Video games may help children with autism build social understanding, according to researchers who carried out a study of story-based video games and their psychological impact. The study itself was carried out with non-autistic adult players, but the researchers suggest the idea could be developed with autistic children in mind. At a time when video games and violent content are often blamed for encouraging anti-social behaviour, this study offers a fresh perspective that could be useful for children with or without autism. (This post was first published in 2015 and reports on research from that time.)
Published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, the study shows that a gentle, non-violent kind of video game may actually help with social understanding. The authors, Daniel Bormann from the University of Freiburg, Germany, and Tobias Greitemeyer from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, tested how two different video games affected two groups of participants.
Story games like “Gone Home” improved players’ ability to understand characters
First-person games like “Against the Wall” did not have the same effect
One group was asked to play a video game called Gone Home. It is a story-based game where the player takes on the character of a college student who returns home to find her family missing. The mission is to find out what happened using the clues provided.
The other group was asked to play Against the Wall, where the character climbs a wall while interacting with the wall’s talking bricks. The game has no character development and little storyline.
After playing the games for 20 minutes, both groups were tested on their ability to understand other people’s mental states from their facial expressions. The participants also completed a survey about how involved they felt in the game and how much they enjoyed it.
The results showed that the story-based video game (Gone Home) strengthened players’ ability to understand others, by offering “opportunities for meaningful choices and relationships.” According to the authors, a story-based video game is much like reading a book or watching a movie.
It allows people to become “immersed” in the story, and readers or viewers begin to relate to the characters’ emotions. The authors concluded that a non-violent video game could teach players a lot about human emotions and interactions.
This study could be useful for people who find social interaction hard, a common experience among children with autism. There is plenty of room to develop this research with autism in mind. Bormann said researchers and software developers could aim to make video games that simulate real-world environments and help kids with autism learn and practise social skills in a low-pressure way.
Many autistic children already love games, so a story-based game they enjoy can be a natural way to talk together about characters, feelings and choices.
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I am Ash and I celebrate Neurodiversity! Growing up with an elder brother with severe Autism was tough – but it has also taught me essential life lessons. I don’t believe that people with Autism are necessarily or have any disorder (except in extreme cases). They are just different! And that is something to be proud of! I am passionate about helping other families who may have Autism conditions in their family. So please reach out and drop me a note. I will be glad to help 🙂
