Over the past four decades video games have made their way from the arcade halls to a multibillion-dollar home entertainment industry. “Video games have also advanced technologically from relatively simple forms of entertainment to a rich medium capable of communicating ideas and information.” (Hood, Neil G. p. 617)
There has been an ongoing debate about violent video games and if they affect the human behavior or not for several decades. Some say the children are the ones in the danger zone of developing a violent behavior, but there are cases where we see that adults are affected as well. It is not always a case of massive changes in people’s behavior, but changes non-the less. Is there co-relation between violence in video games and changes in cognitive behavior?
“Research on exposure to television and movie violence suggests that playing violent video games will increase aggressive behavior. A meta-analytic review of the video-game research literature reveals that violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children and young adults. Experimental and non-experimental studies with males and females in laboratory and field settings support this conclusion. Analyses also reveal that exposure to violent video games increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings.” (Anderson & Bushman Sept. 2001)
The more you play the bigger the risk is for it to affect someone. It becomes difficult for the player to understand the difference between real life and fiction. The player will start to relate to the characters in the game and start to act like the character in real life.
Video games in general can have a positive effect on people as well, especially children. It gives your child’s brain a workout and will help to improve the child’s skills of following instructions, problem solving and logic, and hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills. “In shooting games, the character may be running and shooting at the same time. This requires the real-world player to keep track of the position of the character, where he/she is heading, their speed, where the gun is aiming, if the gunfire is hitting the enemy, and so on.” (Link 4) “Playing video games demands an interactive involvement of the players. As a player, you start identifying with some character in the game and act for it. This excited state of mind has a positive effect on the player. It is also said that playing video games is surely better than watching television as video games are interactive.” (Link 5)
It is suggested in a new study that children often become more helpful and cooperative when they play nonviolent video games. “Psychologists at Iowa State University in Ames had previously found that violent video games can teach children to be aggressive and can produce increasingly aggressive behavior over time. The same team of psychologists has recently examined whether some nonviolent video games could teach kids to be more cooperative and helpful.” (Thilmany, J. 2009) One of the psychologists states that it doesn’t have to be just good or bad; it can have both positive and negative effects. “Prosocial content, in contrast, can lead people to behave in a more cooperative and helpful manner.” (Thilmany, J. 2009)
If we compare video games to books, movies, or comic books, you will see that it does not affect the human mind in the same way. “The gamer is not just "exposed" to "ideas," researchers engage in conduct that simulates murder, rape, brutality, and torture. If virtue ethics has any experiential validity at all, repeated conduct over a period of time has an effect on human character.” (McConnell, M.W. 2011)
As a combined result of several studies it is revealed that the effect size of this type of gaming is larger than the effect that second hand smoking (tobacco) has on lung cancer and the effect lead exposure has to I.Q. scores in children. (Link 1) Cases of violent behavior believed to have been caused by violence in video games have also been documented. There has been gathered evidence that people exposed to violent video games encourages aggressive thoughts, affect, and behavior, many games include stealing, fighting, killing and shooting. Playing a game like this can increase the hostile expectation bias, anxiety levels and state hostility, and aggressive behavior. (Greitemeyer, Tobias, Osswald, Silvia, 2011)
There have been cases of public display of violence as a result of violent games through out the years. It is rare and difficult to prove, but it has occurred. Some of these cases are extreme, and will be remembered forever. Here are two examples; one is a clear result of violent video games and the other one is just a speculation.
In this first one there is clear proof that these children were affected by the games. The small town of Littleton, Colorado experienced a school shooting in the year 1999. The shooters were students who habitually played violent video games. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine High School students who murdered 13 people and wounded 23 in Littleton, before killing themselves, enjoyed playing the bloody video game Doom. Harris created a customized version of Doom with two shooters, extra weapons, unlimited ammunition, and victims who could not fight back—features that are eerily similar to aspects of the actual shootings. (Anderson & Bushman Sept. 2001)
Another event, that has occurred fairly recently also has been a speculation as to if the man has been affected by a game he was playing or not. The 22nd of July, 2011, Oslo's government district got bombed, seven people lost their lives. Later on that day a 32-year-old Norwegian named Anders Behring Breivik was arrested after the massacre on a tiny forested holiday island, where the youth wing of Norway's ruling Labor party hosts the annual summer camp. Over 60 people were killed. Breivik was charged for both of the events. (Link 3) As investigations were ongoing in this case, they had found several violent video games in his apartment. (Link 2)
As research shows there is a co-relation between violence in video games and it does effect change in cognitive behavior. Even though the violent content of the game affect the player’s behavior, it also increases the player’s brain activity and motor skills. There are positives and negatives to video games, whether it be increasing brain activity or encouraging aggressive behavior. Parents and children need to be choosier when selecting the kind of video game they are willing to be subject to.
Reference list:
Anderson, Craig A. and Bushman, Brad J. September 2001, Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature, Iowa State University, Vol. 12, NO. 5.
Greitemeyer, Tobias, Osswald, Silvia, 2011, “Playing Prosocial Video Games Increases the Accessibility of Prosocial Thoughts”, The Journal of Social Psychology, Volume 151, Issue 2, pages 121-128.
Hood, Neil G. First Amendment and New Media: Video Games as Protected Speech and the Implications for the Right of Publicity, The Note, page 617.
McConnell, M.W, 2011, "A Free Speech Year at the Court", First Things, no. 216, pp. 27-27-33.
Thilmany, J. 2009, "Social Gaming", Mechanical Engineering, vol. 131, no. 7, pp. 14-14.
Link 4: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
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