Multidimensional assessment of Game Transfer Phenomena: Intrusive cognitions, perceptual distortions, hallucinations and dissociations.

Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP) refers to a cluster of involuntary phenomena related to playing videogames, including sensory and cognitive intrusions, transient changes in perception and self-agency. The Game Transfer Phenomena Scale (GTPS) has been used to measure the frequency of GTP with respect to five factors. The present study aimed to validate an instrument for assessing the multiple dimensions of GTP (GTP-MDS) that helps clarify the distinction between GTP experiences. GTP were contextualized onto the spectrum of intrusive cognitions, perceptual distortions, and dissociations. The relationship between GTP, involuntary phenomena without game content (INVWG) in terms of, e.g., hallucinations and perceptual distortions, and game-biased perceptions (GBPA), as well as the positive and negative impact of GTP and level of distress were also examined. The data were collected using a survey (N = 1,301, male 83.4%, mean age = 28.14). Separate confirmatory factor analyses of the dimensions of "inner intrusions/misperceptions," "outer intrusions/distortions," and "dissociations/mix-ups" produced acceptable fit indices. The findings show that phenomena manifesting as internal experiences are more common, while those manifesting as externalized intrusions are less common. Correlations between the GTP dimensions, INVWG, and GBPA, such as the insertion of game elements in thoughts, perceptions, and dreams, supported convergent validity. The correlations between the GTP dimensions and hours played supported criterion validity. Distress was correlated with outer intrusions and dissociations/mix-ups, but not with inner intrusions. Taken together, these results support the validity and reliability of the proposed assessment of GTP constructs.

Testing the METUX Model in Higher Education: Interface and Task Need-Satisfaction Predict Engagement, Learning, and Well-Being.

The main aim of this study is to test the validity of the Motivation, Engagement, and Thriving in User Experience (METUX) model (Peters et al., 2018) in higher education. We propose a process model in which we investigate how the need-satisfaction of digital learning tools within the interface sphere and task sphere accounts for engagement, learning, and well-being. A total of 426 higher education students drawn from two subsamples participated in this cross-sectional study. A structural equation model shows that interface autonomy and competence satisfaction positively predict task autonomy and competence. Task competence, in turn, negatively predicts focused attention and positively predicts perceived usability and well-being. Task autonomy positively predicts perceived usability and reward. Based on our results, we provide some initial support for the METUX model in higher education. However, more validation work is needed to improve the scale that measures need-satisfaction in the interface and task spheres. Moreover, we find no support for the effect of task sphere on learning. Further investigations are needed into how METUX can be used in domain- and situation-specific contexts to account for increases in engagement, learning, and well-being. Finally, future studies need to include all aspects of the METUX model in order to fully test its validity.

Sensory Processing Sensitivity: Factors of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale and Their relationships to Personality and Subjective Health Complaints.

The aim of the present study was to examine the factor structure of a Norwegian version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) and to investigate how sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is related to personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion, and openness and to subjective health complaints (SHC) in a sample of 167 undergraduate psychology students. The results showed that the variance in a shortened version of the HSPS was best described by three separate factors: ease of excitation (EOE), aesthetic sensitivity (AES), and low sensory threshold (LST). Furthermore, the result showed than an overall SPS factor (EOE, LST, and AES combined) was predicted positively by neuroticism and openness and negatively by extraversion. With respect to SHC, the results showed that EOE and LST were positively associated with psychological health complaints. However, the personality trait of neuroticism contributed more than the SPS factors as predictor of SHC. In conclusion, the present study supported a shortened version of the HSPS and its relation to personality factors and SHC.

Achievement motives, self-efficacy, achievement goals, and academic achievement at multiple stages of education: a longitudinal analysis.

The present study investigated the joint effects of achievement motives, self-efficacy, and achievement goals as predictors of subsequent academic achievement among educational science students. A longitudinal research design allowed for measurement of motivational variables at several stages of education during bachelor courses (subsequent to the introductory courses), firstly by measuring achievement motives, secondly by self-efficacy and achievement goals. Subsequently, students' academic achievement level was measured at four different points in time, until they finished the last course for their bachelor degrees. A multivariate path analysis showed consistent relations between the motivational variables. The motive to avoid failure positively predicted the adoption of avoidance goals (both mastery and performance) and negatively predicted self-efficacy. Academic achievement was mainly predicted by the motive for success and performance-avoidance goals. The path analysis also showed strong relationships between the examination grades at different points in time.

A mediation analysis of achievement motives, goals, learning strategies, and academic achievement.

