Interactive Games as State-Revealing Systems: Why Continuous Play Exposes Psychological Transitions Without Questionnaires
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This working paper proposes a methodological reframing of interactive games as state-revealing systems rather than entertainment artifacts or assessment wrappers. It argues that continuous decision-making environments can expose psychological and cognitive state transitions through observable interaction traces, without relying on self-report questionnaires or explicit introspection tasks. The paper positions games as low-resistance observation interfaces, where hesitation, path revision, persistence, and abandonment function as measurable indicators of underlying state dynamics. The contribution is conceptual and methodological, providing a foundation for subsequent papers on narrative media, multimodal symbolic systems, and dynamic state modeling.
Author: Ma, Sincere Ann
Language: English
Topic: Digital Games and Media
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7117258188
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