ABOUT US:   Game Psych — what is it?

 

Once there was a psychology student who liked to play games. Through 12 years of college she played games. By the time she was “developed,” so was the gaming industry.  Better games won out over position papers as a meaningful life activity.  Developing a good game turned out to be a lot more intellectually challenging than adding a new self-help plan to bookstore overload. In short, she became a gamer psychologist, or Game Psych for short. And never looked back. And lived happily ever after.

 

In all seriousness, gaming activity offers a rich field for psychological inquiry, and for far more than the usual questions of whether violent games encourage violent behavior, or whether education can be made more enjoyable if more gamelike.

 

The suggestions on the Weird Science pages are not totally tongue-in-cheek. Psychophysical problems aren’t gone yet, thanks to the unnatural effects of technology. Even the concepts of “fun” and “game” could be sharpened in the context of gaming. And whoever is collecting demographic data about gamers seems to be collecting the data from the people who already own the games that were designed for their demographic—in other words, there is not necessarily an overall consistency between surveys.

 

Because I have no interest in reinventing the wheel or stealing from more serious authors, I’ve included links to many other “Game Psych” sites and I hope they are explored and appreciated for their own views.

 

Lenore S. Hoehl, PhD, RN

 

 

 

What can I do for Psychology today?

I think I’ll play a game while I consider it.

OUR MOTTO:

 

A Day Without a Game is like a Night Without a Dream

 www.gamepsych.info