Week 5 Discussion

When playing video games, there appear to be two major pillars that foster cognitive engagement: representation and interactivity. In The virtual census, Williams et al mentioned that the “absence of portrayals should lead to a feeling of relative unimportance and powerlessness” (820). This comment was powerful. When discussing the sources of stereotype threat for minorities, we commonly think of the negative stereotypes perpetuated in media or the lack of positive role models in various industries. However, we rarely think of this deep psychological concept of “unimportance” and “powerlessness” that could be instantiated from a young age. This lack of representation can foster an unhealthy mentality for these children and a disassociation from the cognitive benefits of gaming. Granic reveals that “children develop beliefs about their intelligence and abilities, beliefs that underlie specific motivational styles and directly affect achievement” (71). Yet, minorities cannot equally develop such positive beliefs when they cannot visually associate themselves with such achievement. Evidently, we have created a environment where there is not only a concrete detriment to minority mindset but also a new achievement gap in the cognitive benefits of gaming.