Dreams and video game play games for health conference 2010
Transcript of Dreams and video game play games for health conference 2010
Dreams and Video Game Play
Jayne Gackenbach
Grant MacEwan University & Athabasca University
Games for Health 2010 ConferenceBoston, MA
Why are dreams important?
• Rich history across most cultures• Royal road to the unconscious – Freud
– While opened up dreams as important, he also pathologized them
• With discovery of REM sleep and the sleep laboratory, dreams entered science
• While not local only to REM, those that are most recalled and most often puzzled about are typically REM dreams
Why are dreams important?
• Function of dreams increasingly clear– Evolutionary threat/play (Revonsuo; Humphrey)– Emotional Regulation, especially negative
emotions (Kramer; Nielsen; Zadra)– Memory integration & consolidation (Stickgold)– Problem-solving, creative inspiration (Barrett)– Metacognition (LaBerge; Kahan; Kahn)
• All this serves personal and interpersonal needs if shared and processed but need not be
• Media saturated society– Video game play represents the most immersive and
interactive media experience• Isn’t it all just incorporation?
– Yes gamers dream about games– And no,
• Example of value of studying gamers dreams...
Why study gamers dreams?
Gamers dreams show fundamental structural differences
Presence in Games and Dreams
• Dreams have been called the “gold standard” for presence (sense of being there) in VR and games (Revonsuo; Moller & Barbera)
• Never measured until now (Gackenbach & Rosie, 2010)– Played Mirror’s Edge in lab before sleep– Gathered dreams for next two weeks– Presence measured after game and after dreams
• Presence sum score NO DIFFERENCE• Items (12) got 4 differences 8 NO DIFFERENCE:
– The dream/game caused real feelings and emotions for me. (Dream > Game)
– Overall how much did the things/people in the dream/game look like they would if you had experienced them in waking reality? (Dream > Game)
– How much did you feel like the events of the dream/game were happening to you? (Dream > Game)
– How often did you feel "My body was in bed, but my mind was inside my dream" or "My body was in this room, but my mind was inside the environment I saw/heard"? (Game > Dream)
Presence in Games and Dreams
Gamer Defined
• Play video games on average several times a week
• Typical playing session more than 1 or 2 hours• Played 50 or more video games over your
lifetime• Been playing video games since before grade
threeType of Game Preferred only considered in latest
studies, seemed to make no difference 5 years ago
Dream Dimensions Examined
• Lucid and Control Dreams• Bizarreness and Creativity• Nightmares and Threat
Simulation
Lucid – Control Dreams
• Gackenbach, J.I. (2006). Video game play and lucid dreams: Implications for the development of consciousness. Dreaming, 16(2), 96-110.
• Gackenbach, J.I. & Kuruvilla, B. (2008). Video game play effects on dreams: Self-evaluation and content analysis. Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture. 2(2), 169-186.
• Gackenbach, J.I. (2009). Video Game Play and Consciousness Development: A Replication and Extension. International Journal of Dream Research, 2(1), 3-11.
Lucid – Control Dreams & Gaming
• Subject #014: Lucidity triggered by an eventMichael: Well, once Jean Grey (a marvel comic
and video game character) got loose and started killing people, I was like this is really weird this is
probably a dream and it was like right after that she showed up and I told myself that I need to
wake up. I thought that something bad was supposed to happen and I didn’t want it to happen so I should
wake up.Gackenbach, et al. (2009)
Control Dreaming
In Class Data Collection
2.052.1
2.152.2
2.252.3
2.352.4
2.452.5
Low VideoGame Play
Medium VideoGame Play
High VideoGame Play
Co
ntr
ol
Dre
amin
g
2= rarely
3=
sometimes
In Class Data Collection
2.32.352.4
2.452.5
2.552.6
2.652.7
2.75
Low VideoGame Play
Medium VideoGame Play
High VideoGame Play
Lu
cid
Dre
amin
g F
req
uen
cyLucid Dreaming
2= rarely
3=
sometimes
Gamer Sample Lucid/Control Dream
• Subject #014: Lucidity triggered by an eventWell, once Jean Grey (a marvel comic and
video game character) got loose and started killing people, I was like this is really weird this is probably a dream and it was like right after that she showed
up and I told myself that I need to wake up. I thought that something bad was supposed to happen and I
didn’t want it to happen so I should wake up.Gackenbach, 2006, 2009a, b; & Kurvilla, 2008;
Gackenbach, et al. (2009).
