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2. ABSTRACT
Violence in America is a heavy concern and it brings to the
forefront the question Are violent video games responsible for the
some of the violence perpetrated by the youth of today? In this
literature review I will explain the materials I am using to come
to the conclusion of whether children are being influenced by
violent video games or not. I have played video games and seen
firsthand how they can influence someone, but just because they
influence does not mean it is a negative influence.
3. OUTLINE
OVERVIEW
Video games are the national pastime and have a lot of
influence
The drive to become the best or beat the game can change the
players outlook
THE ARTICLES
All articles agreeing to an increase in aggression, but a decrease
in empathy in players who play violent video games
All articles agree this is a subject that should be researched on a
bigger scale
THE EFFECTS
Consistent play of violent video games can make a person more
aggressive, antisocial and less empathic.
The younger the person the more likely they will be influenced by
the video game
There may be a group of people who are predisposed to the influence
of violent video games
HYPOTHESIS
The consistent playing of violent video games can cause a person to
become more aggressive
4. OVERVIEW
Video games are becoming the national pastime and with the
popularity comes the influence these games have over the players.
While the influence will not have a negative effect on all who play
but there will be an effect on some. The concern is what will
happen to the psyche of those who play violent video games. It
takes a certain line of thought in order to become excellent at
whatever you do. As with those who are well trained at police work,
psychology, or football you tune yourself to react to things that
are effective to your everyday endeavors. As the "gamer" trains
themselves to be the best type of there is a great chance of
carryover into the real world. And if the gamer is submerged in
violent video games, games that reward violence, it is possible for
the gamer to take this behavior into their real life. So the
question is will violent video games breed a culture of violence?
The following information will provide possible evidence to answer
that question.
5. THE ARTICLES
The overall position of the articles is that violent video games
will lead a player of said video games to become more violent or
aggressive. But the articles also state that this issue should
still be researched. The articles definitely support one another
and mirror the same beliefs and outcomes to one another. "
Methodologically weaker studies yielded smaller effect sizes than
methodologically stronger studies, suggesting that previous
meta-analytic studies of violent video games underestimate the true
magnitude of observed deleterious effects on behaviour, cognition,
and affect. (Anderson C. A., 2004)
6. THE EFFECTS
Thegeneral consensus of all the articles is that violence in video
games, with continued play, can change the psychological
disposition of a person. It is believed the person is drawn into
real life scenarios and this continues into the players actual
life. The first affects are when the actual video game is being
played, heart rates are raised, breathing intensifies and
aggression continues as the game dictates. With repeated playing
the person's psyche is becoming more in tune to what the video game
needs in order to win. The articles go on to agree with this being
more frequent as the age of the participant drops. "The evidence
strongly suggests that exposure to violent video games is a causal
risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive
cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and
prosocial behavior." (C. A. Anderson, 2001)
P.M. Markey lends a valid but rarely mentioned variable to the
argument that it may be possible for the people who are affected by
violent video game may have a predisposition to the heightened
aggressiveness of the video game. This is the one article that has
enough variance to be mentioned, all other follow suit and speaks
well with the other articles. (Markey, 2010)
7. HYPOTHESIS
After reading the articles and having the knowledge of my personal
experiences my hypothesis is as follows: The consistent playing of
violent video games can cause a person to become more aggressive,
especially in younger participants.
I believe human nature has the capacity to do right or wrong, but
the determining factor is how the person is lead to become the
person they are. Years ago children were a lot closer to their
parents whereas now children have many different things that they
cleave to at a much earlier age. In the past there would be time
after work for parents to interact with their children and for some
families one parent was always home. Now both parents are working
or it is a single family home and the child spends a lot of time
being raised by the television and the internet. With these
electronic babysitters comes many things, specifically video games.
Video game in a household where parental guidance is effective
there is the likeliness that violent video games are not being
played or if they are the parents are putting the violence in some
perspective. But in a household where there is little or no
parental guidance the youth can be easily lead to believe this is
the proper way to deal with everyday situations. The following is
my review of the literature I am using to answer the question: Are
violent video games creating violent children?
8. In an article from the American Academy of Children &
Adolescent Psychiatry titled Children and Video Games: Playing with
Violence, children are exposed to many different violent variables
from famous video games. Variables like the killing of people or
animals, the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol, criminal behavior,
disrespect for authority and the law, sexual exploitation and
violence towards women, racial, sexual, and gender stereotypes,
foul language, obscenities and obscene gestures. (Psychiatry,
2006)
There has been a rise in childhood aggressiveness and anger but
there has also been an increase in video game play amongst
children. In the first thought this may seem like a slippery slope
but as you look at the evidence of gun violence with the youth of
this time period you begin to see one of the major factors, shooter
type video games. On April 20,1999, Eric Harrisand Dylan Klebold
launched an assault on Columbine High School in Littleton,
Colorado, murdering 13 and wounding 23 before turning the guns on
themselves. Although nothing is for certain as to why these boys
did what they did, we do know that Harris and Klebold both enjoyed
playing the bloody, shoot-em-up video game Doom, a game licensed by
the U.S. military to train soldiers to effectively kill. The Simon
Wiesenthal Center, which tracks Internet hate groups, found in its
archives a copy of Harris web site with a version of Doom. He had
customized it so that there were two shooter, each with extra
weapons and unlimited ammunition, and the other people in the game
could not fight back. For a class project, Harris and Klebold made
a videotape that was similar to their customized version of Doom.
