Evolutionary Psychology and Digital Games: Digital Hunter-Gatherers Johannes Breuer (University of Cologne, Germany) 9780367585785

Evolutionary Psychology and Digital Games: Digital Hunter-Gatherers is the first edited volume that systematically applies evolutionary psychology to the study of the use and effects of digital games. The book is divided into four parts:

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• Theories and Methods
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• Emotion and Morality
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• Social Interaction
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• Learning and Motivation
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These topics reflect the main areas of digital games research as well as some of the basic categories of psychological research. The book is meant as a resource for researchers and graduate students in psychology, anthropology, media studies and communication as well as video game designers who are interested in learning more about the evolutionary roots of player behaviors and experiences.

Johannes Breuer is a senior researcher at GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Germany.

Daniel Pietschmann is a senior researcher at the Institute for Media Research at Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany.

Benny Liebold is an independent researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Media Research at Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany.

Benjamin P. Lange is a senior researcher and lecturer at Wurzburg University (Institute Human-Computer-Media), Germany.

"A fact-filled and vitally important book in which top scholars successfully employ evolutionary theory to better understand the causes and effects of digital games." - Patrick Markey, Villanova University, USA

"An evolutionary psychology approach is critical to understanding the implicit processes that explain both why we play and how we make sense of play. Play is as natural to humanity as evolution, and implicating these natural processes into models of player psychology stands to deepen our ability to make claims about the experience of video game play." - Nicholas D. Bowman, West Virginia University

"An important book that dares to dig deeper. Evolutionary psychology helps us uncover the underlying logics of why people play, and why digital games may (or may not) yield specific effects. Highly recommended for anyone who really wants to understand digital gaming." -Thorsten Quandt, University of Munster, Germany