4 pagesAPASOURCES3By the beginning of the 1960s the United .docx

4 pages
APA
SOURCES:3
By the beginning of the 1960s the United States had been
indirectly engaged in Vietnam for some time. However,
American involvement had been extremely limited. In 1964,
with the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, the United States formally
began to ramp up its commitment of troops. Even as the
decision was being made there were doubts about whether this
was the right choice for our country, and these doubts grew over
time.
In an essay of 1000 to 1500 words compare and contrast the key
arguments in these documents for and against American
intervention in Vietnam. Overall, which side do you think
presents a better case?
Please note that these documents are the primary sources you
will use in constructing your essay. You may use brief quotes
from the documents below to support your assertions, but be
sure that your essay is primarily in your own words.
RESD 600 Introduction to Research Methods
Dr. Ling Wang
Quantitative Study Review Worksheet
1. Citation:
2. Research question:
3. Sample and sampling method:

4. Independent variable(s):
5. Dependent variable:
6. Measurement of variables:
7. Procedure:
8. Design:
9. Statistical analysis:
10. Results:
11. Conclusions:
12. Limitations/Treats (Internal and External Validity):
13. Contribution to the Literature:
Interacting with Videogames in Adolescence: Effects
of Graphic Visualization on Perceived Presence
and Visuospatial Competences
Luca Milani(✉), Stefano Ambrosioni, and Paola Di Blasio
Centre for Research on Developmental and Educational
Dynamics (C.Ri.d.e.e.), Department of
Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, Largo Gemelli 1,
20123 Milan, Italy
{luca.milani,paola.diblasio}@unicatt.it,

[email protected]
Abstract. The study here described had the aim of studying the
effects of the
interaction with videogames characterized by different
modalities of graphic
visualization (two-dimensional vs. three-dimensional) on
presence and visuo‐
spatial competences. Participants were 129 adolescents (74 M
and 55 F) aged 14–
18 years old (mean of age = 16.11; SD = 1.31), recruited in a
high school in
Northern Italy. Participants were instructed to use for a week on
their home PC
a specific videogame and were divided in five experimental
conditions: 2D Tetris,
3D Tetris, 2D Adventure, 3D Adventure, control. Videogames
provided to partic‐
ipants were chosen so to have a continuum in terms of
complexity of graphics,
complexity of interaction possibilities and degree of
immersivity. At the end of
the week of playing with the given videogame, participants were
administered
specific checklists for measuring the degree of presence
experimented during the
interaction with the videogame and their visuo-spatial
performance. This results
show that there is a strong and direct correlation between the
degree of
complexity, immersivity and cognitive demands of videogames
and the level of
presence conveyed. Results also show that some of the visuo-
spatial abilities are
progressively and positively improved as the complexity of the
graphic environ‐
ment increases.

Keywords: Presence · Videogames · Visuo-spatial abilities ·
Graphic
visualization · Immersivity
1 Introduction
Presence can be defined as a medium-related function, i.e. the
perceptive illusion of non-
mediation, in a context of mediated environment [1]. This effect
is due to a cognitive
disappearance of the medium from the conscious subjective
experience [2].
The term “presence” in its present meaning was subject of
scientific debate from
1992, when Sheridan [3] used it instead of “telepresence” as a
result of the first exper‐
imental studies in the field of virtual reality applied to remote
control of equipment.
Differently from the early Nineties, nowadays most of virtual
reality technology is used
to generate environments to foster participation in socio-
cognitive activities via
© ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and
Telecommunications Engineering 2017
K. Giokas et al. (Eds.): eHealth 2016, LNICST 181, pp. 183–
189, 2017.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-49655-9_25
interaction with a computer. The common ground is that the
participant ceases to think
about himself as interacting with a computer and starts to

directly interact with the virtual
environment. The virtual environment allows the participant to
project his cognitive,
perceptive and motor abilities in a simulated environment, and
the feeling of presence
is the consequence of a seamless and successful performing of
an action in that envi‐
ronment [4, 5].
The similarity between the feedback to an action in the virtual
environment and the
real feedback to the same action in the real world is crucial in
fostering a sense of
presence. From a perceptual and cognitive point of view, the
subject implicitly evaluates
the contents of virtual environments in terms of opportunities
and affordances: as the
formers increase, the sense of presence is more likely to occur.
The result of the increase
in the sense of presence is a sort of paradoxical “invisibility” of
the medium [6] and a
sense of inseparability between the self and the virtual
environment [7]. Presence has
also a clear effect on emotions, in a “circular” path of mutual
influence [8].
More recently, one of the most intriguing applications of virtual
reality is the world
of videogaming: modern videogames often can boast among the
most sophisticated and
complex virtual environments in the consumer market. The
illusion of being in a synthe‐
sized virtual environment is maximised in the top productions,
both from an aural and
a visual point of view [9]. Modern videogames are generally
characterized by very