BACKGROUND: Previous research is inconclusive regarding antecedents and consequences of achievement goals, and there is a need for more research in order to examine the joint effects of different types of motives and learning strategies as predictors of academic achievement. AIMS: To investigate the relationship between achievement motives, achievement goals, learning strategies (deep, surface, and strategic), and academic achievement in a hierarchical model. SAMPLE: Participants were 229 undergraduate students (mean age: 21.2 years) of psychology and economics at the University of Bergen, Norway. METHODS: Variables were measured by means of items from the Achievement Motives Scale (AMS), the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, and an achievement goal scale. RESULTS: Correlation analysis showed that academic achievement (examination grade) was positively correlated with performance-approach goal, mastery goal, and strategic learning strategies, and negatively correlated with performance-avoidance goal and surface learning strategy. A path analysis (structural equation model) showed that achievement goals were mediators between achievement motives and learning strategies, and that strategic learning strategies mediated the relationship between achievement goals and academic achievement. CONCLUSIONS: This study integrated previous findings from several studies and provided new evidence on the direct and indirect effects of different types of motives and learning strategies as predictors of academic achievement.

Quality of life model: predictors of quality of life among sick older adults.

The aim of this study was to explore how depressive symptoms, physical function, health satisfaction, age, and environmental conditions predict quality of life (QoL) in a conceptual model based on the Wilson and Cleary's Model (WCM). A stratified sample by age, gender, and living area was drawn from the Norwegian population of older adults receiving community health care (mean age of 78.6 years, 94.4% living at home, 5.6% living in nursing homes). The study is part of a larger international study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using the WHOQoL-Old, the WHOQoL-Bref Environment domain, the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Short Form SF-12, and sociodemographic and health questions. A path analysis (structural equation modeling) showed that the overall model provided empirical evidence for linkages in the WCM. QoL was manifested by significant direct effects of environmental conditions and health satisfaction. In addition, environmental conditions had indirect effects on QoL, in particular via depressive symptoms and health satisfaction. This model may help nurses in community health care to collect and assess information, to suggest suitable interventions, and to guide decision making.

Personality traits and achievement motives: theoretical and empirical relations between the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised and the Achievement Motives Scale.

Theoretical and empirical relations between personality traits and motive dispositions were investigated by comparing scores of 315 undergraduate psychology students on the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised and the Achievement Motives Scale. Analyses showed all NEO Personality Inventory-Revised factors except agreeableness were significantly correlated with the motive for success and the motive to avoid failure. A structural equation model showed that motive for success was predicted by Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism (negative relation), and motive to avoid failure was predicted by Neuroticism and Openness (negative relation). Although both achievement motives were predicted by several personality factors, motive for success was most strongly predicted by Openness, and motive to avoid failure was most strongly predicted by neuroticism. These findings extended previous research on the relations of personality traits and achievement motives and provided a basis for the discussion of motive dispositions in personality. The results also added to the construct validity of the Achievement Motives Scale.

Reliability and validity of the Norwegian WHOQOL-OLD module.

The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Norwegian WHOQOL-OLD six-facet, 24-item module designed for assessing generic quality of life cross-culturally among the elderly. Using quota-stratified sampling defined on the basis of sex, age and geographical representation, 401 respondents were drawn from Statistics Norway and completed postal surveys. An additional 89 elderly completed personal interviews. Correlation and multivariate analyses partly confirmed the relevance of individual items and facets in both groups. All items correlated significantly higher with their original facets, although almost half of these items correlated with other facets in both groups. Multiple regression analysis of the module and two overall questions (dependent variables) showed that three facets made significant contributions to overall health, with Social Participation (B = 0.09) contributing most strongly in the postal-group. In the interview-group, only Social Participation (B = 0.20) was found to make a significant contribution, and this was in relation to overall health satisfaction. When the WHOQOL-BREF total score was considered as the dependent variable, different facets contributed significantly in both groups. Exploratory factor analysis of the WHOQOL-OLD in the combined group of both postal and interview samples, resulted in a five-factor solution (eigenvalues >1) explaining 65% of the cumulative variance in five of the six originally operationalized facets. The most conceptually clear facets were Death and Dying and Sensory Abilities. Further, confirmatory factor analyses in the combined group demonstrated a model with good fit, but with high covariance between the factors. Acceptable internal consistency was shown except for the Past, Present and Future Activities in both groups. Since construct validity was only partially confirmed, exploration of the scale's conceptual validity needs further testing in Norwegian and international samples.