Video game play and dream bizarreness
Faculty Advisor
Date
2009
Keywords
dreams, dreaming, dream bizarreness, video games, consciousness, electronic media, computer mediated communication, neural network
Abstract (summary)
In a series of studies, Gackenbach has been mapping the effects of heavy video game play on consciousness including dreaming. The reason that gamers are being investigated is that they represent a group of people who are engaging in the most immersive media experience widely available today. With its audio and visual interactive nature as well as the long hours often required to master a game, they are an opportune group to study media effects upon consciousness. In this study, the focus was on dream bizarreness. Dream bizarreness has been variously thought to be the differentiator between waking and dreaming thought, an indication of creativity, and, most recently, as a model for solving the binding problem in consciousness. Using the Revonsuo and Salmivalli’s scale for dream content analysis it was found that high-end gamers evidenced more bizarre dreams than low-end gamers in two of three types of bizarreness categories.
Publication Information
Gackenbach, J., Kuruvilla, B., & Dopko, R. (2009). Video game play and dream bizarreness. Dreaming, 19(4), 218-231. doi:10.1037/a0018145
Notes
Item Type
Article Post-Print
Language
English
Rights
All Rights Reserved