Arcade Video Games: Proxemic, Cognitive and Content Analyses

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The purpose of this enquiry was to determine the psychological complexity and reinforcement characteristics of a sample of the most popular arcade video games; to determine sex differences in game content and clientèle; to describe the social structure of arcade clientèle; to describe certain human-to-human interaction contingencies of the games; and to determine the value content of the games with particular attention to violence. Eighteen large video arcades in the Montreal urban center were sampled. Twenty-one of the most popular video games were assessed in detail. Fifty five girls and 443 boys were observed in the arcades. It was concluded that the task demands of these video games were cognitively, perceptually and motorically extremely varied. The vast majority of the games comprised combinations of continuous and fixed ratio appetitive and aversive reinforcement contingencies. Male qualities were highly over-represented in the games and boys vastly outnumbered girls and were more active consumers but did not manifest stronger preference for violent games than the girls. Though the majority of clients were solitary, a large proportion were not. Most games allowed sequential competition, a small minority, only solitary play, and none, cooperation. Many games contained antisocial values of a violent nature.