Methodological Refinement
• Gackenbach, J.I. (2009) Electronic media and lucid-control dreams: Morning after reports. Dreaming, 19(1), 1-6.
Methodological Refinement
• Previous studies long term retrospective memory• Collected Dream report and when• Normal sleep length and rested amount• Questions on media use history and media used
the day before dream• Questions reflecting about dream reported• Dreams (N=152) for analysis were chosen if:
– Last night– Rested (had typical amount of sleep)
Factor 1
Clarity of dream -.001Lucidity .391
Type of Observer (hi=3rd per) .121Control .527
Nightmare .185Electronic media .025
mean of audio only media (phone, radio, CD/mp3) .436mean of audio and video media (TV/DVD, movie) .413
mean of interactive media (computer/internet, vid gm) .718gamer groups (0 = non-gamer, 1 = low, 2 = mod, 3 = high) .653
Last night, rested dreams, N = 152
Principal Component Factor Analysis on Dream, Gamer and Media Use
Dreams
Self
Labeled
Day Before
Media Use
Parallels video gaming/lucidity
• Video game Play1. video games
technologically constructed alternative realities
2. Video gaming has been associated with improved spatial skills
3. Low motion sickness needed to play a lot
4. High absorption is reported by players
• Lucid/control dreams1. Dream worlds
biologically constructed alternative realities
2. Lucid dreamers show better spatial skills
3. Lucid dreamers have better vestibular systems (not susceptible to motion sickness)
4. Meditation is highly associated with lucidity and is training in developing one pointed absorption
Is the Lucidity – Video Game Play Association Self Selection?
• Yes– To be a serious player you
need to not suffer motion sickness
– For serious game play spatial skills are an advantage
– Most games of serious players cater to boys
– Those who are able to get absorbed should do better
• No– Almost all children
through to young adults play some form these days
– Spatial skills improve with play
– Girl games are being developed and is a large growing market
– Attention/absorption improve with play
Bottom Line
• Gaming is too wide spread to reduce to purely self selection
• There is increasing social pressure to play
• Gaming is only one part of our networked life
Percent growth in US 2006-2007
Original Dream Content Analysis
• Hall &Van de Castle Coding System
• Frequency equals intensity
• High inter-rater reliability
• Well developed norms
• Uses categories which are pertinent to waking
concerns that may influence dreaming.
• Those that lead to further research were:
• characters, aggression and misfortune.• Gackenbach, J.I., Matty, I., Kuruvilla, B., Samaha, A. N., Zederayko, A., Olischefski, J.
& Von Stackelberg, H. (2009). Video game play: Waking and dreaming consciousness. S. Krippner (Ed.), Perchance To Dream, Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, p. 239-253.
27 gamers56 dreams male norms
Significant Differences from Male Norms
More dead or imaginary characters appearing in dream reports (21% vs 0%).
Why be human in a game? They have fewer powers than other types of creatures.
Dead or Imaginary Characters
Subject 001- Dream 11 “I dreamt I was a character is Underworld 2, it was a
werewolf character and then I became a 3rd person. It was the two main characters, it was the vampire girl and a hybrid werewolf character and I was another werewolf character beside them and we went into a vampire coven and we got to the weapons section of the vampire coven and then I woke up”
• Later looked at bizarreness due to this finding
Dream Aggression
• Smaller number of dreams with aggression (32% vs 47%)
• Yet more intense aggression (namely physical aggression, 86% vs 50%) when it happened
Dream Aggression Example
Subject 002- Dream 6 “… I went outside … with my cat and shot these
criminals that were trying to eat my dad and they were on top of my dad trying to eat his arms and he was fighting them off, and they were trying to hold him down and bite his shoulders and there was blood and stuff. And it was a very graphic shootout for a dream; it was very blood and guts ya know? And when I ran out of ammunition there was like pistol whipping and stuff going on and that one sticks out in my mind because it was very graphic…”.
Dream Misfortunes
Fewer Misfortunes
(7% vs 36%)
Fewer Bodily Misfortunes
(0% vs 29%)
Thus less victim /more control
Aggression and misfortune
findings lead to threat simulation
and nightmare questions
Dream Bizarreness
• Gackenbach, J. I., Kuruvilla, B., & Dopko, R. (2009). Video game play and dream bizarreness. Dreaming, 19(4), 218-231.
• Gackenbach, J.I. & Dopko, R. (in submission). The Relationship between Video Game Play, Dream Bizarreness, and Creativity. Consciousness and Cognition.
