This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Johansson, M. Articles by Küller, R. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Traffic Jam: Psychological Assessment of a Gaming Simulation

Rikard Küller

Lund Institute of Technology

This article describes intermediate stages in the development of TRAFFIC JAM, a computerized gaming simulation for children and adolescents. TRAFFIC JAMfocuses on the environmental and health impact of various means of transport, such as walking, biking, and going by bus or private car. It is being developed within the field of environmental psychology as a tool for promoting attitudes related to proenvironmental choice of transportation. So far, the program has been assessed in three empirical studies. In the first study, the background pictures were validated by means of semantic environmental description. Study 2 aimed to evaluate the hero figures in terms of Küller’s basic emotional process, and in Study 3, players’ emotional reactions to the first version of TRAFFIC JAMwere studied with both quantitative and qualitative methods. The important question of attitudinal change is not discussed in the article.

Key Words: adolescents • children • gaming simulation • proenvironmental attitudes • psychological assessment • traffic pollution

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?