The pleasure response is found in children and adults. But when we play a game from childhood, or even one that looks like a game from that time, there\u2019s a compounding effect of pleasure. \u201cThe reward pathways are more sensitive in children and adolescents than in adults,\u201d says Woog. \u201cSo when these childhood games are played as an adult, the pleasure response from the past adds to the current experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Personal identity is also a potent force, as well as a predictor of behavior. If you identify as someone who is responsible, you behave responsibly. If you call yourself a risk-taker, you take risks. Someone who identified as a successful gamer as a kid\u2014or merely a passionate one\u2014may be tied to that as an adult. Woog says the pleasure response is even stronger in these types of people. \u201cThis would be especially true if, as a child, they were particularly successful at the game, or at least remembered it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSuccessful life experiences become part of our identity,\u201d says Woog. \u201cThis success identity, when activated while playing childhood video games, would further enhance the experience. Nostalgic play may also recall positive childhood experiences unrelated to gaming. Evoking these when playing childhood video games could result in a boost to mood, especially if the individual is experiencing negative mood states such as sadness or depression.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a global pandemic, and the subsequent\u00a0three-fold increase in depression<\/a>\u00a0symptoms, it\u2019s no wonder that many are finding comfort in older games and retro-looking ones. Older games instill perseverance, too, to help get through tough times. \u201cThere\u2019s something about the old-school games,\u201d Fraser says. \u201cYou only got three lives, you needed to earn a new life if you performed well. I talk to my kids about this with a strange sense of pride. I grew up playing games that taught patience and grit.\u201d<\/p>\n wired.com<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/why-retro-looking-games-get-so-much-love\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The pleasure response is found in children and adults. But when we play a game from childhood, or even one that looks like a game from that time, there\u2019s a compounding effect of pleasure. \u201cThe reward pathways are more sensitive in children and adolescents than in adults,\u201d says Woog. \u201cSo when these childhood games are … Continue reading Pleasure Response and Personal Identity<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":794685,"featured_media":10,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/794685"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/a855072\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}