• Domhoff – 2007 meta-analysis– dreams are more coherent,
patterned and thoughtful than previously suggested
– still some bizarreness in adult dreams
– far less than what was expected based
Illusion of Dream Bizarreness
Methods
• Study 1: Recent Dreams– Self reported dream questions– Various media use information
• Study 2: Two Week Online Dream Diary– Features that were bizarre for subject– Various media use information– Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
• Verbal and the figural tests
• Revonsuo & Salmivalli Content Analysis
Covariates: sex, # words in dream, # hours of video game play day before dreamDreams were 279 from low end gamers and 162 from high end gamers
Unusual (subject)
Bizarre (judges)
Non-bizarre (judges)
Low Game Group High Game Group
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking
• No gamer group difference for verbal test• Significant differences for figural test
favoring high gamer group
1 2 3 4 5Game history sum of z-scores -.317 .748 -.260 .097 -.026
Mean # hours played video game pre-dreams -.304 .699 -.188 -.125 -.156
Sex of subject (1=M; 2=F) .402 -.640 .282 -.115 -.047
Average number of words in dreams .885 .183 -.145 .095 -.050
Number of dream reported in diary .490 .213 .135 .518 .117
Dream recall sum of z-scores -.158 .150 .256 .652 .282
Discontinuous bizarreness mean .708 .256 -.102 -.294 -.210
Vague bizarreness mean .350 .168 -.409 .016 .656
Incongrous overall bizarreness mean .647 .473 .075 -.302 .085
Non-bizarreness mean .813 -.038 .054 .266 -.222
Average of sums of dream unusual elements .016 .240 .572 -.422 .534
Verbal creativity sum .005 .186 .799 .007 -.037
Figural creativity sum .428 -.097.073
.563-.331
Gaming, Bizarreness & Creativity
Factor Analysis on Game Play, Lucid Related Dream & Bizarreness Variables
Video game history (freq, length, # games, age begin) .760 -.214 .377 .101Video Games played day before dream .694 -.127 .467 -.025Recent Dream - Lucidity .305 -.258 -.746 -.158Recent Dream - Type of Observer (Hi=observer) .271 -.028 -.060 -.806Recent Dream - Control .570 -.239 -.447 .215nonbizarreness mean .071 .706 -.035 -.119vagueness variables mean .322 .371 .129 .196discontinuous mean .047 .642 -.187 .242Incongruous distorted sum .324 .384 -.043 -.311Incongruous exotic sum .378 .482 -.159 .051Incongruous impossible sum .282 -.121 -.243 .355
Gaming loads with and without
lucidity-control but with lucidity-
control you have bizarreness
Gackenbach, J.I. & Hunt, H. (2010, April). Video Game Play and Lucid Dreaming as Socially Constructed Meditative Absorption. Paper to be presented at the biannual meeting entitled "Toward a Science of Consciousness" sponsored by the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Nightmares & Threat Simulation
• Gackenbach, J.I. & Kuruvilla, B. (2008). The relationship between video game play and threat simulation dreams. Dreaming, 18(4), 236-256.
Threat Simulation Theory
• dreaming is an adaptive process with an evolutionary foundation (Revonsuo, 2000).
• dreaming allows us to simulate threatening situations in the safety of a virtual environment of dreams.
• continued practice would allow an individual to better prepare for these possibly dangerous instances, were they to arise in the waking world
Dreams Collected
• Online Questionnaires• night before dreams only,
– average hours since dream to recollection being under one hour
• minimum word count of 40 words • 98 participants/dreams
– 35 males – 63 females
1 2
Sex of subject: Male=1; female=2 -.011 -.589
Z-score for gamer type -.015 .453
Mean objective rating of video game .040 .901
Percent of maximum length of play score .047 .817
Type of game sum favorite + current -.029 .458
Mean for TV violence rating .368 .132
Mean movie violence rating .333 .189
Threat simulation present=2, absent=1 .917 -.090
Nature of threat recoded no harm to aggressive .903 -.060
Sum of the number of threats from target threat .936 -.080
Severity of threat recoded, none to life threat .908 -.097
Dream recall .119 .085
Lucidity in dream -.062 .129
Observer point of view in dream .137 -.074
Control in dream .143 .054
Was dream a nightmare .690 -.023
Dream scariness .526 -.034
Dream violence .511 .314
Day
Before
Media
Use
Threat
Simulatio
n
Self Report
on Dream
GamingPrinciple Component Factor Analysis of Media, Threat Simulation Intensity, and Dream Self Evaluation Variables
Nightmares versus Bad Dreams
• Le, H. & Gackenbach, J. (2009). Nightmares of Video Game Players: What do They Look Like? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, Chicago, ILL.
