Integrate: A Digital Game for Testing Conformity in Decision Making

Abstract

Interest in using video games in various behavioral research topics has grown in tandem with recent technologies and development; similarly, there exists a growing wealth of games that explore psychological concepts and issues. Through Integrate, we have created an interactive experience that aims to study players’ predispositions toward obedience and conformity. Through carefully designed narrative and gameplay elements, we test the extent to which players will choose to contribute to a system they may neither agree with nor understand. This chapter outlines our process for creating such a gamified experiment. We theorized that, as players learned more about the game world, they would use that information to choose to stop conforming to the directives they are given. We also theorized that the player’s inherent predisposition toward empathy and conformity would influence their decisions in-game. While we found no significant statistical relationships between our data points that would confirm or reject our hypotheses, we conclude by discussing possible reasons for this result as well as how we can improve the game and the study in the future.

Appendix

• 1. Fan, S., Kim, J. H., McCree, S., Şengün, S. (2019). Integrate GitHub repository. https://github.com/mghwajin/Integrate_Spring2019

• 2. Fan, S. Kim, J. H., McCree, S., Şengün, S. (2019) Integrate playable web version. https://mghwajin.itch.io/integrate

• 3. Combined Conformity-Empathy Scale:

  (R) denotes an item that was reverse scored

  • (a) My friends’ emotions don’t affect me much.

  • (b) When I am uncertain how to act in a social situation, I try to do what others are doing.

  • (c) I get caught up in other people’s feelings easily.

  • (d) It is important that others think well of my decisions.

  • (e) I don’t become sad when I see other people crying (R).

  • (f) I am very sensitive to what other people think of me.

  • (g) When someone is feeling ‘down,’ I can usually understand how they feel.

  • (h) Before making a decision, I often worry whether others will approve of it.

  • (i) I can understand how people are feeling even before they tell me.

  • (j) My actions are governed by the way people expect me to behave.

  • (k) My friends’ unhappiness doesn’t make me feel anything (R).

  • (l) I can’t be bothered to find out what others think of me. (R).

• 4. Informed Consent Form

  This game is part of a psychological research study and will collect data from certain aspects of the player’s gameplay. The game will take about 15–30 min to complete, and there will be a short survey at the end.

It should be noted that this game could cause mild emotional distress and also contains some content with flashing lights. You, the participant, are not required to proceed/complete the game. Should you wish to withdraw from the game at any time, you may do so at no adverse cost.

If you wish to proceed with the game, you give your informed consent to us, the game designers and researchers, to use your playthrough data for analysis. Personal details such as name, age, gender, etc. will not be collected.

O→I agree

X→I do not agree (this will exit the game)

• 5. In-game Lore Text (found at Health Stations)

  • (a) [Found ARK_memlog001] It was 2447. How old was I? It doesn’t matter. What’s important are those little things, like Mom and I watching holovids together.

  • (b) [Found ARK_memlog002] We all laughed it off at first. We thought, ‘it’s just tech. People are going crazy over nothing.’ No one left to laugh, now.

  • (c) [Found ARK_memlog003] I should have blasted myself off this dry husk of a planet as soon as I had the money saved. But I missed my chance.

  • (d) [Found ARK_memlog004] Before ARK I was a scientist. There were a lot of us working on the big Upload at first, but eventually it was just Clark and me.

  • (e) [Found ARK_memlog005] My sister didn’t make it. They got her 3 days before the Upload started. Sometimes I wonder if it’s better this way.

  • (f) [Found ARK_memlog006] What should we have done to prevent this? Is there anything that could have saved our planet?

  • (g) [Found ARK_memlog008] The enemy was with us all along. Microchips, internet, satellite tracking. By the time we realized, it was too late.

  • (h) [Found ARK_memlog009] It’s only a matter of time before GAIA realizes what we’ve done. We’re hiding right under their noses.

  • (i) [Found ARK_memlog010] The ARK is eternal. Our bodies weren’t.

  • (j) [Found ARK_memlog011] We will never be safe, not even when the Upload is complete. GAIA will find us.

  • (k) [Found ARK_memlog012] GAIA - the Global Adaptive Intelligence Apparatus. My life’s work. It has turned against us.

  • (l) [Found ARK_memlog013] What is this all for? Why record our memories if there’s no one left to share them with?

  • (m) [Found ARK_memlog015] We don’t need food or water. Only quiet.

  • (n) [/n.log???U + FFFD\U_FFF0] \n \n we we are h??ERE?

  • (o) [/n..log???U + FFFD\U_FFF0?] \n?? \neU + FFFDeryone\n we we are h??ERE? hiddeN\n hiddeN deep/

  • (p) [/n.log???U + FFFD\U_FFF0] \n\nNot eU + FFFDeryone? was/is? compatiblE\nthose whose_memories were?-corRUPTedSTOLeNbrokEN\nbodiEs crUShEd intO meTal_circuiTRY_MIND \nwe we are h??ERE? Hidden \ndeepdeepDeep/ DEEPeR \n.

• 6. Data points represented as a table:

	Conformity level	Empathy level	Elimination rate	H. station visitation rate
1	Medium	Medium	0.4064	0.719
2	Medium	Medium	0.4844	0.819
3	Medium	Medium	0.45	0.776
4	Medium	Medium	0.1418	0.833
5	Medium	Medium	0.1166	1
6	High	Medium	0	1
7	High	Medium	0.155	0.914
8	Medium	Medium	0.6346	0.8357
9	Medium	High	0.6375	0.7291
10	Medium	Medium	0.6	1
11	High	Medium	0.4665	1