Computerized simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, knowledge gap, and news media use

Serious games like PeaceMaker are emerging as a new medium for peace education (PE). We focus on the assessment of this computerized simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to identify the effects it might have in helping to narrow the knowledge gap between the players. In addition, we examine the role of news media use about the conflict in knowledge acquisition after playing the game. We conducted an experimental study with the participation of 185 Israeli undergraduate students of Jewish and Palestinian origin. In order to gauge the effect of the game with regard to knowledge acquisition about the conflict, we used a pre- and post-intervention experimental design and utilized questionnaires. We found that the knowledge gap between participants who held high levels of knowledge about the conflict and those who held low levels of knowledge about it before playing the game narrowed after playing it. Second, participants holding more knowledge about the conflict before playing the game were more likely to win it than those holding less knowledge. Finally, the game narrowed the knowledge gap between participants who consumed television (TV) as a major source of information about the conflict and those who did not consume it. Our results indicate that serious games like PeaceMaker are effective as a tool for PE, because they are useful in increasing knowledge about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and narrowing the knowledge gap between the players, particularly for young people who are direct parties to this conflict and native to the online world.

[1]  T. Pettigrew.  Intergroup contact theory. , 1998, Annual review of psychology.

[2]  H. Kelman,et al.  Social-Psychological Dimensions of International Conflict (2007) , 2016 .

[3]  Sharon Lang,et al.  The Palestinian-Arab Minority in Israel, 1948 to 2000: A Political Study , 2003 .

[4]  Asʿad Ganim.  The Palestinian-Arab minority in Israel, 1948-2000 : a political study , 2001 .

[5]  Lelyn D. Saner,et al.  Learning to Stand in the Other’s Shoes , 2013 .

[6]  Yoori Hwang,et al.  Revisiting the Knowledge Gap Hypothesis: A Meta-Analysis of Thirty-Five Years of Research , 2009 .

[7]  M. Hewstone,et al.  Intergroup contact as a tool for reducing, resolving, and preventing intergroup conflict: evidence, limitations, and potential. , 2013, The American psychologist.

[8]  Amira Galin,et al.  E-negotiation versus face-to-face negotiation what has changed - if anything? , 2007, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[9]  伊藤 瑞子.  Living and learning with new media : summary of findings from the digital youth project , 2009 .

[10]  Katie Salen.  The ecology of games : connecting youth, games, and learning , 2008 .

[11]  Ronit Kampf.  Are two better than one? Playing singly, playing in dyads in a computerized simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict , 2014, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[12]  Noam Ebner,et al.  Online Dispute Resolution , 2009 .

[13]  Konstantin Mitgutsch,et al.  Serious Learning in Serious Games - Learning In, Through, and Beyond Serious Games , 2011, Serious Games and Edutainment Applications.

[14]  Sarit Kraus,et al.  AutoMed: an automated mediator for multi-issue bilateral negotiations , 2012, Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems.

[15]  Ronit Kampf,et al.  Learning about Conflict and Negotiations through Computer Simulations: The Case of PeaceMaker† , 2014 .

[16]  Andri Ioannou,et al.  Increasing interest in social studies: Social perspective taking and self-efficacy in stimulating simulations , 2008 .

[17]  P. Frosh,et al.  Covering Death in Conflicts: Coverage of the Second Intifada on Israeli and Palestinian Television , 2008 .

[18]  D. Bar-Tal.  Formation and change of ethnic and national stereotypes: An integrative model , 1997 .

[19]  Aaron Smith,et al.  72% of online adults are social networking site users , 2013 .

[20]  Sarit Kraus,et al.  Bridging the Gap: Face-to-Face Negotiations with an Automated Mediator , 2011, IEEE Intelligent Systems.

[21]  John G. Palfrey,et al.  Enhancing child safety and online technologies : final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States , 2010 .

[22]  P. J. Tichenor,et al.  MASS MEDIA FLOW AND DIFFERENTIAL GROWTH IN KNOWLEDGE , 1970 .

[23]  L. Ross,et al.  Biased Assimilation and Attitude Polarization: The Effects of Prior Theories on Subsequently Considered Evidence , 1979 .

[24]  Miri Shonfeld,et al.  Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Service of Multiculturalism. , 2009 .

[25]  Scott W. Brown,et al.  Introduction: From digital dirt road to educational expressway: Innovations in web-based pedagogy , 2003 .

[26]  Ifat Maoz,et al.  Does contact work in protracted asymmetrical conflict? Appraising 20 years of reconciliation-aimed encounters between Israeli Jews and Palestinians , 2011 .

[27]  J. Wilkenfeld,et al.  Mediating International Crises , 2003 .

[28]  Cecilie Gaziano.  Notes on “Revisiting the Knowledge Gap Hypothesis: A Meta-analysis of Thirty-five Years of Research” , 2010 .

[29]  N. Ebner.  Online Dispute Resolution: Applications in E-HRM , 2012 .

[30]  Deepak Malhotra,et al.  Long-Term Effects of Peace Workshops in Protracted Conflicts , 2005 .

[31]  Amal Jamal.  Nationalizing States and the Constitution of ‘Hollow Citizenship’: Israel and its Palestinian Citizens , 2007 .

[32]  D. Bar-On,et al.  Shared History Project: A PRIME Example of Peace-Building Under Fire , 2003 .

[33]  Daniel Bar-Tal,et al.  Intractable Conflicts: Socio-Psychological Foundations and Dynamics , 2013 .

[34]  J. Palfrey,et al.  Born digital: understanding the first generation of digital natives , 2009, Choice Reviews Online.

[35]  James N. Druckman,et al.  e-Mediation: Evaluating the Impacts of an Electronic Mediator on Negotiating Behavior , 2004 .

[36]  Hayley J. Mayall,et al.  The GlobalEd Project: Gender differences in a problem-based learning environment of international negotiations , 2003 .

[37]  Urs Gasser,et al.  Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality , 2012 .

[38]  Mira Lee,et al.  The Effects of a Serious Game on Role-Taking and Willingness to Help , 2010 .

[39]  Noam Ebner,et al.  Using Role-Play in Online Negotiation Teaching , 2011 .

[40]  G. Salomon.  Peace Education: Its Nature, Nurture and the Challenges It Faces , 2009 .

[41]  Yair Amichai-Hamburger,et al.  The Contact Hypothesis Reconsidered: Interacting via the Internet , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[42]  Cleotilde Gonzalez,et al.  Action diversity in a simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[43]  Michael J. Hannafin,et al.  In search of a future: A critical analysis of research on web-based teaching and learning , 2003 .

[44]  Tim Sweeney,et al.  PeaceMaker: A Video Game to Teach Peace , 2005, INTETAIN.

[45]  M. Deutsch,et al.  Intractable Conflicts and Their Transformation , 1989 .