Method
• Participants– 231 low- and 222 high end gamers
• Instruments– Media usage questionnaire– Impactful dreams questionnaire (Lucid,
Nightmares, Mystical, and Bad dreams)• Content Analysis
– Hall and Van de Castle’s method for content analysis (HVDC)
HVDC Aggression Sum Score
Gaming Groups (1=low; 2=high)2.001.00
Estim
ated
Mar
gina
l Mea
ns
1.75
1.50
1.25
1.00
0.75
2.001.00
1=bad 2=ntmr
Estimated Marginal Means of aggression sum
Nightmares
Bad Dreams
Low Game Group High Game Group
HVDC Misfortune Sum Score
Gaming Groups (1=low; 2=high)2.001.00
Est
imat
ed M
argin
al M
eans
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
2.001.00
1=bad 2=ntmr
Estimated Marginal Means of misfortune body
Bad Dreams
Nightmares
Low Game Group High Game Group
Judge Rated Emotionality (HVDC)
• Consistent findings with previous research
• Nightmares had more negative emotions than bad dreams
• No interaction with gaming group
Self-Rated Emotionality Scale of Dream
• Self rated emotions: anger, awe, sexual arousal, anxiety, fear, guilt, frustration, sadness, hatred, happiness, jealousy, and embarrassment
• Negative emotions (anxiety, frustration, and fear) were found to be higher in bad dreams for high-end gamers
• While positive emotions (sexual arousal and happiness) were found to be greater in nightmares for high end gamers!!!
No gamer group
difference or dream type
difference
Gaming Groups (1=low; 2=high)2.001.00
Estim
ated
Mar
gina
l Mea
ns
2.25
2
1.75
1.5
1.25
2.001.00
1=bad 2=ntmr
Estimated Marginal Means of Emotion & Intensity: anxiety
Gaming Groups (1=low; 2=high)2.001.00
Estim
ated
Mar
gina
l Mea
ns
4.2
4
3.8
3.6
3.4
3.2
3
2.001.00
1=bad 2=ntmr
Estimated Marginal Means of Emotion & Intensity: happiness
Self Reported Emotions: Sample Subscales
Bad Dreams
NightmaresBad Dreams
Nightmares
Low Game Group
High Game Group
Low Game Group
High Game Group
Anxiety Happiness
Hall & Van de Castle Content Analysis of Lucid vs Nonlucid Dreams of Gamers from 4 Previous Studies
Gender Dream Row totals
male Lucid 53
male nonlucid 219
female Lucid 27
female nonlucid 131
total 430
Gackenbach, J.I. & Hunt, H. (2010, April). Video Game Play and Lucid Dreaming as Socially Constructed Meditative Absorption. Paper to be presented at the biannual meeting entitled "Toward a Science of Consciousness" sponsored by the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Lucidity Dream Type Differences among Gamers
Significant difference variables All gamers Nonlucids
All gamers Lucids
Social Interaction Percents
Aggressor Percent 26% 44%Settings
Familiar Setting Percent 50% 35%Self-Concept Percents
Self-Negativity Percent 85% 65% Dreamer-Involved Success Percent 38% 77%Dreams with at Least One:
Sexuality 03% 10% Success 07% 14%
Participant - Observer Gamer
Opinion of how video games enter into dreams
• Lucidity, bizarreness, yes.• Aggression, sometimes.• nightmares very rare• 3rd person
“I’ve just noticed that sometimes I’m just there as a hovering spirit watching things go on and I don’t really have a role … I don’t even pop up in my dreams, it’s just like I’m watching a movie … I feel emotion definitely regardless of whether or not I’m the person involved” – s16
Conclusions & Implications
• Lucidity/control– Do these preliminary results imply that
lucid/control dreaming will become widespread given the saturation of media?
• Bizarreness– Are gamers semantic networks more diverse?
• Aggression/Threat Simulation– Does gaming protect the person against
nightmares?
For more information....
• Email for slides and/or papers:– [email protected]
• Some of presentation summarized in this book chapter– Gackenbach, J.I., Kuruvilla, B., Dopko, R. & Le, H.
(2010). Chapter 5: Dreams and video game play. In F. Columbus (Ed.), Computer Games: Learning Objectives, Cognitive Performance and Effects on Development, Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.