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TALK: “Understanding Fun: Using Video Games to Study Intrinsic Motivation”

Abstract
In our daily lives, we engage in many activities not for extrinsic rewards, but because we enjoy them. Why do we do this, and what makes an activity intrinsically rewarding? Researchers have explored these questions for decades, but their reliance on simple paradigms and extrinsic incentives has potentially obscured the dynamics of intrinsic motivation. We propose a novel approach: using video games. Their intuitive and engaging nature makes them ideal paradigms for studying not only intrinsic motivation but also cognition more broadly. In this talk, I will present insights into using video games as experimental paradigms and discuss two projects on intrinsic motivation. In the first, we analyzed the behavior of 30,000 players of the game “Little Alchemy”, and found the previously unexplored strategy of empowerment. In the second, we examined players’ preferences across three large-scale video game data sets, revealing signatures of learning progress alongside two additional factors. Together, these studies demonstrate the potential of video games as tools for studying intrinsic motivation in ecological and engaging settings.

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Short Bio

Franziska completed her undergraduate studies in Audiovisual Media at Stuttgart Media University, followed by an MSc in Cognitive Science at the University of Osnabrück. In 2020, she joined the “Computational Principles of Intelligence” lab led by Eric Schulz at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, where she completed her PhD in 2024 on the topic “Studying Intrinsic Motivation – A Game-Based Approach.” She is currently a postdoctoral researcher with Christopher Summerfield at the University of Oxford.