Articles tagged with Games
Highly anxious people struggle to read environmental cues, leading to poor decision-making under uncertainty. They may catastrophize or have trouble adjusting to changing situations, resulting in worse choices.
A new Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication study found that gamers who play more frequently identify as such, but friendship networks also play a key role. The study reveals the importance of social connections in shaping gamer identity.
Choosing a screen name with a letter starting in the top half of the alphabet can maximise online dating success. A 70:30 ratio of who you are and what you're looking for is also key, while humour, physical fitness, and genuine profiles can increase likability. Men and women have different preferences when it comes to names and traits.
A new study led by Penn's Damon Centola reveals that social conventions can emerge spontaneously, with no centralized leader or media source, through the normal interactions of people in social networks. The research used a web-based game to test how large populations come to consensus, and found that random mixing allowed for the emer...
A large study shows that frequent play with puzzles, blocks, and board games is linked to better spatial reasoning skills in children. Children from lower-income households and girls tend to have lower scores.
A study found that humans tend to turn down sure rewards if they derive from an unfair distribution of resources, regardless of whether the individual themselves or others are affected. Brain imaging revealed differing brain circuits in these two conditions.
Disney Research has developed a robotic camera system that can learn from human operators to better frame shots of a basketball game. The system uses machine learning algorithms to recognize the relationship between player locations and corresponding camera configurations.
A study by Oregon State University researchers found that introverted employees tend to rate extroverted colleagues lower in job performance and give them fewer credits for work. This suggests that introverts can have a significant impact on their co-workers' career advancement.
A new study reveals that experienced decision-makers care even more about fairness than the general population. The more experience they have, the more they seek equitable offers. This finding challenges existing theories on international politics and may help explain gridlock in climate change negotiations.
Researchers found that people can guess how others learn about themselves, even without explicit communication. This skill increases the chances of success in competitive social interactions. The study also explores its potential impact on individuals with autism spectrum disorders and neuropsychiatric conditions.
Researchers measured head blows in girls' lacrosse players, finding accelerations of up to 60g and reducing effects with protective headgear. The study's results suggest that while headgear can reduce accelerations, it may also increase aggression in the game.
A recent Lumosity study analyzed over 60,000 participants to understand the effects of sleep, mood, and time of day on cognitive gameplay performance. The research found that memory, speed, and flexibility tasks peaked in the morning, while crystallized knowledge tasks such as arithmetic and verbal fluency peaked in the afternoon.
A large-scale study on learning rates found that participants who operated closer to their performance threshold had faster learning rates, especially at higher levels of difficulty. The study analyzed game play performance from Lumosity's online population and provided evidence for optimizing cognitive task designs to improve learning.
A recent study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev found that two-thirds of falls in basketball were intentional and 90% of the time no foul was awarded. The researchers believe that flopping does more harm than good from a team perspective, as it leaves teams with fewer defenders on the court.
Tropical Storm Polo is moving northwest towards western Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and slow weakening expected. The storm is expected to pass south of the Baja California peninsula on Saturday, but a deviation to the north could bring stronger winds to southern Baja California.
Researchers found that people in a 'calculative mindset' are more likely to analyze non-numerical problems mathematically and overlook social and moral factors. Participants displayed significantly more selfish behavior when given lessons on calculative economics concepts.
A study published in Yale's Journal of Industrial Ecology found that Blu-ray Discs delivered via retail stores caused lower carbon emissions than game files downloaded over broadband Internet. The majority of emissions resulted from gameplay, production, and distribution.
Researchers found toddlers as young as age 2 use mathematical concepts like probability to make sense of the world. They could detect differences in strategies and choose the more successful one, demonstrating an intuitive grasp of statistics and weighing likelihoods.
Researchers at Georgia State University found that humans are strongly influenced by self-interest and do not protest being overcompensated, even in situations where others are unfairly disadvantaged. This suggests that humans' sense of unfairness is affected by their own outcomes, indicating a recently evolved propensity.
A new study by Brigham Young University researchers suggests that gamification in health and fitness apps may not lead to sustainable behavior change. The study analyzed over 2,000 apps and found that most popular apps feature gamification as a key motivator, but this approach may be limited and demotivating in the long run.
