Growing up, I loved playing video games. Before I had a car to go places, I would play outside when it was warm or play video games inside when it was cold. Playing video games was an easy, fun way to pass the time for my friends and I when we were younger. We would play all types of games ranging from sports games, to arcade games, to action games. Playing video games was the thing to do back then. Now that I’m older, I don’t play as much, but I know a lot of people who do. This caused me to think about the effects of all the time I spent playing these games. I started to think about the types of games I played, many of which were violent. I played violent video games for years, and I wonder how it may have affected me over time.
There are two hypotheses in this situation: the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis. The null hypothesis is that violent video games have no effect on the player, and the alternative hypothesis is that the violent games do have an effect on the player. In my opinion, I do not think the games had much of an effect on me, but I could see how some say the violent games could affect them.
This article describes a study done to find the answer to the question if violent games affect the player. The results of this study surprised me a little bit. This particular study showed that playing violent video games has a short-term effect on the player. The effect shown was an increase in the aggression of the player. It also showed less emotion and attention from the player. The study did show that these effects were short term because after a week of not playing, the brain went back to the baseline levels before the gaming was done.
A separate study actually attempts to show long term effects of violent video games. The results of this study show increased aggression from the players of violent video games just like the previously mentioned study. However, this study shows that the aggression is increased after every session of playing a violent video game. The co-author of this study, Dr. Brad Bushman, believes that if the player continues to play the violent games daily, that the aggression levels would add on top of each other each day. He believes this could lead to a negative or hostile view of the world.
These studies show results that the brain undergoes changes after playing a violent video game. I was surprised to learn the effects of violent video games were so prevalent so quickly. My personal theory was that some young people’s view of a hostile world was derived from the media. I thought what they saw happening on the news and in the world would cause them to feel a certain way about the world. It turns out that violent video games can have this effect on people quite easily. These results make me think that a young person with a maturing brain could be negatively influenced by violent video games, and that the laws to get violent games at a young age should be much stricter.
Video games are very enjoyable, and the business is growing exponentially. People are not going to stop playing violent games so we need to make sure people understand the effects. I played them growing up, but I think I will monitor what games my future kids play starting at a young age.
Sources: http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/02/how-playing-violent-video-games-may-change-the-brain/
http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/12/11/negative-effects-of-violent-video-games-may-build-over-time/48918.html
http://webspace.ship.edu/jacamp/psyberpsych/videogames/Page2.html
I like the blog. Video games are a big factor in kids growing up today. It seems like video games get more violet as the years go by. I think video game violence can influence children on how agressive and violent they can get. You mentioned in the blog that the a study showed short term affect on violence in the players. Today there is a problem with kids playing too much video games, and not getting outside to play. The short term affects are getting longer as the kids today are playing video games more than ever before.
http://videogames.procon.org/
I like this topic a lot because when I was growing up my parents never let me play and video games with guns or violence, but instead WII bowling. I decided to do some follow up research on way my parents would not let me play these specific games and see if they potentially helped prevent some type of anger disorder. In a study from Science Direct, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140197103000976, multiple experiments took place. In the experimental study the results showed that the relationship between anger and violent video games to be causal. The observational study, despite the many anecdotes that we hear on the news or see in media, see a very strong correlation between violence and serious active aggression towards others. Overall, I completely agree with your hypothesis and think you did a good job of explaining the correlation between violence and video games. It is a very relevant topic especially considering how violent out society has become. If we can start to monitor this problem it could possibly be a great start to making this world a safer place.
Video games, especially violent, I believe let us play to our instincts, to a primitive state. Though it does seem to make sense that violence is portrayed in the game then the gamer, how does one measure “aggression?” This makes me think about other video games, I mean sure Call of Duty may make you want to similar things to what the soldiers do, but does every video game effect mood sensory and the cognitive state of our brain? What if we played Mario Kart? Video games, though have been around for decades, have been developed enough where more studies can be in place to really find significant evidence within studies to support how they develop the brain. This article, http://www.dana.org/Cerebrum/2009/Video_Games_Affect_the_Brain—for_Better_and_Worse/, explains how games have become more than a singular action on a screen, as there are many compartments of games that are developed that may affect our brain. I believe your research should also go into how video games affect the gamers by age, as a person of my age I believe is mature enough to control my aggression. Though your article was very compelling, I don’t think I am going to stop playing!
I feel like this is such a debated topic now a days. I decided to look up an experiment on it for myself because I found this topic so interesting. An experimental study I found stated that after observing aggression levels of children that play violent video games, it is clear that these games cause an increase in aggression. The experiment had 224 subjects. The 224 participants were divided into two groups. One group played a violent video game, while the other played a non-violent video game. After playing, the player was read a story and was asked what the main character would do in certain situations. Those who played the violent game made the main character more aggressive than those who played the non-violent game (http://psp.sagepub.com/content/28/12/1679.short). The next step in proving that there is a direct relationship between aggression and violent video games is finding the mechanism causing this increase in aggression. I really enjoyed reading your post, great job!
I’ve always wondered about this too. I always played video games throughout my childhood too. Many of them being violent games also. From personal experience alone, I do not agree with those studies because I have never gotten violent or aggressive after playing a violent video game. I think this might have to do with the way I raised because my mom always made sure to remind me that it is just a game. I believe that kids should just be watched over with these games. There are many pros and cons to this argument as you can see below.
http://videogames.procon.org/