Behavioural correlates of extrinsically reinforced video game play

Three experiments which investigate human observers' conceptions of the nature of extrinsic reinforcement correlated behaviour (ERCB) are reported. in the first two experiments, observers viewed players at a video game under conditions of extrinsic and no extrinsic reinforcement. Observers' tasks were to identify the extrinsic reinforcement periods and to provide evidence for these by referring to any player behaviour. The observer statements were submitted to content analyses from which emerged a number of ERCB categories, the most frequently reported ones being 'control grip', 'time taken between games', 'movements' and 'smiling/grinning'. In the third experiment the 'smiling/grinning' cue was manipulated by instruction to an actor in order to simulate extrinsic and no extrinsic reinforcement conditions. Observers were able reliably to identify simulated extrinsic reinforcement conditions particularly whenthey reported (and presumably had attended to) the changes in the 'smiling/grinning' cue. Various implications arising from the suggested existence of ERCB are discussed including its place in motivational effects on developmental changes, socialisation processes and cross-cultural differences.