complex virtual environments in which the players can interact
in many ways, and
conceived to let the player have the impression that there are no
boundaries and no limits
to their exploration (e.g. the so-called “free roaming games”).
Videogames are also one of the most widespread forms of
entertainment among
children and adolescents, and often represent the first mean of
approach with the infor‐
mation technologies for the new generations. In the
developmental psychology litera‐
ture, videogames have been linked with potential negative
effects such as increased
aggression due to violent contents [10], addiction [11] and
seizures [12]. The literature
has also clearly pointed out that videogame play can exert
significant positive effects in
terms of cognitive processes, such as visuospatial abilities [13],
problem-solving skills
and inductive reasoning [14].
Given these findings, it appears of interest to link the study of
presence to the strong
literature on the effects of videogame use. A few researches
studied the degree of graph‐
ical complexity of videogames in relation with the sense of
presence. Ivory and Kalya‐
naraman [15] found that the improvement in terms of graphics
between mid-1990s and
2003 games led to stronger sensations of presence in their
participants. Bracken and
Skalski [16] found similar results: undergraduates that played a
high definition (HD)
version of a modern videogame felt a stronger sense of presence
than controls who

played a standard definition (SD) version of the same
videogame.
1.1 Aims of the Research
Moving from these results, the present study has the aim of
deepening the knowledge
about the effect of visualization on both the sense of presence
conveyed by videogames
and the visuo-spatial competences. Given the paradigmatic shift
seen in the last 20 years
184 L. Milani et al.
in the videogame industry (i.e. the introduction of complex and
real-time three-
dimensional graphics), assessing the effects of the different
types of visualization it is
of some importance. This holds even truer when thinking about
the learning potential
embedded in videogames: choosing the “right” balance between
immersion, presence
and conveying of contents to be learned could be crucial in
order to design videogames
for learning purposes.
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Participants
Participants were 129 students, aged 14–18 (mean = 16.11; SD
= 1.31), recruited in a
high school in Northern Italy. 74 (57.4%) participants were
male and 55 (42.6%) female.

No gender differences in terms of mean age were found at t test
for independent samples
(t = .88 ns).
2.2 Procedure
The research was approved by school managers and was
proposed to students during
curricular activities in their classrooms. Parents of the
participants signed a written
consent to allow their children to take part in the study.
Participants were randomly
assigned to five experimental conditions: 2D Tetris, 3D Tetris,
2D Adventure, 3D
Adventure and control condition. No age differences were found
between the five exper‐
imental conditions at ANOVA (F = .01 ns).
Participants were tested for visuospatial abilities with five
subscales of the “Kit of
Factor Referenced Cognitive Tests” [17], before they were
given a CD-ROM containing
a specific videogame (described below) and were asked to play
with the provided video‐
game for a week on their home PCs. Participants were overtly
asked to refrain from
using other videogames during the week.
Videogames provided to participants were chosen so to have a
continuum in terms
of complexity of graphics, complexity of interaction
possibilities and degree of immer‐
sivity, starting from 2D Tetris (the simplest) to 3D Adventure
(the most complex):
• 2D Tetris: two-dimensional version of the classic Pazhitnov’s

1984 puzzle game.
• 3D Tetris: three-dimensional version of Tetris, with a rotation
of shapes in the three
axes instead of one.
• 2D Adventure: for both the adventure conditions, the game
“The Secret of Monkey
Island” was chosen. Being an adventure videogame, the player
need to solve puzzles
in order to progress with the plot. The player interacts with the
videogame via a two-
dimensional interface, controlling a character and pointing with
the mouse over
various objects and characters and performing on them a fixed
set of actions.
• 3D Adventure: participants assigned to this condition played
with the fourth episode
of the “Monkey Island” series. This episode shares the same
adventure structure of
the first episode but is displayed via a real time three-
dimensional environment. The
Interacting with Videogames in Adolescence 185
player controls the character and performs actions via a
combination of mouse and
keyboard inputs.
The videogames were chosen in order to avoid any possible
violent content and for
their ease of play. Thus, there were two distinct features of
variation in experimental

conditions:
1. depth of interaction: Tetris provided limited interactive
affordances, giving the
repetitiveness of action, whereas the Adventure provided more
complex problem-
solving puzzles and a degree of free exploration;
2. visualization: 2D isometric representation of shapes and
environments vs. 3D real
time reconstruction of shapes and landscapes.
At the end of the week of training with the videogame,
participants were re-assessed
for visuo-spatial abilities and were administered the Italian
version of the ITC-SOPI
questionnaire [18] in order to assess the degree of presence
experimented during the
videogame play. Questionnaires were administered the day after
the end of the one-week
training with videogames, in order to make sure they had still a
vivid recall of their
gaming activity. Participants were also asked to state their
previous experience with
videogames in terms of mean of hours per week spent
videogaming.
2.3 Measures
Visuo-spatial abilities were assessed prior and after the training
with videogames by
using five subscales of “Kit of Factor Referenced Cognitive
Tests” [17]. The subscales
administered were:
• Matrix of points (CF-3).

• Recognition of identical figures (P-3).
• Reconstruction of images (CS-1).
• Rotation of figures (S-1).
• Rotation of cubes (S-2).
Cronbach’s alpha was .88.
In order to assess the degree of presence experimented by using
the videogames
provided, participants were administered a specific measure, the
ITC-SOPI by Lessiter
et al. [18]. The instrument specifically focuses upon the
subjective experience when
interacting with a medium, is comprised of 42 items on a 5-
point likert scale.
The instrument provides four subscales, each measuring a
distinct feature of pres‐
ence:
• SP (physical space): measures the feeling of being physically
placed in a virtual
environment. This is related also to a personal evaluation of the
sense of “being
there”.
• ENGAGE (engagement): measures the degree of subjective
psychological engage‐
ment in the virtual experience.
• ECO (ecological validity): this subscale measures the overall
appeal and believability
of the environment and its content, and to perceive them as
lifelike and real.

