Do violent video games promote aggressive behavior?

I have decided for my game research topic to study the behavioral and psychological affects that game (video, or non-video) have on people. This includes all different types of game and whether it negatively or positively affects them. Today, I have decided to zero in on violence in video games and whether or not it can cause people to become or act more violent by playing them. So far I have seen some research on games where it is not so much that violence is the "problem" that is happening, but it "where hunting down and killing people is the goal." A research on Japanese and American children were down to see how more or less exposure to playing these types of games caused aggression.

It concluded that those, both Japanese and American, had become more aggressive such as: "hitting, kicking or getting into fights with other kids." More importantly "this was true even after the researchers took into account how aggressive the children were at the beginning of the study -- a strong predictor of future bad behavior." I believe that the most important part about this was the background analysis that they had done PRIOR to them studying how the children acted. If the children were concluded to just be aggressive, and they were always aggressive, then what does that prove? 

While reading this article the main points that stuck out to me that affected these children the most or were the main reasons that caused this were because of imitation, becoming desensitized to violence, and playing video games rated "M" (mature), which obviously most of them who are playing these games, are not (and won't be until the age of 40;)).

First let's talk about imitation. Children imitate-- it's how they learn! In fact, it's how we're designed to learn for a very long time until we get older. Consider how we even learned LETTERS-- through a song-- and repetition of the song. This is simple common sense of putting the two together. If a child hears his or her parent say something, they will think it is okay and repeat it until reprimanded. If a child sees something that he or she is playing, they are going to imitate it, simple as that.

Desensitization to violence. If a child sees something over and over sooner or later it is not going to seem like a big deal after a while. Huesmann said, from the CNN article, "once you're emotionally numb to violence, it's much easier to engage in violence." Basically, if a person sees violence in a video game, they are going to applying that virtual world to real life and simply will not care just like it's unreal.

Finally, READ THE AGE LABEL! If one if rated "mature," it was named that for a reason! Mature meaning, NOT your 12 year old kid. Just like certain movies are rated to give an idea of what may or may not be appropriate, so have video games. When kids who have not fully matured see this type of behavior on these games, they begin to think that this is "normative behavior" and that's is simply the way things are. 

Now, while all of these things above do not necessarily mean that your child will grow up being a serial killer, there is clear evidence that proves otherwise. As Walsh said, "the real impact is in shaping norms, shaping attitude." If norms are not shaped properly, the virtual world will do it for them.


source: http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-03/health/healthmag.violent.video.kids_1_violent-video-video-games-game-genres/2?_s=PM:HEALTH

Straw Tower - Meaningful Play

In Game Design, we were all assigned to build the tallest straw tower that could stand for at least 3 seconds. The class was divided into multiple groups and were given a box of straws and tape. After being given this exercise we were to conclude whether or not if straw tower building is considered meaningful play or not. The word "meaningful" in the text describes it as something that is "more about the emotional and psychological experience of inhabiting a well-designed system of play" that is both "discernable and integrated." From this definition alone one can pull may reasons as to why our straw tower would be considered meaningful play. Let's start off with the "discernable" aspect of meaningful play. Discernable is defined as something in which "the game action is communicated to the player in a perceivable way." In other words, there must be a genuine GOAL. At the beginning of our tower building, Monica made it very clear that our goal was to build the tallest tower that must stand for at least three seconds. With the basic structure given to us, we were able to conclude what needed to be done and different options/obstacles to obtain this goal. The second part of meaningful play is the "integrated" aspect of the game. This means that the "relationship between action and outcome is integrated into the larger context of the game." Basically, each decision that is made throughout the process of this competition directly affects whether we would come out winning or losing. A + B = C. If we put all of the straws together + tape to hold them together = tower getting taller (and ultimately winning). Each type of "game" requires different forms or examples of what would be considered discernable or integrated, but ultimately as long as the pieces fit together into these definitions, it is, in my opinion (as supported by the book), meaningful play.

Game Research

While trying to come up with a potential research topic for gaming, there were many things that ran through my mind. Strategy, cheating, designing, skill levels, etc. However, one thing that stuck out to me specifically was human behavior. This opens up so many different things as well because human behavior can include all of those things that I wrote above as well (strategy, cheating, skill level, etc). I could write about how certain games may affect a person more negatively or more positively. If certain games promote violence more than others. If having an option to use "game cheats" on video games makes people more likely to turn into cheats/cheaters in real life or even sexual behavior as well. And, most importantly, if certain games, whether they be video or non-video games create the fantasy of being invincible and thus creating the mindset to humans that they can just hit the "restart" button in real life and get away with their actions like they do in a game. I think that this topic would be rather interesting because it opens the doors to more of the psychological aspect that takes place inside the brain during gaming and how it certain games can affect each individual or certain types of groups of people in a similar way opposed to others.