Researchers at Disney Research Pittsburgh established a library of 40 feel effects matched to descriptions that designers can understand. The study aimed to provide a common vocabulary for designing haptic feedback experiences.
Researchers at UCL developed an equation to predict happiness based on recent rewards, expectations, and neural activity. The study involved 18,420 participants and found that moment-to-moment happiness reflects not just how well things are going but whether they're better than expected.
A study found that goalkeepers dive in the opposite direction of consecutive penalties aimed in the same direction, exploiting the 'gambler's fallacy'. However, kickers failed to capitalize on this pattern, suggesting they focus on their individual kicks rather than the goalkeeper's previous moves.
A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that when consumers feel a loss of control, they tend to prefer high-effort products. In contrast, low-control situations drive preferences for low-effort products like get-rich-quick schemes.
Researchers analyzed NBA coaching decisions over two decades, finding that hasty adjustments following close losses backfire, resulting in extra losses per season. Coaches also underreact to close wins, particularly those with large margins, making it essential to consider all information when evaluating performance.
A Georgia Tech project pairs a small humanoid robot with an Android tablet and Angry Birds to help children with disabilities. The robot learns by watching children teach it how to play the game, then mimics their movements and plays on its own.
A study by Harvard University researchers found that allowing people to vote on resource harvesting led to the preservation of these resources for future generations. The voting system used was based on the median of all votes cast, which encouraged altruistic decisions and cooperation across generations.
Researchers develop a crowdsourcing game to tackle the phase problem, achieving successful results in low-resolution phasing puzzles. The approach leverages human pattern recognition capabilities to guide the search process.
A team of computer theorists and evolutionary biologists identified an algorithm to describe the strategy used by genes during sexual recombination, addressing a long-standing paradox in evolution. The multiplicative weight update algorithm helps explain how natural selection and diversity interact.
Researchers found that genetic variants in dopamine-regulating genes influence strategic thinking, with three genes linked to belief learning and two genes linked to trial-and-error reinforcement learning. The study's findings have implications for understanding diseases like schizophrenia and social interaction disorders.
Researchers studied brain activity in a part of the brain involved in thinking about oneself and found that group dynamics can lead individuals to harm others outside their group. This is due to reduced medial prefrontal cortex activation when seeing moral statements, which correlates with increased likelihood of harming opponents.
Researchers developed a game that trained both mice and humans to enhance their ability to discriminate soft sounds in noisy backgrounds. Trained subjects showed improved speech processing skills, even in high levels of background noise.
Max Planck researchers identify supramarginal gyrus region crucial for children's ability to assess others' emotions, improving with age. The study reveals that adults can easily overcome egocentrism, whereas children between 6-13 tend to project their own emotions onto others.
A study published in Circulation found that primary care providers who participated in an online game to solve clinical cases about hypertension management improved their patients' blood pressure control. The game reduced the time to reach target blood pressure values by 142 days compared to those whose clinicians read a static posting.
Researchers found that clinicians playing an online game lowered their patients' blood pressure to target levels in 142 days, compared to 148 days for those who received traditional online posting information. The game used spaced education, a technique that engages learners and translates evidence-based guidelines into practice.
A study published by the American Psychological Association found that people trust strangers more often due to a sense of moral obligation rather than expectation of reward. Researchers conducted six experiments involving 645 university students, showing that even those with low expectations of others tend to trust total strangers.
A forthcoming study suggests that strong social and political institutions can reduce favoritism towards one's own group, making people more likely to follow impartial rules. Ineffective institutions, on the other hand, lead to favoritism towards local communities.
Research published in PNAS identifies the insula as a key brain region disrupted in individuals with gambling addiction. The study reveals that problems gamblers are more susceptible to cognitive distortions, such as the gambler's fallacy, due to insula hyperactivity.
A new study by North Carolina State University and other institutions found that online gaming supplements social behavior, rather than replacing it. Researchers observed thousands of gamers at public events and conducted in-depth surveys to conclude that gaming is a social activity that complements offline interactions.
A recent study by Renato Gianella found that lottery numbers can be analyzed using a colored template based on Pascal's rule, allowing players to identify combinations with the highest probabilities of winning. The method was tested across multiple countries and demonstrated its effectiveness in predicting lottery results.