• NEG (negative effects): this subscale refers to potentially
negative feedbacks from
the interaction with the medium, such as dizziness, headaches,
nausea.
Cronbach’s Alpha of the ITC-SOPI was .97.
3 Results
We performed a MANOVA to compare the visuo-spatial
performance before and after
the experience with videogames, and the degree of presence
conveyed by the different
experimental condition. In order to precisely pinpoint the
specific contribution of the
experimental conditions on both visuospatial abilities and
presence, we splitted the two
facets of the experimental condition and inserted them as fixed
factors: “visualization”
(i.e. 2D vs. 3D), and “interaction” (i.e. high interaction,
Adventure vs. low interaction,
Tetris). To control for prior experience with videogames, we
inserted the hours per week
of videogames use as covariate. We found two significant main
effects: one of visuali‐
zation (Wilks’ Λ = .315, F = 7.74, p < .001, multivariate η2 =
.685) and one of inter‐
action (Wilks’ Λ = .135, F = 22.76, p < .001, multivariate η2 =
.865). Interestingly,
we found no significance for the combined effect visualization *
interaction. As can be
seen from Table 1 (only significant scores reported), follow-up
ANOVAs indicate a

clear and significant trend among the main facets of
experimental conditions (interaction
and visualization) as regards presence: the degree of presence
steadily increased from
the least immersive and interactive condition (2D Tetris) to the
most immersive and
interactive condition (3D Adventure). The experimental
condition also has an effect on
some of the visuospatial competences: CF-3 and S-1 subscales
showed a clear increase
from pre- to post-test, and the more complex and immersive the
environment, the more
increment was found. These results hold true regardless habitual
experience with video‐
games (weekly hours were controlled as covariates).
Table 1. Differences between experimental conditions in terms
of presence and visuo-spatial
abilities.
Experimental condition mean scores Variable F η p
2D Tetris 3D Tetris 2D Adv. 3D Adv. Control
1.80 2.11 2.62 3.23 – SP 76.38 .761 .001
2.59 2.86 3.54 3.83 – ENGAGEMENT 44.66 .650 .001
1.47 2.18 2.35 3.02 – ECO 80.07 .769 .001
1.50 1.35 1.54 1.59 – NEG 2.82 .105 .05
20.26 21.42 20.23 22.11 20.47 CF-3 (pre-test) 2.72 .036 ns.
23.73 23.89 23.66 27.05 22.78 CF-3 (post-test) 4.10 .054 .05
43.36 44.36 38.71 48.00 40.96 S-1 (pre-test) 3.18 .042 ns.
47.73 49.36 44.42 53.61 45.54 S-1 (post-test) 4.08 .054 .05

4 Discussion
The aims of the research were to verify if the graphic
visualization of the videogame
could be related to the degree of presence experimented by the
player and to an increase
in visuospatial competences. Data show that participants who
played the three-dimen‐
sional versions of the games felt a higher degree of presence
than participants who played
the two-dimensional versions.
Of more interest is that – regardless of graphic complexity –
participants who played
the adventure obtained higher scores in terms of presence than
participants who played
the puzzle game. This clearly calls into play the level of
cognitive challenge and cogni‐
tive complexity of tasks as a key factor in the fostering of
presence. Put in other words,
the level of graphic complexity is only a part of the picture: it
seems that the level of
challenge in terms of cognitive skills is just as important as the
formal properties of the
graphics.
Nonetheless, the level of realism in terms of virtual
environments is also a key factor,
at least for the impression of being physically placed in a
virtual environment. The more
detailed and lifelike the graphics are, the more the subject gains
the feeling of “being
there”. In our sample, this is clearly shown by the ICT-SOPI
“SP” subscale: mean scores
of the 3D Adventure experimental condition almost double

those of 2D Tetris condition
and are roughly the 20% higher than even the 2D Adventure
condition. Regarding the
“ENGAGE” subscale we can detect the same trend: players
enjoyed the more detailed
and vivid experience of both the Adventure experimental
conditions over the more
simple and less interactive gameplay of Tetris. If we consider
the “ECO” subscale, data
suggest that players felt the Adventure environments as more
ecologically credible than
the Tetris ones. This comes quite obvious since both Tetris are
puzzle games whose
objectives are not to recreate a fictional world. Finally,
regarding the “NEG” subscale,
none of the experimental conditions conveyed substantial
uneasiness in the participants.
Only the 3D Adventure causes a marginal discomfort, probably
due to the difficulty to
detect the “hotspots” (the areas where the player could interact
with objects) in the
environment. No instances of motion sickness were reported by
participants.
Also, our results show that the level of presence and complexity
of the videogame
could have some effects also on the increase of visuo-spatial
abilities. Our participants
shown better performances in the task of completing matrices of
points (CF-3) and
mentally rotate shapes (S-1) after the training with videogames.
The more complex the
environment of the game (i.e. 3D Adventure), the more increase
was found.
These results as a whole have significant spin-offs in terms of

