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Optimizing the Psychological Benefits of Choice: Information Transparency and Heuristic Use in Game Environments

Optimizing the Psychological Benefits of Choice: Information Transparency and Heuristic Use in Game Environments

James J. Cummings, Travis L. Ross
Copyright: © 2011 |Volume: 3 |Issue: 3 |Pages: 15
ISSN: 1942-3888|EISSN: 1942-3896|EISBN13: 9781613507155|DOI: 10.4018/jgcms.2011070102
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MLA

Cummings, James J., and Travis L. Ross. "Optimizing the Psychological Benefits of Choice: Information Transparency and Heuristic Use in Game Environments." IJGCMS vol.3, no.3 2011: pp.19-33. http://doi.org/10.4018/jgcms.2011070102

APA

Cummings, J. J. & Ross, T. L. (2011). Optimizing the Psychological Benefits of Choice: Information Transparency and Heuristic Use in Game Environments. International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations (IJGCMS), 3(3), 19-33. http://doi.org/10.4018/jgcms.2011070102

Chicago

Cummings, James J., and Travis L. Ross. "Optimizing the Psychological Benefits of Choice: Information Transparency and Heuristic Use in Game Environments," International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations (IJGCMS) 3, no.3: 19-33. http://doi.org/10.4018/jgcms.2011070102

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Abstract

This paper suggests that the paradox of choice can be resolved in game environments by promoting heuristics-based decision-making, thereby maintaining player freedom while also avoiding the potential negative consequences of excessive deliberation. To do this, the informational cues relevant to such decisions must be made transparent, allowing players to employ fast and frugal tools from the brain’s adaptive toolbox to make the same optimal choices that they might otherwise make after extended deliberation. Developers can design for such transparency not only by creating choice experiences in which options can be assessed and compared through clear metrics and attributes, but also by designing social systems in which the choices and successes of others can be easily identified and used for informing one’s own future decisions.

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