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We are not entirely sure always what we mean by violence in a game. Indeed, I don't think there will necessarily be definitive answers. I think it's important to note that we don't have definitive answers. Mark - The current thinking is a little bit controversial. Kat - In terms of some of the other potential risks of gaming, the media sometimes talks about perhaps violent video games, the Shoot 'Em Ups, do they encourage violent behaviour? What's the current thinking on that? If you simply use the kind of measures that are used to assess gambling addiction and apply them to gaming addiction, you tend to overestimate the extent of the problem. So, from a psychological perspective it might actually be quite healthy. This is people thinking about how they can overcome challenges. A lot of gamers will spend time out of the game, thinking about the game itself. One of the difficulties with this area is if you're asking people about gambling addiction, you may ask them questions like, "How much of the time when you're not gambling do you spend thinking about gambling?" Obviously, if you endorse a question like that, that's potentially problematic. A lot of the work that's been done in this area is focused on adapting measures of gambling addiction and trying to apply them to gaming. There are, I think, some quite serious problems with assessing gaming addiction. So, there is always going to be a danger there. However, if anything is enjoyable, anything at all, whether it's video games, chocolate, TV, or whatever, you can become addicted to it. This is not a physical or biological need. So, when we talk about addiction we really mean a psychological need. First of all, I think we've got to distinguish between addiction and dependence. Mark - I think that's a really interesting question. Kat - And can games actually be addictive? You do hear stories about people who just play games endlessly and start to ignore the other functions of their life. So, there are certain sort of behavioural design principles that go into games. So, you're being intermittently reinforced. If you're playing a game where you have to go often and kill monsters or something to collect treasure, and particular items of treasure that you have to collect, then the monsters won't drop that treasure every single time you kill them.
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So, you don't reinforce them every time they engage in the behaviour. So for instance, if we go right the way back to Pavlov's dogs, what we know about conditioning is that if you want to condition an individual to engage in behaviour they're not subsequently going to stop performing, then the best way to do it is to intermittently reinforce them. Some of these designers have hit upon by accident, others, they've deliberately put into games. I think there are also design elements to games. Other people like them because of a sense of mastery or power over other individuals. Other people like them because they enjoy encountering every single thing you can encounter in the game, gaining every power you can gain in the game. Other people like games for their social content. So, some people like to explore other realities. But we also know that people play games for lots of different reasons. They offer us fantastic environments in which we can play. Mark - I think at least part of the attraction of video games is the notion of play. What is it about video games in particular that people seem to really like? Kat - In terms of video games, they've become wildly, wildly popular. Play serves a function that enables us to learn new skills, explore new ways of handling old challenges and perhaps learn new techniques for new challenges as well. Scientists have recently decided that geckos like to play. Lots of other species seem to engage in play. In fact, it's not just our species that enjoys playing.
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But why are games so popular and should we be worrying about what our games are doing to our brains? Kat Arney spoke to psychologist Mark Coulson, from the University of Middlesex, London. Some estimates state that over a billion of us are "gamers", with many people playing, on average, for eight hours a week on their consoles.