implications for
educational software development. If we think at the growing
educational potentiality
of videogames in formal and informal education, being able to
identify the optimal level
of presence of an educational videogame could be crucial for
adjusting the level of
interaction to the appropriate learning goals.
On a second instance, assuming that the habitual experience
with videogames is
irrelevant in terms of presence could encourage to produce
learning games without
having to worry much about the steepness of the learning curve.
Put in other words:
provided the game is challenging both in terms of appearance
and content, the cognitive
feedback will be the roughly same regardless of the
videogaming habits of the user.
References
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Mast, C.A.P.G.: Research on
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Amstredam (2003)
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Giannakodimos, S., Panayotopoulos, C.P.:
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Waterworth.htm
http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/did/61357Interacting with
Videogames in Adolescence: Effects of Graphic Visualization
on Perceived Presence a ...Abstract1 Introduction1.1 Aims of
the Research2 Materials and Methods2.1 Participants2.2
Procedure2.3 Measures3 Results4 DiscussionReferences
CYBERPSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
Volume 3, Number 2, 2000
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Does Internet and Computer “Addiction” Exist?
Some Case Study Evidence
MARK GRIFFITHS, Ph.D.
ABSTRACT
It has been alleged that social pathologies are beginning to

surface in cyberspace (i.e., tech-
nological addictions). To date, there is very little empirical
evidence that computing activi-
ties (i.e., internet use, hacking, programming) are addictive.
Anecdotal evidence indicates that
the typical “addict” is a teenager, usually male, with little or no
social life, and little or no
self-confidence. This article concentrates on five case studies of
excessive computer usage. It
is argued that of the five cases, only two of them describe
“addicted” subjects. Addiction com-
ponents criteria were used in the assessment. The excessive
usage in the majority of cases
was purely symptomatic and was highlighted how the subjects
used the Internet/computer
to counteract other deficiencies.
211
INTRODUCTION
IT HAS BEEN ALLEGED that social pathologies arebeginning
to surface in cyberspace (i.e., tech-
nological addictions).1,2 Technological addic-
tions are operationally defined as nonchemical
(behavioural) addictions that involve human–
machine interaction. They can either be pas-
sive (e.g., television) or active (e.g., computer
games) and usually contain inducing and rein-
forcing features that may contribute to the pro-
motion of addictive tendencies.3–5 This author’s
view is that technological addictions are a sub-
set of behaviourial addictions6 and that behav-
iourial addictions feature the core components
of addiction (i.e., salience, mood modification,
tolerance, withdrawal, conflict and relapse).7

These core components are expanded upon.
Salience
This occurs when the particular activity be-
comes the most important activity in the per-
son’s life and dominates his or her thinking
(preoccupations and cognitive distortions),
feelings (cravings), and behaviour (deteriora-
tion of socialized behaviour). For instance, even
if the person is not actually engaged in the be-
haviour, he or she will be thinking about the
next opportunity to do so.
Mood modification
This refers to the subjective experiences
that people report as a consequence of en-
gaging in the particular activity and can be
seen as a coping strategy (i.e., they experience
an arousing “buzz” or a “high” or paradoxi-
cally tranquilizing feel of “escape” or “numb-
ing”).
Tolerance
This is the process whereby increasing
amounts of the particular activity are required
to achieve the former effects. For instance, a
Psychology Division, Nottingham Trent University,
Nottingham, United Kingdom.

gambler may have to gradually have to in-
crease the size of the bet to experience a eu-
phoric effect that was initially obtained by a
much smaller bet.
Withdrawal symptoms
These are the unpleasant feeling states
and/or physical effects that occur when the
particular activity is discontinued or suddenly
reduced (e.g., the shakes, moodiness, irritabil-
ity, etc.).
Conflict
This refers to the conflicts between the ad-
dict and those around them (interpersonal con-
flict) or from within the individuals themselves
(intrapsychic conflict) that are concerned with
the particular activity.
Relapse
This is the tendency for repeated reversions
to earlier patterns of the particular activity to
recur and for even the most extreme patterns
typical of the height of the addiction to be
quickly restored after many years of abstinence
or control.
To date, there is very little empirical evidence
that computing activities (i.e., internet use,
hacking, programming) are addictive. Anecdo-
tal evidence indicates that the typical “addict”
is a teenager, usually male, with little or no so-

cial life and little or no self-confidence.8 How-
ever, recent work suggests there are individu-
als who do not fit this stereotype.9 This article
concentrates on five case studies of excessive
computer usage collected by the author over a
period of 6 months. Each of the outlined cases
has been given a pseudonym and a demo-
graphic description (i.e., age, gender, national-
ity, status). Information is also given about the
origin and source of the case study. Each case
is also followed by a brief commentary.
GARY
Demographic profile: 15-year-old British
male (at school); source of account: author con-
tacted by subject’s mother who heard about au-
thor’s research on a national radio programme;
and origin of data: written correspondence.
Gary is an only child and spends many hours
on his home computer, averaging at least 3–4
hours a day in school term, with up to 5 or 6
hours or more a day at weekends. During the
school holidays it increases even more, espe-
cially because he is on his own in the house
whilst his parents are at work. Gary’s mother de-
scribes him as “extremely good technically, very
bright and very good at computer program-
ming.” His mother claims “he is computer mad,
but not for computer games, rather for serious
computing—programming etc.” His General
Certificate of Secondary Education homework
has been increasingly suffering because of the
time he spends on his computer. When he is not

