Social Interaction in Games: Measuring Physiological Linkage and Social Presence

Social Interaction in Games Measuring Physiological Linkage and Social Presence

Psychophysiological methodology has been successfully applied to investigate media responses, including the experience of playing digital games. The approach has many benefits for a player experience assessment—it can provide detailed, unbiased, and time-accurate data without interrupting the gamepl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Simulation & gaming Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 321 - 338
Main Authors: Ekman, Inger, Chanel, Guillaume, Järvelä, Simo, Kivikangas, J.Matias, Salminen, Mikko, Ravaja, Niklas
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-06-2012
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects:
Bias
Digital
Emotions
Game theory
Games
Interpersonal Relationship
Linkages
Mass Media
Mathematical analysis
Media
Methodology
Online entertainment
Physiological psychology
Physiology
Players
Psychophysiology
Simulation
Social Environment
Social Experience
Social interaction
Social Processes
Social psychology
Studies
Video Games
digital games
multiple simultaneous players
social presence
emotion
game experience
physiological metric
player experience assessment
psychophysiological methodology
physiological linkage
synchrony
methodology
social experience
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Summary:Psychophysiological methodology has been successfully applied to investigate media responses, including the experience of playing digital games. The approach has many benefits for a player experience assessment—it can provide detailed, unbiased, and time-accurate data without interrupting the gameplay. However, gaming can be a highly social activity. This article extends the methodological focus from single player to include multiple simultaneous players. A physiological metric for investigating social experience within a shared gaming context is introduced: Physiological linkage is measured by gathering simultaneous psychophysiological measurements from several players. The authors review how physiological linkage may be associated with social presence among participants in various gaming situations or social contexts. These metrics provide such information about the interaction among participants that is not currently available by any other method. The authors discuss various measures used to calculate linkage, the related social processes, and how to use physiological linkage in game experience research.
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ISSN:1046-8781
1552-826X
DOI:10.1177/1046878111422121