Mind-craft! World-first video game psychology lab opens

The world’s first Minecraft-powered psychology lab has opened at the University of Essex.

Students and scientists will learn, research, and build experiments in the block-based multiplayer sandbox.

With a global player base of 166million, Minecraft is the world’s most popular videogame and offers researchers a unique opportunity to study human behaviour in a virtual world.

It is hoped the lab will help students enter the booming computer game industry worth £269billion globally, which employs more than 47,000 people in the UK.

The easily programmable words and vast Lego-like player-created maps of Minecraft are an environment easily recognisable to undergraduates.

This means lecturers will also use the interactive game to teach statistics and allow students to design their own experiments.

Focusing on problem-based learning, this innovative approach will ease understanding and give them skills they can take into the world of work.

Dr Wijnand van Tilburg is leading the project and highlighted the extremely modifiable nature of Minecraft, and its international popularity makes it perfect for psychology.

Dr Van Tilburg and a team of researchers hope to use the lab to research how the brain processes wayfinding, solves puzzles and how people interact online.

Differences between how neurotypical and neuro-divergent people act will also be explored.

Problem solving

He said: “We are proud to be the first university in the world to open a Minecraft psychology lab and we are excited to explore what we can do.

"Gaming forms an increasingly important part of people’s social network and behaviour.

“Hundreds of millions of people around the world live, laugh, and learn through gaming and how we interact online is an increasingly major area to research.

“What attracts players to Minecraft also interests me as a researcher.

“It offers a uniquely malleable environment to study and learn about the psychology behind social behaviour, problem solving, and creativity.”

The lab comprises six separate spaces which allow students to immersive themselves in the virtual world, supporting both single and multiplayer sessions.

Situated in the Department of Psychology, on the Colchester Campus, it is hoped the project will further cement its reputation for innovation and lead the way with society-relevant research.

Push the status-quo 

Head of Department Professor Silke Paulmann said: “We are proud to be the first psychology department that offers such a dedicated lab space to both students and researchers.

“It emphasises our commitment to providing high quality psychology education that puts students’ learning first and conducting excellent research through innovation and methodological approaches that push the status-quo.

“At Essex we are proud to be at the forefront of developments that benefit students, researchers, and society alike.”