working on his computer, he watches television.
Gary suffers from neurofibromotosis, a con-
dition that can produce severe behavioural
problems to varying degrees. According to his
mother, Gary has always had problems so-
cially. He has had difficulty in making friends,
difficulty in coping with teasing and minor bul-
lying (usually of a verbal nature). His parents
feel he views his computer as a “friend” and,
therefore, tends to spend much of his time on
the machine. Gary also suffers from an inferi-
ority complex and lack of confidence when
dealing with his peers. As a consequence, he
gets very depressed. This condition worsened
when he got his own computer. At the same
time, his general behaviour worsened. He re-
fused to do his normal household chores when
requested, was generally awkward and diffi-
cult, and provoked confrontational situations
between himself and other members of the
family.
He spends time with the computer to the ex-
clusion of family and friends. His parents had
his general practitioner refer him to a psychia-
trist for counselling and help. Whilst Gary
viewed this as a possible “quick fix” for his
problems, it was very slow progress. He is still
getting the help of the local psychological ser-
vices. His mother feels that much of his lack of
confidence stems from the fact that he is con-
tent to spend his time in his room to the ex-
clusion of others in his own world. She sees the
problem as “a self-induced Catch 22 situation”
in that he will never make friends whilst he

GRIFFITHS212
spends time alone, but the action of spending
time alone reduces his ability to deal with other
people. Gary’s own view is that he does not
have a problem with his computer use and that
he does not spend too much time on the com-
puter. There is no doubt that this appears to be
an unusual case and that Gary’s excessive time
spent on the computer appears to be sympto-
matic of other underlying problems.
Commentary
Gary appears to fit the stereotype of a com-
puter addict in that he is a male teenager who
appears to have little or no social life and little
or no self-confidence. He appears to use the
machine as an “electronic friend”—a behaviour
that has been reported with other technologi-
cal products such as video games10 and slot
machines.3–5 He appears to display all the core
components of addiction and like many ad-
dicts, denies he has any kind of problem. His
primary motivation for excessive use of his
computer appears to be some sort of escapism
into his own world where he can counteract his
depression and forget about his social isolation
and his medical condition (neurofibromotosis).
JAMIE

male (at college); source of account: Subject ap-
peared on television programme (about Inter-
net addiction) with author and continued cor-
respondence; origin of data: face-to-face
interview and written correspondence via the
Internet.
Jamie is an only child and lives alone with
his mother. There appears to be few problems
in Jamie’s family life although his mother di-
vorced his father when Jamie was 3 years old.
Jamie has no physical problems although he
is very overweight. Jamie spends approxi-
mately 70 hours a week on his computer in-
cluding 40 hours on the Internet. This in-
cludes two 12-hour sessions at the weekend.
Only 3 hours a week is spent on work-related
activities. Jamie’s usual pattern is to log on
between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the afternoon
and log off between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. in the
morning. He describes himself as “sci-fi mad”
and spends “hours and hours” taking part in
Usenet discussion groups about the television
programme Star Trek (and its spin-offs). Al-
though he had played computer games when
he was younger, Jamie first used a computer
properly when he was 14 years of age. He
used the Internet for about 10 months before
getting a modem. As a consequence of his ex-
cessive Internet use, the house telephone bills
are large.
Jamie claims the Internet is the most impor-
tant things in his life, and that he thinks about
it even when he is not using it. He claims the

Internet can change his mood—either calming
him or exciting him. He gets withdrawal symp-
toms if he cannot get Internet access. When try-
ing to cut down or quit, he finds the lure of cy-
berspace too strong to resist (“I get very
irritable and I start to shake”). However, he
does not view himself as an “addict.”
Jamie says he has difficulty limiting or con-
trolling the time both on and offline. Over a 2-
year period he has upgraded his computer 11
times. He says “I log on literally until I am
physically unplugged by someone else . . . I
can’t work or live without it—my social and in-
tellectual life are linked directly to it.” If he’s
not connected—even for a short length of time,
he worries he no longer knows “what is going
on.” Jamie’s use of the Internet causes irregu-
lar sleeping patterns. It doesn’t bother him that
he has become nocturnal in order to use the In-
ternet when the telephone charges are low. Oc-
casionally he oversleeps and misses college be-
cause of his computer usage. He has tried to
quit the internet—once giving up for 3 days—
but the pressure to log back on proved too
great.
If Jamie was not online, he feels he would
not use that time to meet people in real life (“I
tend not to socialise much”). He has no friends
outside of those he meets on Internet Relay
Chat (IRC) and has no desire to make any.
Jamie uses the Internet for a variety of differ-
ent chat methods (e.g., IRC, Westwood Chat,
as well as the Web and newgroups). Jamie
claims he uses these services “to meet lots of

people.” He feels that the Internet has im-
proved his level of knowledge and intends to
enter an Internet-related field of employment.
EXISTENCE OF INTERNET ADDICTION 213
Commentary
Jamie—like the case of Gary above—appears
to fit the stereotype of an internet addict in that
he is a male teenager who appears to have lit-
tle or no social life, little or no self-confidence,
displays all the core components of addiction,
and denies he has any kind of problem. How-
ever, Jamie claims to have “friends” although
all of these are “net friendships.” His passion
for science-fiction echoes research carried out
by Wolfson11 who found that obsessive fans of
the television programme Star Trek use the In-
ternet extensively. Jamie’s primary motivation
for using the Internet excessively is to socialise
with other Internet users. It may be the case
that Jamie feels comfortable in the text-based
(non–face-to-face) world of the Internet be-
cause of his obesity.
PANOS
Demographic profile: 20-year old Greek male
(at university); source of account: subject con-
tacted author via an Internet discussion group;
origin of data: Written correspondence via the
Internet.

