Approach Bias To Game-related Auditory Cues And Its Neural Mechanism In Individuals With Internet Game Addiction

With the development of the "Internet E era" and the expansion of the game industry,the convenience of network and equipment,online games have become a tool for individuals to relieve boredom and escape reality.Internet gaming disorder(IGD)has become an inevitable consequence and has always been a hot spot for behavioral addiction,and it is a behavior that can significantly affect people’s sustainable lifestyle.Sensory cues such as visual field images,auditory sounds,are an integral element of our lives,and in the world of video games,sensory cues are influencing factors that promote immersive experiences and promote sustainable behavior.Since our perception of the environment is influenced not only by what we can see,but also by additional sensory inputs,such as sound and touch,additional sensory information can be part of the participant’s experience.Video games have many different elements that make up game audio and are increasingly important for both game development and players.Previous studies have found that game-related pictures can cause impulsivity and craving for games in addicted individuals,and cognitive biases such as cue response and approach bias appear.At present,there is no way to explore the Approach Bias(Ap B)and its internal mechanism of IGD individuals to game sound from the auditory channel.In this study,the Stimulus–response compatibility task(SRC)was used to explore the approach bias of players in the online game addiction group and the entertainment control group to game sound cues from the behavioral and ERP levels through two experiments,so as to provide an empirical basis for the intervention and correction of multisensory channels of behavioral addiction.It adopts a mixed design of 2(group: addiction group AG,control group CG)× 2(clue type: game,neutral).When the dependent variables are approximate bias score and behavioral response.The Ap B score is the difference between the avoidance action response and the approach action response under different clues,the score greater than zero indicates the approach deviation,and less than zero indicates the avoidance bias.Therefore,the larger the score,the more pronounced the approach bias.The experimental materials used the background sound of the mobile game "Honor of Kings" and daily life,and the last two groups of 21 segments were included in the SRC paradigm.Study 1 was a behavioral experiment,43 addicted players and 41 entertainment players were selected as the control group,and the reaction time(RT)and Ap B scores were taken as the dependent variables,and it was found that all players responded faster when they heard the game sound than when they heard the neutral sound,the action of the AG was faster than that of the CG,and the game-Ap B score of the AG was significantly greater than that of the CG.The results show that when hearing the game sound,players addicted to online games will indeed get closer to their automated behavior,and the motivation will increase.Study 2 was an EEG experiment,using Event-related potential(ERP)to record the brain activity of the participants,31 people in the AG and30 people in the CG,and the EEG indicators such as Ap B score,P100,N200,P300 and N400 were used as dependent variables for analysis.Finally,the analysis found that the behavioral results were basically consistent with the study 1,the players’ approach action was faster than the avoidance action,and the game-Ap B score was significantly greater than the neutral-Ap B score.The control group scored a greater approximation bias score for neutral ambient sounds than for addicted players.From the perspective of EEG indicators,for online game addicted individuals,being asked to avoid game sounds can cause greater P100 amplitude,and it is obvious that for game addicts,game clues will cause faster and more attention processing.The N200 and P300 did not produce a difference between groups,and the two groups of players triggered a larger N200 amplitude when avoiding neutral cues,that is,they needed more suppression when avoiding other background sounds in their lives.The two groups of participants produced a larger P300 amplitude when approaching the game cue and avoiding the neutral cue,indicating that the game sound was more motivating and attractive to the player.As for N400 composition,no difference was found.Overall,this study verifies that game sound cues can induce approach bias in online game addicts from two levels of behavior and ERP,which is manifested as automatic approach behavior to cues.The research results verified the cognitive bias of individuals with Internet game addiction from the auditory channel,which can provide a theoretical basis for the development of prevention and treatment strategies for Internet game addiction.