MODULE SYNOPSIS
The study of play encompasses many areas of psychology, and games are an important part of our cultural history, enriching our lives, health and well-being. However, there are also negative aspects to games, such as game addiction and the proposed link between playing violent video games and school shootings in the US. This makes the study of play and games an important one with societal and moral implications and one in which psychology plays a significant role.
This module presents contemporary research on play in animals, children and adults, focusing on psychological theories, especially during development. It presents research into the underlying neural and cognitive processes of game playing, as well as how games can be applied to a variety of difference aspects of everyday life (gamification). You will understand the arguments surrounding societal issues related to games, such as the role of video games in violence or game addiction, but also the positive effects of games on wellbeing and cognition. This module will provide you with the skills needed to apply your theoretical knowledge to various play- and game-based problems. This module takes a novel approach in its presentation and assessment as you'll be able to 'play' through it. I've written a novel background story and created a unique world and characters in which you'll complete a main quest, completing a series of 10 tasks (one per week), choose to complete various side quests if you wish, solve puzzles and play games, all with the aim of making the topic accessible in a fun way. This is presented on a bespoke website (ludonia.net; password: PSY337). To access this material, especially the weekly tasks, you need to have an internet enabled device, such as a laptop, smartphone or tablet with you in class. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.
IMPORTANTLY, THERE IS NO EXAM. Half of your grade will be comprised of completing FOUR out of TEN parts of the Main Quest. However, YOU will choose which 4 will be marked and therefore which will contribute to your final mark, but you have to make sure that they are submitted by the deadline in order to be eligible for marking. You need to choose 2 by the end of Week 7 (Reading Week) and 2 by the end of Semester B, so you will need to evaluate your own performance and choose accordingly. You will be given plenty of time during the second half of the class sessions to complete these tasks (and they should be submitted up to 1 week later - this will depend on the specific task - in order to be eligible for marking). If you don't submit a task by the deadline, it will not be eligible for marking, but you won't be penalised. But, your pool of options of which tasks will be marked is reduced each time you fail to submit a task. Therefore, you could theoretically, only complete 4 tasks in total, but you will be stuck with only those 4 for marking. If you submit less than 4 for marking, then you will be penalised accordingly. Each task contributes 12.5% of your total grade.
All tasks should be completed alone.
The other 50% of your grade will be made up from designing a game related to a specific psychological phenomenon or disorder. For this, you may complete this alone or in teams of 2-3.
Everything else you wish to complete in the module is entirely up to you. You can complete as many side quests as you like or none at all. They are there for your interest or for something different to do or to even assist with your well-being. They do not contribute to the final mark. You might want to attempt a challenging puzzle or play a game with your friends or search for hidden treasures, hunt wild beasts, collect different objects or meet new characters and learn more about the world in which the module is set. They are there for you to enjoy and hopefully learn more about play and games. I hope you find this worthwhile and FUN.
READING LIST
There are plenty of books in the University Library on the theme of play and games, and for the basic topics of play in children, any of these will suffice. However, I would strongly recommend looking through a lot of Burghardt (2005) which is available as an eBook in the UL, and I would also consider going through Smith (2010) to cover the play lectures (which is also available as an eBook in the UL) and Madigan (2016) to cover issues arising from the lectures on games.
However, be aware that my lecture slides are very comprehensive and further reading is provided to help you grasp certain issues presented that may need additional explanation. I have provided links to references (esp. reviews) associated with each lecture that would be good to read to get a more thorough grounding in a particular topic or report an empirical study I think is worth reading.
The online American Journal of Play is a useful general resource of relevant articles (link below). I'll post links to other useful online sources as we go further into the module.
Burghardt GM (2005). The Genesis of Animal Play: Testing the limits. MIT Press.
Madigan J (2016). Getting Gamers: The psychology of video games and their impact on the people who play them. Rowman & Littlefield: New York.
Smith, PK (2010). Children and Play. Wiley-Blackwell.
A cheap and short book The Psychology of Video Games by Celia Rodent (2020) is also worth a look, but doesn't cover all the lecture material.