Panos has played on computer games since
he was a small child. As an only child he got
almost anything he wanted when he was
younger, including all forms of electronic tech-
nology. He recalls that as a child he had a small
computer on which he used to play games but
used the computer for nothing else. Panos
claims that at that particular time in his life, he
had become “addicted” to the games he used
to play. He played the games to the neglect of
everything else in his life. He now believes that
people can become addicted to computers as
well and that the escapism he felt as a young
boy is now being recreated via his use of the
Internet—particularly through the playing of
fantasy role-playing games (such as Dungeons
and Dragons) and through the use of chat
rooms. As Panos says:
I was 100% sure that you could only become
addicted to a computer by playing games. I
thought that it was impossible to become ad-
dicted to a computer by using it for profes-
sional purposes. Many years later I came to
England to study chemistry and I soon I real-
ized that I couldn’t do without computers. But
this time it was not playing games. Gradually,
I discovered the huge world of Internet and its
many uses and applications. I used to go to the
computer only to word process and print but
now I am spending many hours every day ex-
ploring Internet, in addition to sending nu-
merous E-mails and doing stuff that in fact (for
entertainment) and to my opinion can ruin
somebody’s life.”

Panos feels his whole life revolves around
computers and that he feels comfortable being
in this country when he is on the Internet. He
claims that using the Internet excessively helps
him cope with every day life as a university
student. He spends an average 40–50 hours a
week on the Internet but has no financial prob-
lems because he accesses the Internet for free
from his university. His studies have suffered
considerably as he spends so much time on the
Internet, which leaves him little time to get on
with his degree work.
Commentary
Panos, to some extent, appears to fit the
stereotype of an internet addict in that he is a
young male who appears to have little or no
social life and little or no self-confidence. How-
ever, he appears to display only some the core
components of addiction (salience, conflict,
mood modification, and possibly tolerance),
and, unlike the previous two cases, he does not
deny he has a problem surrounding his Inter-
net usage. The primary motivation for exces-
sive Internet usage is to cope with the fact that
he is in a foreign country in which he has very
few friends. Panos very much uses the Internet
for escapism and socializing.
It is interesting to note that Panos claimed he
was once “addicted” to computer games. There
have been a number of models putting forward
a developmental account of person–machine
relationships.12,13 It is perhaps unsurprising

that a former computer game “addict” should
use the Internet most excessively for the fan-
tasy role-playing games. A fairly recent study
of fantasy game players found that that the
time spent on such games was “considerable”
and that they were more introverted and more
GRIFFITHS214
likely to “play with computers” and be com-
puter game players than controls.14
JODIE
Demographic profile: 35-year-old Canadian
female (unemployed); source of account: sub-
ject contacted author via an Internet discussion
group; origin of data: written correspondence
via the Internet.
Jodie spends at least 40 hours a week on the
Internet. Her excessive usage is totally con-
fined to IRC services. Jodie describes herself as
“disabled, overweight and not at all attrac-
tive.” She says that this makes no difference
on the Internet because she gets to know oth-
ers first in the Internet environment and that
then when she meets them in “real life” later
it does not matter. She says “I have met well
over a dozen people in real life that I first met
on IRC or in some other way through the In-
ternet.” She does not view her use of the In-
ternet as an addiction although she does see it
as a way of life.

Almost all of Jodie’s relationships are Inter-
net-based. The following extract is her account
of the typical cycle of an Internet relationship.
I meet men through IRC and we start out the
same as anyone else just chatting—where are
you from? How old? Any kids? And then it
evolves into exchanging pictures, phone calls
and then an overwhelming desire to meet in
real life. When I meet a guy, I usually decide
to meet “as friends” and if there is more then
that is fine. Even if there is nothing romantic
I usually have a good time.
Jodie is now married to someone she met on
the Internet but sees him very little because she
lives in Alberta (Canada) and he lives in North
Carolina (United States). They met on a camp-
ing holiday with other people she had met
through the Internet. Jodie only meets with her
husband at traditional vacation times (e.g.,
Christmas) and suffers verbal abuse from her
mother about her marriage. Her mother thinks
her daughter has lost her mind and is crazy for
wanting to marry someone she feels that her
daughter does not really know. Jodie says of
her relationship:
Granted, our actual real life together time
hasn’t been much—however, I feel our time
on the net (we speak for 3–4 hours every night)
has given us MORE of a chance to really get
to know each other . . . all we do is talk about
our feelings, wants and needs, future desires
etc.

Jodie feels her excessive Internet use is
purely a function of the relationships in which
she is involved and that it is no different from
other people’s use of the telephone. The emo-
tional “highs” that she gains from using the In-
ternet come from the social interaction rather
than the Internet herself. She claims that she
gets depressed and moody when she is not on
IRC but again she says this is because it means
she is on her own without it.
Commentary
Although Jodie appears to display some of
the components of addiction (salience, mood
modification, and withdrawal) she does not fit
the young male stereotype. Similar to Jamie,
she is very overweight and is explicit in ex-
plaining that she likes the Internet because no
face-to-face communication takes place. Her
primary motivation for using the Internet ex-
cessively was to socialise (also exacerbated by
the fact that she is disabled) although this has
now changed into the most accessible (cheap-
est) way to stay in touch with her partner. Jodie
does not feel she has a problem in any way and
feels that the excessiveness she displays on the
Internet is totally vindicated by the situation
she is in.
DAVE
male (employed); source of account: author
contacted by subject’s wife after reading an ar-

