distracted from his/her normal life, is likely to be engaged in excessively by some individuals.
• The relation between an individual and his/her addictive behavior is rooted in a need to increase or decrease arousal levels.

Question 19

According to your textbook, on which area(s) tend to focus existing research on video gaming?

Answer 19

The negative effects of playing video-games on one hand and the pedagogical use on the other. hand.

Question 20

Which media influence is considered to contribute the most to aggression in people?

Answer 20

Violent video games

Question 21

T/F : ome studies have found that violent video games significantly increase aggression

Answer 21

True

Question 22

What are the main results of Chappel et al.’s study mentioned in the book page 66 ?

Answer 22

• Some core components of addiction were found but not all of it.
• Individuals use functional attribution i.e. they pathologize their behavior as a way of eliminating self-blame and “excusing” their behavior.

Question 23

Neuroimaging studies have shown

Answer 23

That people who play a lot of video games have a problem to control themselves and are more emotive

Question 24

More gray matter volume in the part of the brain is known to be an evidence of

Answer 24

Reward and addiction

Question 25

In the “you tube” film, Daphné Bavelier makes people participate to a test that consists of a colour named word being presented in a conflicting coloured ink; for example the word red is written in yellow ink. Do you know the name of this test (see Film No11 in your textbook to help you)?

Answer 25

Stroop test

Question 26

According to Daphné Bavelier, how many objects can an action video gamer track in comparison to a non-payer?

Answer 26

An action video gamer can have a span of 6 to 7 objects of attention whereas a non-player has a span of 3 or 4 objects of attention

Question 27

In her speech, Daphné Bavelier speaks about a study on high multimedia taskers. Whats are the general results of this study taking place in Stanford University?

Answer 27

Stanford researchers have shown that media multi taskers (for example, talk on the phone, send an instant message and read your e-mail all at once) are in danger and that such multiple actions may impair their cognitive control

Question 28

The term used to describe players tending to stay with one game site longer than with other Web sites is:

Answer 28

sticky