‘It’s only a game’ — ethics, empathy and identification in game morality systems

Heron, Michael; Belford, Pauline

doi:10.1007/bf03392356

Cited by 27 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…This paper represents only an illustrative discussion of ethical issues raised in the Scandal in Academia [27], but hopefully serves to show the value of a coherent case study in offering an opportunity to analyze professional behaviour.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ethics in context

Heron

Belford²

2014

SIGCAS Comput. Soc.

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The delivery of ethical instruction within formal educational contexts is a task that is fraught with difficulties. Real world situations and examples of misconduct abound, but sourcing sufficient material within the constraints associated with developing course materials can be time-consuming.The availability of resources to illustrate relevant aspects may not be available, or may not fully emphasize the issues that educators wish to incorporate into their discussion of the material. At best, such an approach can only highlight in isolation -larger, overarching connections are rarely available. The provision of ethical instruction is now a core aspect of many undergraduate and postgraduate courses across a variety of disciplines, and accreditation bodies often include meeting the need for instruction in ethical and professional issues as a pre-requisite. In this paper we present a wide-ranging ethical case study called 'A Scandal in Academia'. It is a spiritual successor to the Case of the Killer Robot first published in the very early 1990s. The Scandal in Academia study has been trialed with students at all levels of the undergraduate curriculum and has been very effective in offering a coherent jumping-off point for a discussion of the implications of ethical and unethical activity. It is hoped that the provision of this study will be a useful tool for educators and others looking to investigate and present issues of professional responsibility within formal and informal contexts.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of the issue of meaningful ethical instruction is complicated by the emotional distance that students can put between themselves and the topic [27] [13]. The book was an extension of papers published in ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society newsletters [12] [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethics in context

Heron

Belford²

2014

SIGCAS Comput. Soc.

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“…A meta-analysis showed support for the use of gamification to foster behaviour change across a variety of contexts and disciplines (Hamari et al, 2014). Gamification has the potential to act as a compelling driver for moral or ethical reflection (Heron & Belford, 2014). While existing education and behaviour change approaches are predominantly didactic and traditional; gamification offers a more engaging approach in classroom settings.…”

Section: Gamification In Social Marketingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A gamified approach to promoting empathy in children

Saleme

Dietrich

Pang

et al. 2020

JSOCM

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Purpose Gamification has gained popularity in social marketing research; however, its application remains limited to a few contexts, and relatively little is known about how innovative gamification technologies such as augmented reality can be applied to social marketing programme design. This paper aims to demonstrate the application of gamification to a social marketing pilot programme designed to increase children’s empathy and empathic behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Informed by social cognitive theory (SCT), a mixed-method research design was adopted using pre- and post-programme surveys (n = 364) to assess effectiveness using paired samples t-test. Qualitative data included observations, participant’s questions and a feedback activity at the end of the programme. A thematic analysis was undertaken to examine the data and detect meaningful insights. Findings Children’s affective empathy and empathic behaviour outcomes were improved following the pilot programme. However, no effects were observed for cognitive empathy and social norms. Thematic analysis revealed three themes to further improve the game: developmentally appropriate design, user experience and game design. Research limitations/implications Findings demonstrated challenges with the application of SCT outlining a disconnect between the design of the gamified programme and theory application. Practical implications This study provides initial evidence for the application of innovative gamification technologies to increase empathy in children. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to examine how a gamified social marketing programme can increase empathy in children.

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“…Franchise canon represents common ground for the discussion of what happened within a title, but it is too narrow and too fixed a lens to offer any real opportunity for critical reflection on the emotional resonance that accompanies the playing of a video game. Mechanical canon is absolute and inviolable, but does not offer a view on the meaning of player actions and narrative context except in the negation of options and what those themselves may imply about the developer (Heron and Belford 2014b). …”

Section: A Quantum Interpretation Of Video Game Canonicitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pacman’s Canon in C#: A Quantum Interpretation of Video Game Canon

Heron

2017

Comput Game J

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The topic of what constitutes canon with a video game is an underexplored topic in critical discussion. We rely, as a field, on largely intuitive and insubstantial parameters for the elements that we choose to analyse. This paper outlines the role of canon in the creation of popular media franchises, and the specific complexities that arise from treating video games as part of the same broad spectrum as more passive media such as books and movies. It puts forward a theory of canonicty that allows for all expression of player agency to be canonical simultaneously for the purposes of analysis and discussion-this is a kind of quantum interpretation. It concludes with an argument as to why what we consider to be viable canonical elements within video games must be tightly constrained if we are to give ourselves the best intellectual base from which to function.

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‘It’s only a game’ — ethics, empathy and identification in game morality systems

Cited by 27 publications

References 31 publications

Ethics in context

Ethics in context

A gamified approach to promoting empathy in children

Pacman’s Canon in C#: A Quantum Interpretation of Video Game Canon

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