The Association between Physiopsychological Effects and the Types of Games among University Students

Authors

  • Nur Zakiah Mohd Saat National University of Malaysia
  • Sazlina Kamaralzaman
  • Nurul Asyiqah Aspen
  • Nina Atiqah Mat Supri
  • Nur Rafidah Mohamed

Keywords:

Digital games, Heart Rate, Breathing Rate, Blood Pressure

Abstract

In these modern days, digital games have found potential ways in clinical care that have influenced the therapeutic methods and patients’ rehabilitation. This study was aimed to compare the physiopsychological effects between two types of games, which are action and strategy, in iPad®. This cross-sectional study involved 50 students from the Faculty of Health Sciences, UKM. The types of games used were Asphalt 7 and Cut the Rope for action and strategy genres respectively. Finger pulse transducer, respiratory belt transducer, and sphygmomanometer were used to measure the physiopsychological signals, such as heart rate (HR), breathing rate (BR), and blood pressure (BP) respectively. The HR and BR outputs were recorded by Powerlab 4/26T and were visualised through LabChart 7 as the games were played, while the BP was measured before and after the games were played. Before both games, the mean for systolic BP (SBP) was 111.28±8.93 and 69.86±7.79 for diastolic BP (DBP). After playing Cut the Rope, the SBP decreased to 107.98±9.93 and showed no difference in Asphalt 7. The mean for HR while playing the strategy game (65.94±9.03) was slightly lower compared to while playing the action game (66.68±11.64). Meanwhile, the mean for BR for the strategy game was 17.64±2.28, whereas, for action game, it was 18.62±2.19. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the means of SBP between before and after playing the strategy game (p<0.05). The measurements of BR showed significant difference for both games (p<0.05). In conclusion, this study suggested that there was an increase in the BP, BR, and HR for the action game. More researches in this area should be conducted, especially in determining the effects of prolonged use of iPad® games on individuals.

References

Asmita Asegaonkar. 2009. Use of interactive video, computer & virtual-reality games in rehabilitation : A Systematic & Qualitative Review. Thesis Master of Science. State University of New York.

Astrid Nehlig. 2010. Review Article : Is Caffeine a Cognitive Enhancer?. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 20: 85-94

Brezinka, V. & Hovestadt, L. 2007. Serious Games Can Support Psychotherapy of Children and Adolescents. LNCS 4799 : 357-364

Buss, D. M. 2011. Evolutionary psychology: A new science of the mind. Boston, MA. Ceranoglu, T. A. 2010. Video Games in Psychotherapy. Review of Journal Psychology 14(2): 141-146.

Drachen, A., Nacke, L. E., Yannakakis, G., & Pedersen, A. L. 2010. Correlation between Heart Rate, Electrodermal Activity and Player Experience in First-Person Shooter Games. ACM 49-54.

Du, X. 2008. Can a videogame be used to learn biofeedback? http://summit.sfu.ca/item/9168 [25 September 2012].

Dye, M. W.G., Green, S. & Bavelier, D. 2009. Increasing Speed of Processing With Action Video Games. Current Directions in Psychological Science 18(6): 321-326

Feng, J., Spence, I. & Pratt, J. 2007. Research Report: Playing an Action Video Game Reduces Gender Differences in Spatial Cognition. Psychological Science 18 : 850-854

Friedenberg, J., & Silverman, G. (2006). Cognitive science. An introduction to the study of the mind. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Funk, J.B., Buchman, D.D., Jenks, J., & Bechtoldt, H. 2003. Playing violent video games, desensitization, and moral evaluation in children. Applied Develpmental Psychology 24 : 413-436

Green, C.S. 2008. The Effects of Action Video Game Experience On Perceptual Decision Making. Tesis Ph.D. University of Rochester.

Green, C.S. & Bavelier, D. 2007. Research Article: Action-video-game Experience Alters the Spatial Resolution of Vision. Psychological Science 18(1): 88-93

Griffiths, M.D., Davis, M.N.O., & Chappell, D. 2003. Breaking the Stereotype: The Ease of Online Gaming. Cyberpsychology & Behavior 6(1):81-91

Kurita, S. 2009. Playing violent and non-violent video games : Physiological and emotional responses as a function of motivational activation. Tesis Ph.D. Indiana University

Kutner & Olson 2008. Grand Theft Childhood. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Lenhart, A., Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., MacGill, A., Evans, C., & Vitak, J. (2008). Teens,video games and civics: Teens gaming experiences are diverse and include significant social interaction and civic engagement. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/Teens-Video-Games-and-Civics.aspx

Mandryk, R.L. & Inkpen, K.M. 2004. Physiological Indicators for The Evaluation of Co-located Collaborative Play. ACM

Mandryk, R. L. & Atkins, M. S. 2007. A Fuzzy Physiological Approach For Continuously Modeling Emotion During Interaction With Play Technologies. Int. J. Human-Computer Studies 65: 329-347

Markovitz, J. H., Raczynski, J.M., Wallace, D., Chettur, V. & Chesney, M. A. 1998. Cardiovascular Reactivity to Video Game Predicts Subsequent Blood Pressure Increases in Young Men: The CARDIA Study. Psychosomatic Medicine 60:186-191.

Nacke, L.E., Kalyn, M., Lough, C., & Mandryk, R.L. 2011. Biofeedback Game Design: Using Direct and Indirect Physiological Control to Enhance Game Interaction. ACM: Canada

Nenonen, V., Lindblad, A., Hakkinen, V., Laitinen, T., Jouhtio, M., & Hamalainen, P. 2007. Using Heart Rate to Control an Interactive Game. ACM : 853-856.

Ravaja, N., Saari, T., Salminen, M., Laarni, J., & Kallinen, K. 2006. Phasic Emotional Reactions to Video Game Events: A Psychophysiological Investigation. Media Psychology 8 : 343-367.

Sherry, J. L. 2004. Flow and media enjoyment. Communication Theory 14 : 328–347.

Valadez, J.J. & Ferguson, C.J. Just A Game After All: Violent Video Game Exposure And Time Spent Playing Effects On Hostile Feelings, Depression And Visuospatial Cognition. Computers in Human Behavior 28:608-616.

Wallenius, M., Rimpelä, A., Punamäki, R. & Lintonen, T. 2009. Digital game playing motives among adolescents: Relations to parent–child communication, school performance, sleeping habits, and perceived health. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 30: 463-474.

Downloads

Published

2014-06-15

How to Cite

Mohd Saat, N. Z., Kamaralzaman, S., Aspen, N. A., Supri, N. A. M., & Mohamed, N. R. (2014). The Association between Physiopsychological Effects and the Types of Games among University Students. Asian Journal of Applied Sciences, 2(3). Retrieved from https://ajouronline.com/index.php/AJAS/article/view/1389

Issue

Section

Articles