This is the presentation by Dylan Wijeyaratnam presented at the Canadian Game Studies Association meeting in 2015 in Calgary, AB.

1. Nightmare Protection:
Combat or Companionship?
Dylan Wijeyaratnam & Dr. Jayne Gackenbach
CGSA 2016

2. Revonsuo’s (2000) Threat Simulation Theory
 Biological function of dreaming is to simulate threatening events, so we can
rehearse appropriate avoidance skills.
 Ex. Robbery
 Evolutionary theory

3. The Nightmare Protection Effect

4. The Nightmare Protection Effect
 Dr. Gackenbach’s Lab
 High-end gamers are better prepared to protect themselves while
threatened in a dream, which can be characterized as a nightmare.
They also do not find their dreams to be particularly scary.
 This effect is not found in low-end gamers.

5. Present Study

6. Present Study
 Extension of previous work by Gackenbach and colleagues.
 Test effects of Companionship and Combat on Nightmare Protection with
horror games

7. Participants
 96 male University students (66.7% = 18-20 yr)
 Prescreened for:
Sex (Males accepted)
Dream Recall history (Minimum 1x/week)
Video Game Play History (Minimum 1x/year)
Comfort with Horror Game (Yes)

8. Instruments
 Pre Game Surveys
Demographics and Media History
Emotional Reactivity Scale
Trauma Inventory
 Observers Report
 Post Game survey

9. Conditions
Companionship & Combat
Companionship & No Combat
No Companionship & Combat
No Companionship & No Combat

10. Method
 Left 4 Dead 2 is a zombie horror survival game
 3-minute orientation to game
 Post game survey
 20-30 minute uninterrupted play session
 Post game survey again

11. Dream Follow Up
 Participants were contacted 24 hours following the game session and asked
to report a dream within the next week.

12. Results

13. 58
60
62
64
66
68
With Combat Without Combat
Presence
Felt Sense of Presence In Game
With Companionship Without Companionship

14. 1.25
1.5
1.75
2
2.25
2.5
2.75
3
With Combat Without Combat
Threat
Threat Simulation in Dreams

15. 0
0.5
1
1.5
With Combat Without Combat
HVDCAggression
Instances of Aggression in Dreams

16. Conclusions
 Companionship resulted in lower feelings of presence, which led to a lower
frequency of lucid dreaming.
 Companionship also resulted in more threat in dreams.
 Combat replicated the nightmare protection effect. Participants with
combat experienced lower aggression than those without combat.

17. Future Directions And Limitations
Virtual Reality
Video Games Matter
Scarier Game

18. Acknowledgments
 Dr. Jayne Gackenbach
 David Sumantry, Daniel Evans, Mike Anson, Aravin Paramaswera,
Victor Escobar, Rishav Rana, and Carson Flockhart
 MacEwan University

19. Questions?