Participants
19 Undergraduate university students with little
experience with VG (10 males; 9 females)
Procedure
Participants played a sexually objectified fighting
game for 5 minutes (Ultra Street Fighter IV; Figure
1). There were 2 conditions:
- High cognitive load (i.e. High number of
VG/player interactions)
- Low cognitive load (i.e. Low number of
VG/player interactions)
Measures
Cognitive load
During the VG: Verbal 2 -Back Task
After the VG: Mental effort scale
Sexist attitudes
Ambivalent Sexism Inventory ( Dardenne et al., 2006)
Burnay, J.
1
, Larøi, F.
1,2
1
P s y c h o l o g y a n d N e u r o s c i e n c e o f C o g n i t i o n R e s e a r c h U n i t , U n i v e r s i t y o f L i è g e , L i è g e , B e l g i u m
2
D e p a r t me n t o f B i o l o g i c a l a n d M e d i c a l P s y c h o l o g y, U n i v e r s i t y o f B e r g e n , B e r g e n , N o r w a y
Can cognitive load modify the effect of an
objectified video game on sexism?
According to the General Learning Model (Buckley & Anderson, 2006):
- Video games (VG) provoke learning through automatic appraisal of the gaming situation
- Reappraisal process of this situation is possible, but a high degree of cognitive load can impair it
Sexual Objectification = A specific type of appearance-focus concentrated on sexual body parts
(Gervais, 2013)
Individuals exposed to VG with a high degree of objectification experience increase in (Yao et al.,
2010; Fox & Potocki, 2015):
- Sexual thoughts
- Sexist attitudes
- Rape myth acceptance ( prejudicial, stereotyped, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and rapists)
At present, cognitive load in VG and its effect on the reappraisal process has never been evaluated in
previous studies
Background
Results
Discussion
Cognitive load can be manipulated during VG use
Participants under high cognitive load were:
Less competent during the 2-Back task
Subjectively rated the VG as more cognitively demanding
Higher cognitive load did not influence the degree of adhesion to sexist attitudes
No effect were found for both hostile and benevolent sexist attitudes
But, the totality of the cognitive resources could have been used by the combination of the VG
and the 2-back task, creating an absence of real differences between our two conditions
Contact: jonathan.burnay@ulg.ac.be
Methods
L o w
C o g n i t i v e
L o a d
H i g h
C o g n i t i v e
L o a d
t ( 1 7 )
p
N - B a c k O m i s s i o n
2 9 . 3 0 ( 8 . 7 4 )
3 9 . 0 0 ( 8 . 2 0 )
- 2 . 4 9
. 0 2
N - B a c k F a l s e
Al a r m
4 . 5 ( 2 . 6 3 )
5 . 0 0 ( 3 . 3 5 )
- . 3 6
. 7 2
M e n t a l E f f o r t
3 . 0 0 ( 1 . 6 3 )
4 . 5 6 ( 1 4 2 )
- 2 . 2 0
. 0 4
H o s t i l e S e x i s m
3 3 . 6 0 ( 8 . 4 4 )
2 9 . 3 3 ( 5 . 3 3 )
1 . 2 9
. 2 1
B e n e vo l e n t
S e x i s m
1 8 . 4 0 ( 5 . 1 6 )
1 5 . 8 9 ( 6 . 4 1 )
. 9 4
. 3 5
I . D i ff e r e n c e s b e t we e n c o g n i t i v e l o a d s
Examine whether cognitive load may be manipulated during VG use
Determine if higher cognitive load will influence sexist attitudes
Objectives
Figure 1: Screenshot of the objectified VG
Buckley, K. E., & Anderson, C. A. (2006). A theoretical model of the effects and consequences of playing video games. In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing Video Games - Motives, Responses, and Consequences (pp. 363-378). Mahwah, NJ: LEA. Dardenne, B., Delacolette, N., Grégoire, C., & Lecocq, D. (2006). Structure latente et validation de la version française de l’Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: l’échelle de sexisme ambivalent. L’année Psychologique, 106, 235-264.
Fox, J., & Potocki, B. (2015). Lifetime Video Game Consumption, Interpersonal Aggression, Hostile Sexism, and Rape Myth Acceptance: A Cultivation Perspective. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 31(10), 1912-1931. http://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515570747 Gervais, S.J., Bernard, P., Klein, O., & Allen, J. (2013). Toward a unified theory of objectification and dehumanization. In Gervais, S.J. (Ed.), Objectification and (de)humanization [60th Nebraska Symposium on Motivation] (pp.1-24). New York, NY: Springer Science. Yao, M. Z., Mahood, C., & Linz, D. (2010). Sexual Priming, Gender Stereotyping, and Likelihood to Sexually Harass: Examining the Cognitive Effects of Playing a Sexually-Explicit Video Game. Sex Roles, 62(1-2), 77–88.
