3,970 research outputs found
Player agency in interactive narrative: audience, actor & author
No full textThe question motivating this review paper is, how can
computer-based interactive narrative be used as a constructivist learn-
ing activity? The paper proposes that player agency can be used to
link interactive narrative to learner agency in constructivist theory,
and to classify approaches to interactive narrative. The traditional
question driving research in interactive narrative is, ‘how can an in-
teractive narrative deal with a high degree of player agency, while
maintaining a coherent and well-formed narrative?’ This question
derives from an Aristotelian approach to interactive narrative that,
as the question shows, is inherently antagonistic to player agency.
Within this approach, player agency must be restricted and manip-
ulated to maintain the narrative. Two alternative approaches based
on Brecht’s Epic Theatre and Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed are
reviewed. If a Boalian approach to interactive narrative is taken the
conflict between narrative and player agency dissolves. The question
that emerges from this approach is quite different from the traditional
question above, and presents a more useful approach to applying in-
teractive narrative as a constructivist learning activity
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
Interactions between meso- and micro-plankton: deduction from fine scale distributions in three dimensions obtained using in situ holography
No full textMale and female coach-player interaction
No full textoai:https://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:20.500.14291/186796The purpose of this investigation was to compare male and female coach-player interaction on a interpersonal level. A secondary purpose was to identify gender differences in coach-player interaction of female athletes. Coach-player interaction was measured by the Medford Coach-Player Interaction Inventory (Thorpe & Medford, 1986). Subjects were head coaches and team members of six Division I women's basketball teams: three teams with male head coaches and three teams with female head coaches. State origin of participating teams were from: Ohio, 3; Michigan, 1; Illinois, 1; and Virginia, 1. The total number of participating athletes was 73. In the first t-test, intercollegiate teams coached by females were compared with those coached by males. Results indicated a more positive coach-player interaction on intercollegiate female coached teams. In the second t-test, the intercollegiate female coached group compared the athletes opposite gender high school coach. Results indicated a more positive coach-player interaction on intercollegiate female coached teams and athletes with the same gender high school coach.Thesis (M.A.)School of Physical Educatio
Multi-Level Trust Game with “Insider” Communication
No full textThis experiment studies the internal and external effects of communication in a multilevel trust game. In this trust game, the first player can send any part of his endowment to the second player. The amount sent gets tripled. The second player decides how much to send to the third player. The amount is again tripled, and the third player then decides the allocation among the three players. The baseline treatment with no communication shows that the first and second players send significant amounts and the third player reciprocates. When we allow communication only between the second and third players, the amounts sent and returned between these two increase. The new interesting finding is that there are external effects of communication: the first player who is outside communication sends 60% more and receives 140% more than in the no communication treatment. As a result, social welfare and efficiency increase from 48% to 73%.multi-level trust games, experiments, reciprocity, communication
Positioning in Personal Games: Perspectives of the Author-Player Persona in Memoir En Code: Reissue
No full textIn creating autobiographical narratives through games, there exists a new theoretical problem in the game-player tension: how may a game creator relate their own story through a medium that relies primarily on another (the player) to execute? The blurring and shifting lines between the game creator and player resemble the same death knell Roland Barthes sounds for the literary Author in “La mort de l’auteur” (1967). This paper proposes a more nuanced theory for understanding the ‘player positioning’ of autobiographical games with a triangulated framework. The player position is a player/author persona collaboration that facilitates a shared presence in the game space through various ratios of three positions: the player as the protagonist, protagonist-proxy, and witness. Through a close reading of the autobiographical game Memoir En Code: Reissue by Alex Camilleri, the paper explores how the player may perceive the autobiographical game. Viewed through the protagonist, protagonist-proxy, and witness lens, the paper interrogates how the player position alters the nature of player-author identity within the game. It offers an approach for considering how the different perspectives of the author-player persona offer meaningful game(play), and argues for the shifting presentation of the author-player persona as an effective negotiation of a shared experience in the design of autobiographical games
National Hockey League guaranteed contracts: A principal agent problem impacting on performance
No full textPurpose
– This paper aims to investigate, through the lens of the principal–agent problem, the relationship between payment of National Hockey League (NHL) salaries and player performance during the period of 2005-2011 and explore the inherent issues within the NHL player compensation and incentive structure.
Design/methodology/approach
– The research adopts a pragmatic philosophy with deductive reasoning. This paper focuses on the NHL season 2005-2011 and undertake analysis of historical player contracts and performance data of 670 players across 29 clubs to undertake liner regression analysis.
Findings
– This paper quantifies potential inefficiencies of NHL league contracts and defines the parameters of the principal–agent problem. It is identifies that player performance generally increases with salary, is higher in the first year of a contract and despite decreasing over the life of the contract, will usually peak again in the final year of the contract.
Research limitations/implications
– The research is based around figures from 2005-2011 and secondary statistical data. The study captures quantitative data but does not allow for an exploration of the qualitative perspective to the problem.
Practical implications
– Entry-level or first contracts are good for all teams and players because they provide incentive to perform and a reduction of risk to the team should a player not perform to expectations. The same can be said for players at the other end of the spectrum. Although not typically used much, performance bonuses for players over the age of 35 allow clubs to “take a chance” on a player and the player can benefit by reaching attainable bonuses. These findings therefore provide contributions to the practicing managers and coaches of NHL teams who can consider the results to help shape their approach to management of players and the planning of teams and succession planning for talent.
Originality/value
– The paper presents a comprehensive and current perspective of the principal–agent problem in NHL and extends the work of Purcell (2009) and Gannon (2009) in understanding player performance enhancement
[[alternative]]Content Design and Player Behavior in Evolutionary Games: A Case Study of Strike Up
No full text[[abstract]]The purpose of this research is to investigate content design principles in educational games by developing an evolutionary game Strike Up as the research tool. With an extensive literature review, the author divided games into five categories, including drill & practice, combat, contextual scenario, evolutionary, and contest games.
Research results led to the discovery of the following design principles in educational games: (1) Equilibrium: well-balanced game rules and content design to promote equilibrium among competing teams; (2) Competition: diversified player cooperation/competition modes to enhance engagement; (3) Complexity: adjustable game complexity to reflect player capacity; (4) Difficulty: adjustable game difficulty to accommodate players with varying abilities; (5) Flexibility: design of Function Cards to create ever-changing game dynamics; (6) Interaction: team work to facilitate player interaction
Forty-eight elementary students, including 24 talented program students and 24 regular program students, were invited to participate in the research. The author observed how the students played the game Strike Up and categorized the player behavior into two types: arithmetic operation using the Number Cards, and decision-making process using the Function Cards. Players’ arithmetic operation was influenced by their cognitive strategies, which were applied to create math equations to arrive at a random, maximum, approximate, or ideal number. On the other hand, players’ decision-making in using the Function Cards was associated with their social behaviors such as attack, assistance, self or collective defense.
The author also analyzed the effect of class characteristics, gender, competition mode, and team equilibrium of player’s mathematical ability on player behavior. Research results showed that students from gifted program performed better in leveraging cognitive strategies when they used Number Cards in the game. Results also indicated that the effect of gender on player behavior was not statistically significant. Students who competed in three teams of two were better at using Function Cards than those who competed in two teams of three. Students’ player behavior generally improved when they competed with evenly-matched rather than mismatched teams.
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