Researchers at UT Arlington College of Nursing, Baylor Scott & White Health, and UT Dallas developed a video-game simulation to teach doctors and nurses effective communication strategies. The project aims to enhance patient safety and improve patient outcomes by playing out tense situations in a virtual world.
A neuroimaging study found that adolescents with antisocial personality disorder have reduced activation in brain regions responsible for social information processing and impulse control. This impairment leads to difficulties in taking into account other people's intentions, resulting in more antisocial behavior.
Following Tommy John surgery, MLB pitchers show significant improvement in performance, including reduced walks and hits per inning pitched. 83% of patients successfully return to professional play, extending their careers by an average of 3.9 years.
International cricket attendance is largely driven by team strength, according to new research. The study found that strong teams draw bigger crowds, even if the match is an unequal contest.
Researchers at The Miriam Hospital found that players on the web-based commercial weight loss program DietBet lost an average of 4.9% of their initial body weight over seven months. Social interactions and financial incentives played a significant role in player success.
Researchers found that a 25-minute daily visual training program improved the players' acuity and peripheral vision. This resulted in better on-field performance, including reduced strikeout rates and increased runs scored.
A new study from Cornell University researchers challenges the notion that momentum plays a significant role in sports performance. Despite appearances, winning streaks have little to do with momentum. Winning the first game of a weekend series does not impact the probability of winning the second, according to the study.
Geophysicist Seth Stein warns that humans are often outsmarted by nature during disasters, causing unnecessary damage despite expensive mitigation measures. Stein advocates for a thoughtful approach to disaster preparedness, integrating science, economics, and policy formulation to make informed decisions.
A new paper proposes banning lead shot in Olympic shooting events to prevent wildlife poisoning and health threats to surface and groundwater. Non-toxic substitutes like steel shot have been available for two decades.
The UC Riverside lab, led by Professor Zhenbiao Yang, received an honorable mention for their short movie 'Visualizing Leaf Cells from Within' in the International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge. The challenge, sponsored by NSF and Science magazine, selected the top winners from 227 submissions across 12 countries.
The National Science Foundation and Science journal announced 18 winners of the 2013 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge. The contest showcased captivating visualizations of complex scientific concepts, including wearable energy storage and brain mapping.
A new algorithm, developed by NYU researchers, resolves conflicts over divisible goods like cake or land in an envy-free way. The algorithm prioritizes self-identified preferences of parties, ensuring a fair division of resources.
A new study found that tag plays at home plate have the highest injury rate in professional baseball, occurring 4.3 times more often than other base-running plays. The researchers suggest adopting the collegiate rule to reduce collisions and protect both catchers and baserunners.
A new study found that NHL teams pay out $218 million annually for lost time due to injuries. Concussions were the most expensive type of injury, accounting for $42.8 million per year. The research highlights the need for better protection for athletes in hockey.
Researchers found dozens of phrases that pay and a few dozen more that signal likely failure, with reciprocity and social proof being key factors in successful campaigns. The study analyzed over 45,000 projects and identified language patterns that accounted for 58.56% of the variance around success.
Researchers analyzed data from over 850,000 online gamers, finding that those who practiced more efficiently or explored game mechanics before achieving higher scores. This study suggests that optimal learning strategies can improve skill acquisition and become increasingly relevant as people live longer and acquire complex skills.
Duke University researchers analyzed data from 20 million virtual suitcase searches and found that players correctly identified ultra-rare items only 27% of the time. The study reveals a strong relationship between item frequency and detection rates, highlighting how rare objects can slip past us despite intense searching.
Researchers found that playing board games like Chutes & Ladders with the 'count-on' method yields learning gains in early number skills. This approach helps children develop their ability to encode the relationship between numbers and spaces.
A large-scale online study found that altering task parameters can significantly impact learning rates in cognitive training. The research showed that making tasks more challenging led to greater improvements in spatial recall and attention, with effects being dose-dependent.
A new study published in Psychological Science found that when we perceive someone as trustworthy, their face is perceived as more similar to our own. Researchers used morphing images and bargaining games to test this idea, finding that trust cues can extend beyond social closeness into physical characteristics.