Browsing by Subject "Group performance"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A computational approach to the study of player and group performance in massively multiplayer online games.
    (2011-12) Shim, Kyong Jin
    The market for video games skyrocketed over the past decade. Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) have become increasingly popular and have communities comprising over 47 million subscribers by the year 2008. With their increasing popularity, researchers are realizing that video games can be a means to fully observe an entire isolated universe. Each action is logged, and the level of granularity and completeness with which information is collected is unmatched by any real-life experimental setup. They serve as unprecedented tools to theorize and empirically model the social and behavioral dynamics of individuals, groups, and networks within large communities. Virtual world applications usually have a thin-client architecture, practically all user actions are captured in the click-stream logged at the server. This dataset contains a comprehensive record of every user's in-network activities, accomplishments, interactions, economic status, etc. A brief record of the user's side information (i.e. profile data) is also stored. It is common for popular social networking and collaborative systems to have hundreds of thousands of users generating copious amounts of data based on the many different activities they are participating in at any given time. The data also has a temporal component which is often an integral part of the analysis and introduces further relationships that must be accounted for. Thus, while providing an exciting new tool for the social sciences, the virtual worlds also present a set of difficult and novel computational challenges. In the gaming community today, there is a growing interest in understanding player behaviors both inside and outside the gaming space. Game companies are interested in finding out how their games are played, if they are being played as intended, how the different game mechanics are being played out and how the different game playing patterns lead to a high level of satisfaction and entertainment for customers. Retrospective analyses after the game launch on existing game features can reveal information on which features enhance player's gaming experience and to which demographic segments they especially appeal to. Features negatively correlated with gaming experience can be considered for removal while those positively correlated with gaming experience can be further enhanced. For new game features, prospective analyses before the game launch can reveal information on which features might appeal to certain player population segments with a certain level of confidence and user-oriented testing can focus on these features for further validation. This thesis work presents the first comprehensive quantitative analysis of an important aspect of MMOG game play, namely player and group performance. While there are many different game genres (i.e. action, shooter, action-adventure, adventure, role-playing, and simulation) and many dimensions comprising players' game-play experience, in certain game genres such as MMOGs, close connection has been reported between player enjoyment and completing challenges and mastering skills. A systematic study of individual game player characteristics, group composition and characteristics, social interactions amongst the group members, and game environments can reveal a great deal about what are the recipes for success in achieving various objectives in the game. Broadly, this thesis work seeks to develop 1) Player performance metrics and prediction models, 2) Player activity prediction model, 3) Player enjoyment prediction model, and 4) Group performance metrics and prediction models. Lastly, we contribute a single, generic framework for player and group behavior analysis that is applicable to other MMOGs with minimal configuration changes.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Leader incivility and its effect on group processes and performance.
    (2009-11) Campana, Kristie Lynn
    This dissertation integrates theory and empirical findings on incivility, group processes, and leadership in an attempt to gain a better understanding of how uncivil leaders can affect the way that group members interact and ultimately perform. This research focused on theoretical arguments about the tendency for uncivil behaviors to spread among group members, as suggested by Andersson and Pearson's (1999) incivility spiral theory. To serve as an initial investigation into this theory, this dissertation set out to answer two basic questions. First, this research explored whether uncivil behavior on the part of a leader affect two group processes: relationship conflict and collective efficacy. If Andersson and Pearson's (1999) theory was correct, group members could be expected to behave more rudely to one another, hence increasing reported relationship conflict. Furthermore, if leader incivility expresses a leader's displeasure with the group's performance, the group's collective efficacy would also be expected to be damaged by uncivil leadership behaviors. Second, this research explored whether a negative influence of incivility on group-level performance was mediated through these group process variables. In other words, this dissertation sought to determine whether incivility affected performance through increased conflict and/or decreased collective efficacy. Incivility, relationship conflict, and collective efficacy were measured among store clerks using a survey. Group level performance was measured in two different ways. First, the participating organization provided a metric reflecting the speed and accuracy with which store employees executed objectives on the sales floor and in the stockroom. Second, the participating organization provided a metric reflecting the number of accidents that occur within the store. The current research identified a negative association between uncivil leader behaviors and relationship conflict, suggesting that as leaders exhibit more uncivil behaviors, employees reported less conflict among group members. This finding contradicts Andersson and Pearson's (1999) argument that uncivil behaviors from one group member prompts similarly uncivil behaviors from other group members. Collective efficacy, however, did not appear to be affected by uncivil leader behaviors. Structural equation modeling (SEM) also indicated no significant link between the mediating variables (relationship conflict and collective efficacy) and performance metrics. Finally, analyses of indirect effects of incivility on performance suggested that the link between incivility and performance was not mediated by either conflict or collective efficacy. The empirical findings of this study contradict the theory of the incivility spiral; specifically, rude behavior on the part of the leader appears to be associated with less conflict among group members. This finding also suggests that leader incivility may have some positive effects on group processes. The results of this study should be viewed with caution, however. Response rates to the surveys were quite poor, and relationships that are typically large and robust in other studies were noticeably non-significant in this study. Furthermore, because there was low agreement among group members on ratings of incivility and collective efficacy, group means do not represent a reliable estimate of the construct. Hence, replication of the findings is necessary. Future research should continue to explore the effect incivility has on other types of group process and performance. Additional research should also be conducted to clarify when incivility is beneficial and when it is detrimental to group processes and performance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The relationship between multiple identity attributes and diversity, and individual decision making and group performance: experimental evidence.
    (2009-08) Kramer, Amit
    The effect of diversity on individual behavior and team and organizational performance is a rapidly growing field of study. Another growing field of study involves the effect of identity-based behavior on individual, team, and organizational outcomes. Diversity and identity, although related to each other, have not been combined in a single framework. A serious of lab studies is used to explore the effect of similarity across different identity attributes at the individual and group level, and diversity of the group, on decisions, behavior, and performance within the context of (a) multiple identity attributes and both deep and surface-level diversity; (b) task complexity; and (c) task interdependence. The results indicate that individuals do make decision and act based on similarity across multiple identity attributes and multiple diversity dimensions. Furthermore, the effect of attribute similarity is cumulative: similarity across multiple deep-level attributes, simultaneously, increases favoritism toward similar others. In addition, homogeneous groups outperformed diverse groups in tasks that were characterized by high interdependence when communication between group members was not allowed, but diverse groups outperformed homogeneous groups in the same tasks when communication between group members was allowed.