Perceptual, Decision-Making, and Learning Processes During Video Gameplay

During video gameplay, gamers constantly perceive and interpret multimodal symbols presented by the game, which influences their decision-making and learning processes that help them achieve goals and progress during gameplay. Furthermore, the gamers’ decisions (e.g., which paths, weapons, and powerups they choose) influence how the game unfolds and responds through presenting new multimodal feedback. So, as video gameplay is an iterative process of interpreting multimodal symbols, making decisions, and learning, it is important to recognize how multimodal communication impacts the gamer’s decisions and learning. This paper uses the Gamer Response and Decision (GRAD) Framework (von Gillern, in press), which highlights important video gameplay features and processes, to analyze multimodal symbols presented during gameplay in Infamous – Second Son, an action-adventure game for the PlayStation 4. Additionally, this paper examines how these symbols carry meaning to gamers that influence their decisions, learning, and progression during gameplay.