In the video, Harris and Klebold were dressed in trench coats,
carried guns, and killed school athletes. They acted out their
videotaped performance in real life less than a year later. (Shin,
2008)
9. Grace Shins article gives a few different cause and effect
examples from those who have perpetrated violence and their
possible connection to violent video games. This connects well with
Carnagey and Anderson's article on how video games are rewarding
violent behavior. Their article entitled "The effects of reward and
punishment in violent video games on aggressive affect, cognition,
and behavior". In their article they review the results of three
studies that used an aggressive car racing game to find if video
games have an effect on behavior or not. There were three scenarios
where, nonviolent racing, a violent race where violent behavior was
punished, and a violent race where violent behavior is punished.
After playing the video games the subjects were tested for violent
or aggressive behavior. "Rewarding violent game actions increased
hostile emotion, aggressive thinking, and aggressive behavior.
Punishing violent actions increased hostile emotion, but did not
increase aggressive thinking or aggressive behavior. Results
suggest that games that reward violent actions can increase
aggressive thinking or aggressive behavior. Results suggest that
games that reward violent actions can increase aggressive behavior
by increasing aggressive thinking. (Anderson, 2009)
As the articles goes forward they begin to connect how such certain
reactions to violent video games, whether the game punish using
violence or reward using violence, will begin to influence the
behavior in the streets. "If they have been influenced by
aggressive play that is punished then the player will show a
decrease in violent or aggressive behavior in real life. Or if they
have been playing a game that rewards aggressive or violent
behavior then the players frustration will probably increase in
real life situations." (Anderson, 2009)
10. Another possibility to be considered in the effects of violent
video games on children is a possible predetermination to the
susceptibility of violent video games. Is it possible there are
children out there that are born with a something that leads them
to be influenced by violent video games to be violent in the real
world. In their article, "Vulnerability to Violent Video Games. A
Review and Integration of Personality Research." The Markey's go on
to breakdown the numbers when it comes to children and violent
video games. "It is clear that most children who play these games
do not go on to behave in violent or murderous ways. In fact,
although many youths who have engaged in violent school rampages
were video game players(Anderson, 2004), most also possessed
maladaptive personality traits and characteristics."(Markey, 2010)
The Markey's introduce another variable to the subject
"Psychoticism". They believe the people who typically become
violent are those who already suffer from traits of psychoticism
and are the most likely to become violent after playing violent
video games. "Markey and Sherer (2009) found that participants with
elevated levels of psychoticism tended to experience higher
levelsof hostility and had more aggressive cognitions after
exposure to violent video games than did individuals with lower
levels of psychoticism or individual exposed to non-violent video
games." I believe they are saying violent video game can increase
violent behavior in those who play violent video games but they are
also saying those who show certain traits will have a greater
chance of acting on those urges after playing violent video
games.
11. REFERENCES
Anderson, C. A. (2004). An update on the effects of playing violent
video games. Journal of Adolescence , Vol. 27, Iss. 1;
113-122.
Anderson, C. A. (2010). Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression,
Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries: A
Meta-Analytic Review. Psychological Bulletin , Vol. 136 Issue 2,
p151-173.
Anderson, N. L. (2009). The Effects of Reward and Punishment in
Violent Video Games on Aggressive Affect, Cognition, and Behavior.
Iowa State University , 1.
C. A. Anderson, B. J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on
aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect,
physiological arousal and pro-social behavior; a meta-analytic
review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science , Vol.
12, Iss. 5; 353-359 .
Funk, J. B. (2004). Violence exposure in real-life, video games,
television, movies, and the internet: Is there desensitization?
Journal of Adolescence. , Vol. 27, Iss. 1; 23-39.
GENTILE, D. O. (2009). Good game? The behavioural effects of video
games . Economist .
Irwin, A. &. (1995). Cognitive tempo, violent video games, and
aggressive behavior in young boys. Journal of Family Violence ,
337-350.
Ivory, J. D. (2007). The Effects of Technological Advancement and
Violent Content in Video Games on Players' Feelings of Presence,
Involvement, Physiological Arousal, and Aggression. Journal of
Communication , Vol. 57 Issue 3, p532-555.
Markey, P. M. (2010). Vulnerability to Violent Video Games: A
Review and Integration of Personality Research. Review of General
Psychology , 1-4.
Scott, D. (1995). The effect of video games on feelings of
aggression. Journal of Psychology , Vol. 129 Issue 2, p121,
12p.