Dr Daniel King has been shortlisted as one of just 10 nominees for the Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN) prize in social sciences, with the global science community to decide on the world’s top five.
More than 14,000 candidates were nominated in the five fields of Formal Sciences, Physical and Chemical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Medical Sciences and Social Sciences.
Scientists from anywhere in the world are now invited to narrow down the shortlisted applicants to five top contenders for each field. These will be announced on 10 November 2020, together with the winning USERN Laureates to be chosen by a panel comprising scientists who are all within the top 1% of their field or a Nobel or Abel Laureate.
Click this link to vote
Science that affects the masses
Dr King is a Senior Research Fellow and clinical psychologist in Flinders University’s College of Education, Psychology, & Social Work. He studies the digital technology-based addictions taking society by storm including online gaming and simulated gambling.
His investigations cover online activities that impact billions of people all over the world, the effects of which are either not fully understood or not yet comprehensively researched. These include binge-watching television series, social media use and excessive online shopping.
Dr King’s research adopts a clinical/social psychology perspective, including studies of the social, cognitive, and motivational determinants of excessive, repetitive behaviours and investigating how certain structural characteristics of these activities may relate to maladaptive behaviours. Recent projects have investigated ‘tolerance’ to gaming activities, controlled experiments of withdrawal-like effects from gaming and social media, and the psychological processes related to posting (and preparing to post) photos on Instagram.
His recent work has also examined how in-game purchasing systems may bring gaming closer to gambling.
Dr King has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, including a book titled “Internet Gaming Disorder: Theory, Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention“, and is an Associate Editor for Addiction and Journal of Behavioral Addictions.
He consults on gaming and gambling for national and international authorities including the World Health Organization, and has received multiple national awards for his excellence in research.