Date of Award

Summer 2013

Access Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems

Department

Human Factors and Systems

Committee Chair

Shawn Michael Doherty

First Committee Member

Dahai Liu

Second Committee Member

Christina M. Frederick

Abstract

The number of participants in this expertise and videogame flow test totaled 80 from multiple target locations. Participants engaged in various levels of the videogame Super Mario Bros. Twenty experts and twenty novices experienced the easier level of World 1-2 while the other twenty experts and novices were exposed to the more difficult level World 6-1. After gameplay, participants completed a modified survey measuring flow. This survey, along with overall percentage game score, was analyzed. A significant interaction was found between game level (challenge level) and skill levels in perceived immersion, with significant main effects for expertise in perceived skill, for game level (challenge level) in perceived challenge, and for game level (challenge level) in overall percentage score. No significant correlation was found between perceived skill and overall percentage score, between perceived challenge and overall percentage score, or between perceived immersion and overall percentage score. These findings are relevant for understanding videogame flow in videogames of varying degrees of challenge and in players of different expertise levels. Discussion on these findings highlights the purpose of this paper.

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