Download The effects of computers and video games

THE EFFECTS OF COMPUTERS AND
VIDEO GAMES
Negative Effects
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Experimental Studies –
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Lab experiments only find the short-term effects
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- Aggressive behaviour cannot be studied directly as it has ethical
issues, so other types of behaviour has to be used instead.
Study to support this – Anderson and Dill (2000) – PP’s blasted
opponents with white noise (multi-frequency sound) Findings
showed PP’s who played Wolfenstein 3D blasted opponents for
longer and rated themselves higher on the state hostility scale
compared to PP’s who played Myst.
Negative Effects
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Longitudinal Studies –
Have found long term increases in levels of aggression from
video games
- Study to support this – Anderson et al (2007) – Surveyed 430
children aged between 7 – 9 years old at two different points
in the day. Children who had high exposure to violent video
games became more verbally and physically aggressive rated
by peers and teachers.
Negative Effects
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Meta Analyses –
A number of meta analyses have found a consistent link
between violent game play and aggressive behaviour. This link
appears to affect both children and adults.
A study to support this – Gentile and Anderson (2003)findings showed that there were larger effects with newer
studies as violent video games have become more violent over
time.
Negative Effects
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Computers (Facebook) –
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It is suggested there is a link between Facebook use and stress.
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People feel the need to comply what they have identified is required. (E.g. To
be funny)
Study to support this – Charles (2011) – used interview techniques to
investigate FB habits of 200 Scottish undergraduates. 12% experienced
anxiety linked to using FB. This percentage reported stress from deleting
unwanted contacts, and pressure to be humorous. 32% said that rejecting
friend requests made them feel guilty and 10% reported disliking friend
requests.
Negative Effects - Physical
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Funatsuka – argued that gaming can bring on epileptic seizures. Then prior to
the release in the US, Nintendo’s Pokemon had to be reformatted due to its
link with epileptic seizures in more than 7000 Japanese viewers.
Matthews et al (2006) – suggested that video games can have a short term
effect on the functioning of different areas of the brain. 44 randomly
assigned adolescents played either a violent video game (Medal of Honour)
or a non-violent video game (Need for Speed) for 30 mins. Then PP’s had
brain scans to measure brain function. PP’s playing the violent video game
showed increased activity in the amygdala (this stimulates emotions) and
decreased activity in the pre-frontal lobe (regulates inhibition, self-control
and concentration). These reponses were not shown in the non-violent video
games. This was a lab experiment and measurements were reliable.
Negative Effects - Behavioural
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Many studies point to a correlation between exposure/playing violent
video games and negative actions such as aggressive thoughts and
behaviours.
A study to show this is Anderson and Bushman (2001) – conducted a
meta analyses and measured effects of exposure on 5 variables. These
were Aggressive behaviour, Aggressive thoughts, Pro-social behaviour,
Aggressive mood and Physiological arousal. Findings showed that short
term exposure to video game violence was significantly associated with
temporary increases in aggression in all PP’s.
Negative Effects – Behavioural
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Lin and Lepper (1987) – found that impulsiveness and
aggression was related to frequency of computer game use.
The study was conducted in Florida on male and female
adolescents and were asked about their computer game use
and perceptions of their own aggressiveness ratings. These
were then compared to various teacher aggression rating
scales. The aggressive effect from the use of computer games
was only shown in males.
Negative Effects – Psychosocial
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Grusser et al (2007) – surveyed 7,000 gamers and
found that approximately 12% of these could be
classified as addicted using the WHO criteria.
Evaluation of Negative Effects
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Problems with research evidence –
Lab experiments – cannot measure “real life” aggression and
can only measure short term effects.
Longitudinal studies – measure both long term and short term
effects, but as they are measured over time PP’s may be
exposed to other forms of media violence (TV) which means
the measurement from video games is uncertain.
Evaluation of Negative Effects
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Why might there be an effect? –
There is no reliable casual link between violent game play and
aggression.
A study to support this argument – Gentile et al (2004) –
proposed a “bi-directional” model where playing violent games
may cause an increase in aggression but people could just possess
personality traits that make them behave in an aggressive manner
but just prefer to select violent video games for recreational
purposes. So basically, it could be a pre-position.
Evaluation of Negative Effects
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Facebook use and college grades –
There is a link between excessive Facebook usage and low grades.
Karpinski (2009) - suggests that personality factors are likely to be
involve as well. She found that students using FB everyday
underachieved by as much as a entire grade. Found that FB users spent
between 1-5 hours a week studying compared to non-users who studied
11-15 hours a week. This link has even been found in graduates.
Greenfield (2009) – argued that social networks “infantilise” the brain
by shortening the attention span and providing instant gratification
although she has failed to provide evidence.
Evaluation on Negative effects
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There are risks associated with letting children play violent
video and computer games.
Over-dependence on video games could lead to social isolation.
Woman are often portrayed as weaker characters that are helpless or
sexually provocative. As it is mainly men playing video games then this
could lead to them stereotyping all women to act like this. An example
would be grand theft auto.
Game environments are often based on plots of violence, aggression
and gender bias.
Games can confuse reality and fantasy as the person plays through the
eyes of an character and becomes more violent.