Psychologists have warned that role-playing can cause the participant to actually experience, emotionally, the role being played. Or so it seems to the player. Actually, the programmer who writes the rules is the master. Not only does this repetitive practice blur the line between reality and fantasy, it also sears the conscience and causes the player to devalue life. To be a winner within the system, the committed player must know and follow the rules of the game.
Obedience becomes a reflex, strengthened by instant rewards or positive reinforcement.
The rules and rewards force the child to develop new habits and patterned responses to certain stimuli. Day after day, this powerful psychological process manipulates the child's thoughts, feelings, and actions, until his or her personality changes and, as many parents confirm, interest in ordinary family life begins to wither away. You may have recognized those preceding terms as those often used by behavioral psychologists. They point to a sophisticated system of operant conditioning or behavior modification. The child must exercise his own intelligent mind to learn the complex rules.