Doing a research project. Want to participate?

AntiMatter_16 on 29/5/2009 at 05:16

I'm currently rethinking this experiment, so don't participate, yet.

Hello all, I'm doing a research project related to that age old debate of video game violence and aggression. My study is investing a possible connection between frustration and aggression, rather than violence and aggression.

To examine this relationship, I need some participants to play the Halo 1 level "The Silent Cartographer" on one of the four difficulty levels for 30 minutes, then immediately take a test called the "State Hostility scale" (Halo Demo if you don't own it and State Hostility Scale downloadable below), then E-mail me the results and the difficulty level you played on. My E-mail address is: antimatter_16 (at) hotmail . com

The difficulty level you play will depend on the month your birthday falls in. Play on easy if you birthday is in Jan-March, normal for April-June, hard for July-Sept, or legendary for Oct-Dec. (This is for random assignment.)

If you don't own a copy of Halo, you can download the Halo 1 demo (Which contains the level "The Silent Cartographer") from one of the mirrors at this link:
(http://www.megagames.com/news/show.cgi?&idtype=demos&database=559&section=downloads&) Halo 1 Demo for PC Mirror list on Megagames
(http://www.macgamefiles.com/detail.php?item=18748) Halo 1 Demo for Mac

The State Hostility Scale was developed by Craig A. Anderson, and is downloadable from his website here:
(http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/Scales/Shos.pdf) Direct Link to State Hostility Scale (PDF)

Some research has indicated aggression changes after playing video games are temporary, so it is important to take the test immediately after 30 minutes of play has elapsed, and have the test ready. The PDF contains instructions for grading. Feel free to print the test out, or just write down your answers in notepad, or on a piece of paper.

This post is going to double as a consent form, so if you decide to participate, you can withdraw at any time without predjudice, and you accept whatever effects that playing halo 1 will have on you (if any). =P If you have any additional questions, feel free to E-mail me at antimatter_16 ( at ) hotmail . com

Thank you!

henke on 29/5/2009 at 05:31

Suggesting people on this forum should play Halo is going to generate a lot of hostility. You don't need a test to figure that one out. ;)

I'll try to remember to play it tonight on my X-Box and fill out yer thingy. :)

Rogue Keeper on 29/5/2009 at 08:18

Your project looks very interesting. Actually I considered similar topic for my diploma thesis at uni, but since I lack appropriate psychological backround, I researched gaming from other aspects (from the end of mass media & their social impact).

Indeed I have some antipathy towards HALO (consolitis and hype issues - but I didn't play it before), but for you I will take the role of a laboratory rat anyway. Who knows, I may even like it! *EEEEEEEEEK!*

I am disappointed though that I'll have to play on EASY. It won't cause me much frustration and anger I presume.

I will DL the demo, test myself during the weekend and I'll let you know next week, k?

Wish me good lick.

Vivian on 29/5/2009 at 08:43

The test is literally 'do you feel angry now, yes/no'?
Sheesh. Good luck.

Oh yeah, you also left the bit on the test sheet that the assessor is only supposed to see. You might want to pull that bit out in case it fucks with your results, such as they are.

Xorak on 29/5/2009 at 08:44

I'll give this a go, but it'll have to wait a couple days until I finish some school essays I'm working on.

Macha on 29/5/2009 at 12:54

Our aggression before the video game is a variable that should be tested otherwise this is a methodlogical issue.

Queue on 29/5/2009 at 12:58

Will there be shock therapy?

...and torture, ever so lovely torture.

henke on 29/5/2009 at 13:59

Oh wait, some questions:
What if we finish the level in less than 30 minutes?
How do you want the answers sent to you? I mean, it's a PDF. Would you mind typing it out here on the forum so we can just copy/paste and put our Ns and Ys in the rigtht places?

Enchantermon on 29/5/2009 at 15:13

Even though I passionately hate Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree surveys, I'll give this one a shot. It gives me an excuse to download the Halo demo. :P

Gingerbread Man on 29/5/2009 at 16:32

Quote Posted by Macha

Our aggression before the video game is a variable that should be tested otherwise this is a methodlogical issue.

Thank you.

However, that's not particularly necessary. Most research like this has to be done on subjective report (not ideal, but way more possible than quantitating something retardedly intangible like oh I don't know personality traits). We'd all like psych to be able to operationalise more constructs than it does, but whatever.

My real comment coming in here was that the frustration / aggression aspect is far more relevant to the Video Games / Violent Behaviour study. so :thumb: on that distinction.

That said, however, I would caution to use several genres of game as instruments. Halo is a much different beast than Tetris or FIFA 08, and there are more factors contributing to both frustration ramping and aggression than simple difficulty.

I'm not saying there's a hole in the design, just that you are going to want to address the concerns of context and immersion when you get to your write-up.