In children, self-directed movement leads to a better representation of the physical environment (Shantz & Watson, 1971). They also found that the more realistic the virtual campus model, the greater the transfer of knowledge to the real campus. A corollary conclusion would be that regardless of the amount (or type) of experience gained in a desktop VE, or how realistic or complex the representation of the environment is, in the absence of bodily cues.
Something similar can happen when a person accustomed to an electric wheelchair associates their control of the wheelchair with the visual landscape.). These changes typically had more to do with advances in technology than any meaningful difference in the skills and abilities used to play the older and newer versions of the games. To determine the extent to which the different skills are used in the different video game categories, I had 10 habitual video game players rate the types of games based on definitions for each of the skills used in different genres.
Video game players rated the degree to which each skill was used in each type and subtype of video game on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high). I calculated a mean rating for each skill for each of the main types of video games (see Table 1).
ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE
The data of 104 participants were not used due to excessive missing data (ie, completing less than half of the questionnaire). Data from Study 2 also enabled a more direct examination of the validity of some questionnaire scales. Additionally, two items were removed from Factor 1 because they did not relate to the rest of the scale in the expected direction (they involved having accounts on online gaming sites and for the game World of Warcraft).
As expected, some of the final factors were significantly correlated, but all correlations were less than 0.3 (see Table 4). More results regarding the reliability and validity of the questionnaire scales are presented in Study 2. However, these analyzes closely matched the pattern of results found using the factors and did not contribute meaningfully to the interpretation of the data.
Factor analysis produced 3 questionnaire factors similar to those expected a priori based on the design of the items. In retrospect, the design of the video game genre questions may have placed limitations on the conclusions I could draw from the preference data.
VIDEO GAME TRAINING EXPERIMENT
I also opted for a self-guided approach to allow for automated test execution in the future. After the orientation, we continued to the starting point of the Real-World Map Task (RWMT), which we always solved first for theoretical and practical reasons. At the beginning of the game, players create a character that they will use for the rest of the game.
More than 75% of the sample reported looking at the map at least 30 times during the training period. Therefore, the new orientation of the character must be adjusted faster and more accurately. I expected these aspects of game play to have a positive effect on basic visuospatial skills, particularly the ability to mentally rotate.
Save files allowed some verification of the game logs and provided proof that participants were playing the assigned game. I read participants' estimates of the heading of distant landmarks from the compass edge (in 5 degree increments), based on the position of the North (red) compass needle. After controlling for the effect of the spatial tests (the Motor Free Visual Perception Test and Mental Rotation Test) and spelling, the correlation between the
Although mental rotation scores did not mediate the relationship between scores on the Picture Map and Real World Map tasks, these discrepancies remain a possible reason for test difficulty. Perhaps, the display of the measured distance (from the limit sign to the stop) at the beginning of real-world testing may have interfered with the strategies of participants who might otherwise have searched for the scale on the map. Scores on the Real World Map Test were correlated with most other navigation and spatial variables.
Variants of both real-world navigation tests from the current study have been used previously in navigation research. Scores for heading and distance estimates were calculated for all of the above analyzes using the exact distance and direction from the actual location that participants were standing to the target dot location. This recalculation had only minor effects on the data and did not change any of the resulting conclusions.
Specific written directions from all the major highways had to be added to the map to cut down on the number of people who got lost while trying to find the most recognizable park in town. Another possible explanation for the ineffectiveness of the training is the relatively small amount of time the participants played. Nevertheless, an examination of the games used in this study in comparison to the game used in Feng et al.
There were a number of significant sex-related differences in both studies reported here.
QUESTION TYPES
Video Game Screening Questionnaire – Questionnaire administered by email prior to enrollment in the study to assess participants' exposure to video games and their gaming habits. Real-World Map Test (RWMT) – While guided along a route through the park, participants were stopped at 3 specified locations. Lovelace (2006) – A measure of spatial learning that required participants to learn the location layout of 4 landmarks while guided on a fixed route through the park.
After the first lap, participants were taken back to the start of the route and followed the same route again, stopping at each landmark and making straight-line distance and direction estimates to each of the other 3 invisible landmarks. Motor-Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT - Colarusso & Hammill, 2003) – a standardized multiple-choice book-type measure of general spatial ability that includes mental rotation items, embedded figure items, items requiring the detection of small differences in stimuli, etc. Vocabulary Test (Spelling) – The Woodcock-Johnson III Vocabulary Subscale (Woodcock, Mather, & McGrew, 2001) was used as a measure of verbal ability (for discriminant validity versus spatial measures).
The average of 7 of these questions was combined into a scale to measure the participants' enjoyment of the game. Elder Scrolls Exit Survey - A 19-item Likert scale and open-ended questionnaire about experiences with the game. Portal Exit Survey - A Likert-scale and open-ended questionnaire with 16 items about experiences with the game that were specific to Portal.
Journal - Participants were asked to keep a study journal documenting the date, time, and duration of their game sessions, as well as game-specific information related to their progress and/or map use. Save Game Files - Participants were asked to continuously save new versions of their save files to keep a chronological record of their play time and to verify progress during the game. Due to using the Steam software distribution platform to authenticate and update copies of the game Portal, I contacted Valve Corporation to study so that I could be allowed to open multiple accounts (one for each copy) using a single name and e. - mailing address.
The effects of action video game experience on the time course of inhibition of return and efficiency of visual search. 2003) Motor-free visual perception test third edition. Spatial abilities at different scales: Individual differences in aptitude test performance and spatial-layout learning, Intelligence. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, 119-126.
