This article caught my attention due to its examining of the brain interactivity with video-games as well as the role of gender in neuro-economical analysis of games and marketing. As it turns out, studies by Allan Reiss et al., at the the Stanford University School of Medicine, discover that "reward synapses fire in the brain more frequently among men that women during video-game play" (Stanford University Medical Center, 2008).
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204140115.htm
Its not a great secret that more men play games than women by just an observation, however, the fact that biological inclination to feeling rewarded is greater for men by playing these games generates a debate as to the influence of culture on biology, technology in the economy and health issues for the future between men and women. Interestingly enough, additional research from a separate study within the article that relates to gender and video game play examines the nature of territoriality and gender in games; demonstrating that while both men and women understand the challenges and goals of the game used for research, men tend to carry a greater sense of motivation to succeed (Stanford University Medical Center, 2008). This may be due to the natural competitive instinct among men, from an evolutionary standpoint to compete for finding a mate or simply could be a function of design or bias of many games towards men. Also, the idea that games tend to motivate men better could be promising due to the fact that women fair better in higher ed instruction and more women earn degrees beyond undergrad than men today. This gap continues to grow in America and one way to potentially spur motivation for men to gain interest in education may be through access of gaming with educational technologies.
One of the better articles analyzing gender, economics, biology and cultural analysis, I would love to hear feedback on this article from the opposite gender for a different perspective. As a gamer I tend to believe that my interest in gaming in education stems from both my family background in higher education but also my affinity for technology and believing distance education as the future in our country. Then again, I'm probably biased anyways since I grew up during the information age but still this article delves into issues not previously examined in any fashion I have seen on the web or in research. Enjoy!
Stanford University Medical Center (2008, February 8). Video Games Activate Reward Regions Of Brain In Men More Than Women. Science Daily. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/02/080204140115.htm
3 comments:
Hey Ben,
I like your thoughtful reflection.
Gender is a big concern in the area of gaming and education. As I cited in Zhuo's blog, Joe Meenaghan, president of the Game Institute, said "The majority of gamers are now males so if vendors want to use these applications in classrooms, they need to develop more games that appeal to females".
The gender gap might also be attributed to stereotypes. "the portrayal of electronic game play as a masculine and male-oriented activity in the media results in the intentional concealment of interest by girls in efforts to conform with social norms" (Dipietro, Ferdig, Boyer, & Black, 2007, p.234).
Reference
Dipietro, M., Ferdig, R. E., Boyer, J., & Black, E. W. (2007). Towards a framework for understanding electronic educational gaming. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 16(3), 225-248.
Hi Ben,
Tne news is really interesting. You always present multifaceted information on gaming, which is very eye-opening.
As the researcher poits out that most of the games that are popular with males are "territory- and aggression-type games," I believe that is the core reason why males are more addicted to video/computer games than females. You raise a good point from an evolutionary standpoint that "the natural competitive instinct among men" might account for the territory/aggresion-type games are attractive to males. Some other types of games, however, may be more interesting to females. For example, I read something about The Sims 2 today, which is described as "an open-ended virtual doll house." It is mentioned there are more female Sims 2 players than male players.
As Jiao cites, game developers may need to creat some girl-type games for a bigger market. If there is a "Game Girl" other than "Game Boy," there might be more interesting findings later.
Furthermore, as Jiao mentions, gender stereotypes exists when it comes to computer games. In "Gaming Lives in the Twenty-first Century," it is found the female gamers received implicit message that "gaming was male territory" from their peer male gamers rather than the males' assistance and support (Takayoshi, 2007, p.247).
With more diverse types of video games and more receptive attitudes towards females'playing in "male territory," female gamers is more likely to increase. If the Stanford researchers change the type of the game, will they find the opposite result? :-)
Reference
Takayoshi, P. (2007). Gender matters: Literacy, learning, and gaming in one. In C. L. Selfe & G. E. Hawisher (Eds.), Gaming Lives in the Twenty-first Century. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hi Ben,
What an interesting study. I can tell you that gaming doesn't attract me at all so I was not surprised by the findings. I was surprised to know that the brain function varied between genders.
I found a "study" on differences in gender with the game, Everquest. Here is what they say about differences:
"We found that female players find the social interaction of the game significantly more appealing than male players (link). Male players, on the other hand, are significantly more likely to enjoy the sense of power the game gives (link)."
If you look at this in context, you will see the links to charts to show the findings. I believe from a female perspective that this is true. I am not sure how valid this is in being empirical research but in terms of a survey of users, it does provide insightful information.
Here is a link to the site: http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/menwomen.html
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