This is a debate that has raged over the past 40+ years, many fight one way or another believing ether that the level of violence in video games directly relate to violent behaviour. Whilst others disagree and think that if a person is sick enough to believe killing people is good then it is only a matter of time before they act on that, with or without the help of video game violence.
Craig Anderson, PhD a psychology professor at the Iowa State University made a large post on the American Psychological Association website (http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx) in which he went through some of the big myths that the media use in arguments about video game violence. Although seemingly un-bias on the surface the more of the post I read through the more and more he seemed to lean to the side of people for the limiting of video game violence. Below are a few quotes from his blog:
"Myth 1. Violent video game reseach has yielded very mixed results"
"Facts: Some studies have yielded nonsignificant video game effects, just as some smoking studies failed to find a significant link to lung cancer."
"Violent video games are significantly associated with: increased aggressive behavior, thoughts, and affect; increased physiological arousal; and decreased prosocial (helping) behavior."
"Myth 4. Field experiments are irrelevant (aggression measures based either on direct imitation of video game behaviors (e.g., karate kicks) or are normal play behaviors."
"Facts: Some field experiments have used behaviors such as biting, pinching, hitting, pushing, and pulling hair, behaviors that were not modeled in the game. The fact that these aggressive behaviors occur in natural environments does not make them "normal" play behavior, but it does increase the face validity (and some would argue the external validity) of the measures."
"Myth 6. There are no studies linking violent video game play to serious aggression."
"Facts: High levels of violent video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal behavior (e.g., self-reported assault, robbery)."
"Myth 9. The effects of violent video games are trivially small."
"Facts: Meta-analyses reveal that violent video game effect sizes are larger than the effect of second hand tobacco smoke on lung cancer, the effect of lead exposure to I.Q. scores in children, and calcium intake on bone mass."
The full blog can be seen on the website (shown above). Although these are small sections of the full blog they highlight some of the main arguments for the limitation of video game violence.
On the other end of the scale is a blog by Aaron Sampson a video editor for game review website Gamespot (http://uk.gamespot.com/features/in-defense-of-video-game-violence-6403171/). In the blog he explains his experiences of growing up with video games and what he thinks about the arguments to ban violent games.
He explains his life growning up around games and guns, saying:
"I have played "violent" video games my entire life. I also own a gun, but I don't consider myself one of those "gun owners" the media likes to talk about. Growing up I always had a natural affinity for both. At home I would play on my dad's old-school Amiga computer, and when I wasn't indoors, I was outdoors playing with plastic guns." He goes on to talk about the link the media makes with guns and video games, how "one does not translate to the other". He says that firing a real gun requires skills "you have to be very calm and control your breathing in order to hit your mark. When the weapon goes off, you feel the metal leave the barrel and know something just went downrange that doesn't have an undo button."
He later goes on to talk about school and how he hated it with a passion with teachers "bludgeoning kids into submission with information" and how the only way he could find ways to outlet the stress of school was through friends, family and video games. "When playing violent games, I feel aggression as some of these studies have concluded, but aggression is a byproduct of all competitive sports and endeavors. Aggression is commonly harnessed for soccer, football, and tennis. What researchers and those who would condemn games are likely looking for is anger. Anger is what causes violence and a violent videogame has never made me feel anger. Often they have relieved those types of feelings rather than encouraged them."
TBC
P.S Christian apparently i cant email you through blogger so i just want to check that you are still ok with getting the poster ready. If you have any issues just leave a comment on this post, i will be checking it a couple of times a day. Also it needs to be printed monday as it takes a full day to print, so unless you are planning on coming in early monday i may need a copy of it so i can print it.
Craig Anderson, PhD a psychology professor at the Iowa State University made a large post on the American Psychological Association website (http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx) in which he went through some of the big myths that the media use in arguments about video game violence. Although seemingly un-bias on the surface the more of the post I read through the more and more he seemed to lean to the side of people for the limiting of video game violence. Below are a few quotes from his blog:
"Myth 1. Violent video game reseach has yielded very mixed results"
"Facts: Some studies have yielded nonsignificant video game effects, just as some smoking studies failed to find a significant link to lung cancer."
"Violent video games are significantly associated with: increased aggressive behavior, thoughts, and affect; increased physiological arousal; and decreased prosocial (helping) behavior."
"Myth 4. Field experiments are irrelevant (aggression measures based either on direct imitation of video game behaviors (e.g., karate kicks) or are normal play behaviors."
"Facts: Some field experiments have used behaviors such as biting, pinching, hitting, pushing, and pulling hair, behaviors that were not modeled in the game. The fact that these aggressive behaviors occur in natural environments does not make them "normal" play behavior, but it does increase the face validity (and some would argue the external validity) of the measures."
"Myth 6. There are no studies linking violent video game play to serious aggression."
"Facts: High levels of violent video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal behavior (e.g., self-reported assault, robbery)."
"Myth 9. The effects of violent video games are trivially small."
"Facts: Meta-analyses reveal that violent video game effect sizes are larger than the effect of second hand tobacco smoke on lung cancer, the effect of lead exposure to I.Q. scores in children, and calcium intake on bone mass."
The full blog can be seen on the website (shown above). Although these are small sections of the full blog they highlight some of the main arguments for the limitation of video game violence.
On the other end of the scale is a blog by Aaron Sampson a video editor for game review website Gamespot (http://uk.gamespot.com/features/in-defense-of-video-game-violence-6403171/). In the blog he explains his experiences of growing up with video games and what he thinks about the arguments to ban violent games.
He explains his life growning up around games and guns, saying:
"I have played "violent" video games my entire life. I also own a gun, but I don't consider myself one of those "gun owners" the media likes to talk about. Growing up I always had a natural affinity for both. At home I would play on my dad's old-school Amiga computer, and when I wasn't indoors, I was outdoors playing with plastic guns." He goes on to talk about the link the media makes with guns and video games, how "one does not translate to the other". He says that firing a real gun requires skills "you have to be very calm and control your breathing in order to hit your mark. When the weapon goes off, you feel the metal leave the barrel and know something just went downrange that doesn't have an undo button."
He later goes on to talk about school and how he hated it with a passion with teachers "bludgeoning kids into submission with information" and how the only way he could find ways to outlet the stress of school was through friends, family and video games. "When playing violent games, I feel aggression as some of these studies have concluded, but aggression is a byproduct of all competitive sports and endeavors. Aggression is commonly harnessed for soccer, football, and tennis. What researchers and those who would condemn games are likely looking for is anger. Anger is what causes violence and a violent videogame has never made me feel anger. Often they have relieved those types of feelings rather than encouraged them."
TBC
P.S Christian apparently i cant email you through blogger so i just want to check that you are still ok with getting the poster ready. If you have any issues just leave a comment on this post, i will be checking it a couple of times a day. Also it needs to be printed monday as it takes a full day to print, so unless you are planning on coming in early monday i may need a copy of it so i can print it.
Yeh, I'm fine with getting the timeline sorted pal. But it won't be ready for Monday. We need to compile the research and organise it on monday so we can develop a power point presentation to go along with the timline. The best I can do is get the template sorted so I can put the information into it.
ReplyDeleteHey dude, just uploaded a blog with a basic template for the timeline. Just waiting on your response to start gathering the research together and finish the thing along with the presentation.
ReplyDelete