Examining human behavior in video games: The development of a computational model to measure aggression

Abstract

Video games with violent content have raised considerable concern in popular media and within academia. Recently, there has been considerable attention regarding the claim of the relationship between aggression and video game play. The authors of this study propose the use of a new class of tools developed via computational models to allow examination of the question of whether there is a relationship between violent video games and aggression. The purpose of this study is to computationally model and compare the General Aggression Model with the Diathesis Mode of Aggression related to the play of violent content in video games. A secondary purpose is to provide a method of measuring and examining individual aggression arising from video game play. Total participants examined for this study are N = 1065. This study occurs in three phases. Phase 1 is the development and quantification of the profile combination of traits via latent class profile analysis. Phase 2 is the training of the artificial neural network. Phase 3 is the comparison of each model as a computational model with and without the presence of video game violence. Results suggest that a combination of environmental factors and genetic predispositions trigger aggression related to video games.

Photogrammetry and GIS in Human-Occupied Digital Landscapes

“…When a player builds something in a digital space, the chances are good that natural habits will persist in the synthetic landscape, albeit confined to what is permitted by the rules of the game. Although relatively new to archaeology, research into human behavior in digital environments reflective of human behavior in the physical world frequently appears in the published research of other disciplines: anthropology (Billieux et al 2013; Boellstorff 2008), behavioral science (Braun et al 2016; Cochrane et al 2020; Shim and Srivastava 2010; Subhashree et al 2019), neuroscience (Lamb et al 2017), psychology (Halbrook et al 2019; Norman et al 2005; von der Heiden 2019), and sociology (Seay et al 2004; Williams et al 2006). Archaeologists can borrow from this field-adjacent research while also contributing to it.…”

Computational Modeling of the Effects of the Science Writing Heuristic on Student Critical Thinking in Science Using Machine Learning

“…CT systems have been localized using neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI (Japardi et al 2018) and fNIRS (Lamb et al 2018) to study critical thinking tasks and intensities of activity associate with the tasks (Barbey et al, 2012). The modeling of cognitive processes such as CT assumes that there are interconnecting and interacting hierarchical cognitive systems which produce consistent intensity and locations of activity when tested with a task which elicits activity from that cognitive system.…”

“…An ANN is the computational aspect of this study's model. Specific information for the way the CM in this study was developed can be examined in a series of papers (Lamb et al, 2018;Lamb et al, 2012;Lamb et al, 2019). The ANN in combination with the derived model approximates the design of human cognitive systems which are often non-linear and engaged in parallel processing (Berger et al 2012).…”

Adapting child-centered play therapy for children with spinal muscular atrophy.

“…For children with SMA, virtual reality has the possibility of allowing them to fully immerse themselves in authentic play experiences, as well as provide them the ability to manipulate play materials they may not otherwise be able to use as fully due to their physical limitations. According to Lamb, Annetta, Hoston, Shapiro, and Matthews (2018), “These experiences allow children to engage in social scripting, environmental control, and exploration in a safe, soft-failure environment” (p. 25). This is particularly beneficial to children with SMA, as virtual reality can facilitate creativity and provide more opportunities for problem-solving and decision-making than they may otherwise experience (Lamb, Annetta, Hoston, Shapiro, & Matthews, 2018).…”

“…According to Lamb, Annetta, Hoston, Shapiro, and Matthews (2018), “These experiences allow children to engage in social scripting, environmental control, and exploration in a safe, soft-failure environment” (p. 25). This is particularly beneficial to children with SMA, as virtual reality can facilitate creativity and provide more opportunities for problem-solving and decision-making than they may otherwise experience (Lamb, Annetta, Hoston, Shapiro, & Matthews, 2018).…”