Learning, Experience, and Cognitive Factors in the Presence Experiences of Gamers: An Exploratory Relational Study

This paper presents a large scale (N 101) exploratory relational study of computer gamers’ gaming habits and their presence experiences. The study posited and examined the effect of two presence maximization strategies (controlling distracters and maintaining updated computer hardware) and two hypothetical cognitive styles (thematic inertia and capacity to integrate non-diagetic information) on gamers’ rating of the importance of presence in their gaming experiences. The data show that frequency of game playing, but not game playing experience, affect self-rated presence importance, and that presence importance does not decline with experience. The data also suggest that presence maximization strategies are erratically effective in improving gaming experiences, and that the capacity to integrate non-diagetic information (but not thematic inertia) is a reliable predictor of self-rated presence importance. The paper closes with suggestions for improving the method in order to study cross-population effects.