ticle about author’s research on Internet addic-
tion in a national newspaper; origin of data:
written correspondence.
Dave (“a loveable happy man”) had been
married to his wife for 3 years and had lived
with her for 7 years. They had a beautiful
house, Dave had an excellent job, and they
were both very happy—until the Internet en-
tered Dave’s life. The problem began when
Dave changed jobs and had to spend more time
at home—alone. As a result of this, Dave
quickly became depressed and slightly with-
drawn. As a result, he began spending time on
the IRC whilst his wife was at work.
Within a couple of months of being at home,
he became worse, could not sleep, and used
the Internet long into the early hours of the
morning. His wife claimed that Dave got “an
incredible thrill from using (the Internet), as
though filling a need within.” He became an-
gry and anxious, with “his whole body be-
coming twitchy when he was not on the In-
ternet.” He also suffered a loss of concentration
and turned into someone that his wife did not
know. Within 3 months of being at home,
Dave’s wife found out that he was using the
Internet to live in a fantasy world—mainly
with people in the United States. His wife
claims “he became totally obsessed by it—not

leaving his office for up to 5 days at a time, ex-
cept to eat and sleep.” The cost of Dave’s In-
ternet use was kept hidden from his wife but
she found out that the “other woman” lived in
Boston and that Dave would call her five or six
times a day and talk to her for 3–4 hours on
IRC.
Within 3 months of “working” from home,
Dave had left his wife and walked out without
a word. His wife did not know where Dave had
gone until she found out he had gone to the
United States to meet a woman who “under-
stands” his fantasy world through the Internet.
Dave proposed marriage to the American
woman before he left the United Kingdom—
even though he had never met her. His wife
says that the Internet caused the destruction of
their marriage, the loss of their house, and the
loss of her husband.
Dave briefly returned home for 10 days but
has now gone back to America “to live out his
fantasy.” As far as his wife knows, he is not
now using the Internet. Dave now admits that
his fantasy was not quite what he wanted, and
that he is depressed and has begun to realise
the damage of losing his job, his wife, and
walking out on his family. Dave’s wife specu-
lates that men can emotionally communicate
better through a computer than verbal com-
munication. She says, “It seems to be so wide-
spread now that people need to escape from
every day life and intimacy via Internet.”

Commentary
Although Dave is a male, he does not fit the
Internet addict stereotype in that he is not a
teenager or young. However, he does appear
to fulfill most of the addiction components (at
least while he was having his virtual affair) al-
though the whole of his behaviour appears
symptomatic and was completely motivated by
his desire to interact constantly with a new
“partner.” Although there is no direct evi-
dence, it appears that his Internet usage has
now declined significantly or stopped now that
he has finally met up with the woman with
whom he was having a virtual affair.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
It is quite obvious that of the five cases, pos-
sibly only two of them (Gary and Jamie) were
addicted according to the addiction compo-
nents criteria. The excessive usage in the ma-
jority of cases was purely symptomatic and was
where the Internet/computer was used to
counteract other deficiencies (e.g., relation-
ships, lack of friends, physical appearance, dis-
ability, coping, etc.). However, it is interesting
that all of the case studies used the computer
for social contact, with four of them using it for
IRC services and the fifth one using the com-
puter as an “electronic friend.” As these cases
show, text-based relationships can obviously
be rewarding for some people and is an area
for future research. It is perhaps also refresh-
ing that in some circumstances, online rela-
tionships could be deemed to be psychologi-

cally healthy because they break down
prejudices and that intimate relationships are
not based on people’s physical appearance.
The three young males were all only children
who appeared socially isolated and had few so-
cial skills. These factors may or may not have
had an influence in excessive computer use.
However, the psychotherapist Rawlins15 has
specifically reported some positive attributes
through intensive Internet use. Rawlins sees
many children who fit the criteria for Pervasive
Developmental Delay or Atypical Autism. She
GRIFFITHS216
reports that these children often “fit in hand
and glove” with computer technology. They al-
ready have poor social relatedness and are
rather isolated individuals. She argues that net
use may actually augment and help their social
interaction.
Another question to consider is whether the
social pathologies in cyberspace are inevitable.
Ajayi16 has reported that, where the Internet is
concerned, what we are seeing is merely the
continuation of a decades-long trend of people
spending increasingly more time with technol-
ogy than with humans. He argues that the shift
away from family and peers to mass media
technology as the primary socialization agents
can be traced to the advent of radio in the 1930s,
followed by television in the 1950s, and com-

puter networks today. Ajayi further argues
that, for many people, going online is a way of
dealing with a society where people are be-
coming increasingly more isolated from one
another.
One of the objectives of any future research
should be to determine the object of the “ad-
diction.” Is it the process of typing? The
medium of communication? Aspects of its spe-
cific style (no face-to-face, etc.)? The informa-
tion that can be obtained (e.g., pornography)?
Playing games? Talking to others (in chat
rooms or on Internet Relay Chat)? Could it be
that the Internet provides a medium for the
“addiction” to flow to its object of unhealthy
attachment (i.e., a secondary addiction to more
pervasive primary problems)? The Internet
could easily be the focus of obsessive and/or
compulsive behaviours. One thing that may in-
tensify this focus are the vast resources avail-
able on the Internet to feed or fuel other ad-
dictions or compulsions. For example, to a sex
addict, the Internet could be a very dangerous
medium. There is also the problem that the In-
ternet consists of many different types of ac-
tivity (e.g., E-mailing, information browsing,
file transferring, socialising, role-game playing,
etc.), and it could be the case (and probably is
the case) that some of these activities (such as
IRC or role-playing games) are more addictive
than some other net activities.
Future research should establish why the in-
ternet is highly reinforcing for some people.
Hammersly17 has speculated on a number of

