Lin, W., Wang, J., & Yueh, H. (2022).
Frontiers in Psychology, 13.
Abstract
Taking advantage of the nature of games to deal with conflicting desires through contextual practices, this study illustrated the formal process of designing a situated serious game to facilitate learning of information ethics, a subject that heavily involves decision making, dilemmas, and conflicts between personal, institutional, and social desires. A simulation game with four mission scenarios covering critical issues of privacy, accuracy, property, and accessibility was developed as a situated, authentic and autonomous learning environment. The player-learners were 40 college students majoring in information science and computer science as pre-service informaticists. In this study, they played the game and their game experiences and decision-making processes were recorded and analyzed. The results suggested that the participants’ knowledge of information ethics was significantly improved after playing the serious game. From the qualitative analysis of their behavioral features, including paths, time spans, and access to different materials, the results supported that the game designed in this study was helpful in improving participants’ understanding, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information ethics issues, as well as their judgments. These findings have implications for developing curricula and instructions in information ethics education.
Here are some thoughts:
The article presents a compelling case for the use of simulation-based serious games as a teaching tool for ethical decision-making, specifically in the context of information ethics. The game was designed around four core ethical concerns—privacy, accuracy, property, and accessibility—which are frequently encountered in information and technological contexts. These issues closely mirror ethical dilemmas psychologists face, particularly regarding confidentiality, informed consent, data handling, and equitable access to services.
For psychologists, especially those engaged in clinical practice, research, or supervisory roles, the implications are significant. First, the study underscores the importance of situated learning—learning that occurs in context—which aligns with the ethical challenges clinicians often encounter in dynamic, real-world settings. Second, the use of simulation allows for autonomous and reflective learning, reinforcing critical thinking, ethical analysis, and decision-making in morally ambiguous situations. The framework applied in the game—the General Theory of Marketing Ethics (GTME)—can be generalized to support ethical reasoning in any professional field, including psychology, by integrating deontological (duty-based) and teleological (consequence-based) approaches, along with rights-based and virtue-based perspectives.
The study also demonstrated a significant improvement in ethical reasoning after gameplay, indicating that such interactive methods could enhance continuing education efforts or be adapted to ethics training in graduate psychology programs. The inclusion of stakeholder perspectives and the visualization of consequences provided a practical way for learners to grasp how decisions affect others—key to ethical competence in psychology.
Lastly, the findings suggest that relying solely on codes of ethics may be insufficient; immersive, experiential training that helps translate abstract principles into practice is critical. This insight is highly relevant to psychologists aiming to foster ethical climates in organizational settings or who supervise early career professionals.
