A Novel Research Tool for Studying Human Associative Learning: Role-Playing Game Tasks1,2

A role-playing game (RPG) is a video game genre in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. This study examined the possibility of applying an RPG task to human associative learning. Specifically, it examined latent inhibition and context-specific latent inhibition using the RPG task. In the RPG task, the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli were a monster and a treasure obtained battling the monster, respectively. Conditioning was conducted by presenting a treasure after a battle. The experimental context was the location where the battle occurred. Participants were asked to make judgments about the extent to which each monster they encountered would likely have a treasure. Prior to conditioning, a treatment of not obtaining a treasure after a battle would make it unlikely to expect the monster to have a treasure, even if it was received after a subsequent battle (i.e., latent inhibition). Furthermore, when the battle location was changed, the latent inhibition disappeared (i.e., context-specific latent inhibition). These observed phenomena suggested that the RPG task may be employed as a tool to extend research regarding human associative learning.