reasons that appear to fit with the case studies
outlined in this article:
� It allows correspondence with people who
share mutual interests.
� It puts people in touch with other people
who they would otherwise never meet.
� The costs of communicating is low.
� There is a substantial “puzzle” element to
using the internet, and many people find
puzzling tasks reinforcing.
� People can download software toys, some
of which are reinforcing.
� People can keep in touch with friends with
minimal time and financial costs.
� It gives people feelings of status and
modernity, which may bolster self-esteem.
These are all commonplace reinforcers for
humans.
� It allows people to be taken seriously and
listened to.
� It allows people to present a “well-man-
aged” persona, which may deviate in sig-
nificant ways from one’s every-day, face-
to-face persona.
� It allows people to be boring about one’s

favourite hobby horse.
Finally, it is perhaps worth nothing that Grif-
fiths5 speculated that the structural character-
istics of the software might promote addictive
tendencies. Structural characteristics (i.e., fea-
tures that manufacturers design into their
products) promote interactivity and, to some
extent, define alternative realities for the user
and allow them feelings of anonymity in fea-
tures that may be very psychologically re-
warding. For instance, determinants of the de-
cision to engage in a particular activity not only
include the person’s biological and psycholog-
ical constitution and the situational variables,
but also the structural characteristics of the ac-
tivity itself. As Griffiths18 points out, the struc-
tural characteristics of particular activities are
responsible for reinforcement and may satisfy
users’ needs and may actually facilitate exces-
siveness. By identifying particular structural
characteristics, it may be possible to see how
(a) needs are identified, (b) information about
the Internet is presented (or perhaps misrepre-
sented), and (c) cognitions are influenced and
distorted. (See Griffiths18 for an overview on
structural characteristics.)
There is no doubt that Internet usage among
the general population will start to increase
over the next few years. If social pathologies do

exist, than psychologists may well be the peo-
ple who have to deal with the aftermath. This
is certainly an area for development that
should be of interest and concern to all those
involved in clinical health issues.
REFERENCES
1. Griffiths, M.D. (1996). Internet “addiction”: An issue for
clinical psychology? Clinical Psychology Forum, 97:32–36.
2. Griffiths, M.D. (1997). Psychology of computer use:
XLIII. Some comments on “Addictive use of the in-
ternet” by Young. Psychological Reports, 80:81–82.
3. Griffiths, M.D. (1995). Technological addictions. Clin-
ical Psychology Forum, 76:14–19.
4. Griffiths, M.D. (1995). Adolescent gambling. London:
Routledge.
5. Griffiths, M.D. (1995, April 7). Netties Anonymous.
Times Higher Educational Supplement, p. 18.
6. Marks, I. (1990). Non-chemical (behaviourial) addic-
tions. British Journal of Addiction, 85:1389–1394.
7. Griffiths, M.D. (1996). Nicotine, tobacco, and addic-
tion. Nature, 384:18.
8. Hybels, S. (1995). Cited in “Terminal Addiction.” In-
ternet and Comms Today, p. 35.
9. Young, K. (1996). Psychology of computer use: XL.
Addictive use of the internet: A case that breaks the
stereotype. Psychological Reports, 79:899–902.

10. Selnow, G.W. (1984). Playing video games: The elec-
tornic friend. Journal of Communication, 34:148–156.
11. Wolfson, S. (1995, December). Star trek fan behav-
iour: “It’s addiction Jim, but not as we know it.” Pa-
per presented at the British Psychological Society
London Conference, Institute of Education, Lon-
don.
12. Brown, R.I.F. (1989). Gaming, gambling, risk taking,
addictions and a developmental model of a pathol-
ogy of man-machine relationships. In: Klabber, J.,
Croowall, D., de Jong, H., and Scheper, W. (eds.). Sim-
ulation gaming. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
13. Griffiths, M.D. (1991). Amusement machine playing
in childhood and adolescence: A comparative analy-
sis of video games and fruit machines. Journal of Ado-
lescence, 14:53–73.
14. Douse, N.A., and McManus, I.C. (1993). The person-
ality of fantasy game players. British Journal of Psy-
chology, 84:505–509.
15. Rawlins, C. (1995). Cited in “Terminal Addiction.” In-
ternet and Comms Today, p. 35.
16. Ajayi, A. (1995). Cited in Terminal Addiction. Inter-
net and Comms Today, p. 36.
17. Hammersley, R. (1995). Personal e-mail communica-
tion to ADDICT-L discussion group.
18. Griffiths, M.D. (1993). Fruit machine gambling: The
importance of structural characteristics. Journal of

Gambling Studies, 9:133–152.
Address reprint requests to:
Dr. Mark Griffiths
Psychology Division
Nottingham Trent University
Burton Street
Nottingham, NG1 4BU
E-mail: [email protected]
GRIFFITHS218

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