Abstract:
This study investigated how playing different types of video games was
associated with different values of metacognitive awareness. The target population was
first and second-year college students. The study used a survey methodology that
employed two self-reporting instruments: the first to estimate a metacognitive-awareness
index (MAI), and the second (developed in this study) to: (a) assess a respondent’s video and
non-electronic-game experience (including both video and non-electronic games), (b)
estimate the time spent playing video games (time played) over the prior two years, and
(c) characterize the different types of video games that were played (to determine gamer
type).
Out of 759 surveys distributed in 29 classes (for first and second-year courses),
there were 175 respondents. For the main analysis, 80 respondents were eligible because
they were video gamers, aged 18 to 21 years, and undergraduates. Juniors and seniors
were included to mitigate the risk of too few respondents. The analysis was based on a 2(time played) x 3 (gamer type) ANOVA for MAI. Gamer type was based on the
predominant type of video games played among action games, strategy games, and
coherent world games (CWGs). A CWG was defined as a role-playing game (RPG) in
which a player explored a consistent and complex world to solve challenges or an entity development
game (EDG) in which the player developed, managed, and operated a
complex entity in a consistent world or context. The three gamer types were action,
strategy, and CWG.
The initial analysis revealed that action gamers and strategy gamers could not be
objectively distinguished. Thus, three new gamer types that were consistent with the
study’s objectives were specified. The first type played predominantly EDGs; the
second, RPGs; and the third, neither EDGs nor RPGs as often. The third type was
assumed to play predominantly non-coherent world games (NCWGs). Thus, the three
gamer types were EDG, RPG, and NCWG.
The results showed that EDG gamers were associated with a significantly higher
MAI than NCWG gamers. F(2, 77) = 4.55; p < .05; partial η^2 = .11; and power = .76.
There was not a significant association for time played or the interaction of time played
and gamer type. In a secondary analysis, comprising 64 gamers, aged 18 to 21 years, and
first and second-year students only, the results showed that CWG and EDG gamers were
associated with a significantly higher MAI than NCWG gamers. F(3, 60) = 4.29; p < .01;
partial η^2 = .18; and power = .84.
Two possible hypotheses for the results were that playing CWGs foster
metacognitive awareness or that those with a higher metacognitive awareness preferred CWGs. Because the methodology used a one-time survey, neither hypothesis could be
confirmed or denied. Due to coverage and nonresponse errors, the sample results were
not generalizable. Nevertheless, the results provided evidence of an association between
CWG gamers and a higher metacognitive awareness than for NCWG gamers. The
implication was that the study could inform methodology design for future research to
develop an empirically-based taxonomy on game characteristics, organized according to
their association with metacognitive awareness.