An individual’s experience of autonomy or lack thereof has a significant effect on interest and motivation towards everyday activities. The present study looks to expand on basic research by examining the neurocorrelates of interest following supporting and thwarting of autonomy through character choice in a videogame task. Previous research has demonstrated an important role of digital avatars on perceived autonomy and interest, and early neurological results have shown that choice of visual frame affects reward processing of task outcomes. Together, autonomy supports seem to enhance engagement and interest in a situation. In the present work, participants were presented with five characters to use as their avatar in a “running” game, requiring them to jump obstacles to succeed. Half of the participants were allowed free choice of the characters, whereas the other half were required to select the same character in a yoked fashion. Brain activity following success and failure was recorded with electroencephalography (EEG). Participants who were allowed to select their character reported greater autonomy, which predicted greater interest. Autonomy was predictive of the neurological processing, but no relation was found between interest and the feedback-related potentials. Exploratory analyses reveal a possible direct role of character preference on reward-processing.
","abstract_html":"<p>An individual’s experience of autonomy or lack thereof has a significant effect on interest and motivation towards everyday activities. The present study looks to expand on basic research by examining the neurocorrelates of interest following supporting and thwarting of autonomy through character choice in a videogame task. Previous research has demonstrated an important role of digital avatars on perceived autonomy and interest, and early neurological results have shown that choice of visual frame affects reward processing of task outcomes. Together, autonomy supports seem to enhance engagement and interest in a situation. In the present work, participants were presented with five characters to use as their avatar in a “running” game, requiring them to jump obstacles to succeed. Half of the participants were allowed free choice of the characters, whereas the other half were required to select the same character in a yoked fashion. Brain activity following success and failure was recorded with electroencephalography (EEG). Participants who were allowed to select their character reported greater autonomy, which predicted greater interest. Autonomy was predictive of the neurological processing, but no relation was found between interest and the feedback-related potentials. Exploratory analyses reveal a possible direct role of character preference on reward-processing.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Nieman, Elijah"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychological Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jon Barch"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:36Z","subjects":["electroencephalography","autonomy","choice","self-determination theory","videogame","reward processing","event-related potentials","characters","Biological Psychology","Social Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/847","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jon Barch"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Nieman, Elijah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-04-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychological Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["electroencephalography","autonomy","choice","self-determination theory","videogame","reward processing","event-related potentials","characters","Biological Psychology","Social Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/847"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["An individual’s experience of autonomy or lack thereof has a significant effect on interest and motivation towards everyday activities. The present study looks to expand on basic research by examining the neurocorrelates of interest following supporting and thwarting of autonomy through character choice in a videogame task. Previous research has demonstrated an important role of digital avatars on perceived autonomy and interest, and early neurological results have shown that choice of visual frame affects reward processing of task outcomes. Together, autonomy supports seem to enhance engagement and interest in a situation. In the present work, participants were presented with five characters to use as their avatar in a “running” game, requiring them to jump obstacles to succeed. Half of the participants were allowed free choice of the characters, whereas the other half were required to select the same character in a yoked fashion. Brain activity following success and failure was recorded with electroencephalography (EEG). Participants who were allowed to select their character reported greater autonomy, which predicted greater interest. Autonomy was predictive of the neurological processing, but no relation was found between interest and the feedback-related potentials. Exploratory analyses reveal a possible direct role of character preference on reward-processing.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Neurocorrelates of Character Choice in a Videogame Task"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jon Barch"],"dc:creator":["Nieman, Elijah"],"dc:date.available":["2024-04-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["An individual’s experience of autonomy or lack thereof has a significant effect on interest and motivation towards everyday activities. The present study looks to expand on basic research by examining the neurocorrelates of interest following supporting and thwarting of autonomy through character choice in a videogame task. Previous research has demonstrated an important role of digital avatars on perceived autonomy and interest, and early neurological results have shown that choice of visual frame affects reward processing of task outcomes. Together, autonomy supports seem to enhance engagement and interest in a situation. In the present work, participants were presented with five characters to use as their avatar in a “running” game, requiring them to jump obstacles to succeed. Half of the participants were allowed free choice of the characters, whereas the other half were required to select the same character in a yoked fashion. Brain activity following success and failure was recorded with electroencephalography (EEG). Participants who were allowed to select their character reported greater autonomy, which predicted greater interest. Autonomy was predictive of the neurological processing, but no relation was found between interest and the feedback-related potentials. Exploratory analyses reveal a possible direct role of character preference on reward-processing.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/847"],"dc:subject":["electroencephalography","autonomy","choice","self-determination theory","videogame","reward processing","event-related potentials","characters","Biological Psychology","Social Psychology"],"dc:title":["Neurocorrelates of Character Choice in a Videogame Task"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychological Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:36Z"}