Inconsistency In Studies: Violent Video Games. 'Do violent video games affect the consumers violent tendencies permanently?

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1 Nolan Deogracias CLAIM - COUNTER CLAIM S20 Inconsistency In Studies: Violent Video Games 'Do violent video games affect the consumers violent tendencies permanently?', this is a question that has been on debate by many scholars. Ever since the release of video games like Mortal Kombat and Death Race, many research groups conducted by either the American government, private companies or universities tried to find any psychological effects of violent video games to its player. Tests such as behavioral patterns, questioning (regarding the video game) or interrupting the player, most of these tests resulted in the player to be aggressive in nature. Results lead the researchers to conclude that violent video games do have psychological effects to the user, they also linked how violent video games activate this behavioral pattern whenever a neural section of the brain related to aggression and is activated whenever the user plays violent video games. These conclusions were further publicized during the Columbine High School shooting, blaming violent video games for the cause. Most members of our current society believes that violent video games made the player more aggressive. Today, numerous researchers in America such as Brad Bushman, Google scholars 2nd most cited communications scholar in America and has studied violent media for 25 years and published more than 150 papers as one of the most involved in the topic of violent media, believe that "Playing violent video games increases aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, emotional 1

2 arousal and aggression." and they also make people "numb to the pain and suffering of others."; additionally, he said in defense to those of doesn't believe him, "People who say there aren't enough studies on violent video games don t know what they are talking about. There is little margin of error, and the findings are so statistically significant that there is no question that violent video games affect behavior." (Bushman, 2014). MIT professor Henry Jenkins then debunks researches done on violent video games: Claims like this are based on the work of researchers who represent one relatively narrow school of research, "media effects." This research includes some 300 studies of media violence. But most of those studies are inconclusive and many have been criticized on methodological grounds. In these studies, media images are removed from any narrative context. Subjects are asked to engage with content that they would not normally consume and may not understand. Finally, the laboratory context is radically different from the environments where games would normally be played. Most studies found a correlation, not a causal relationship, which means the research could simply show that aggressive people like aggressive entertainment. That's why the vague term "links" is used here. If there is a consensus emerging around this research, it is that violent video games may be one risk factor - when coupled with other more immediate, real-world influences which can contribute to anti-social behavior. But no research has found that video games are a primary factor or that violent video game play could turn an otherwise normal person into a killer. (Jenkins, n.d., para. 3) 2

3 In accordance to Jenkins claims, Pete Etchells argues that even if the number of research done on the topic is extensive, factors considered per research varies: The problem with trying to compare different studies in this area is that everybody does everything differently. It's not necessarily the case that one study will control for the same potentially confounding factors that the next study controls for, and even the measures of aggressive behaviour that are used can vary. In a 2009 meta-analysis, Craig Ferguson and John Kilburn argued that many studies use poorly validated or unreliable aggression measures, and that there was a bias in the research literature towards only publishing studies showing a significant link between video games and aggressive behaviour. (Etchells, 2013, para. 7) Brad Bushman's research is further opposed by Adam Thierer's statistics on recent juvenile violent crimes, showing that there is no correlation between real world violence and video game violence: Moreover, every social/cultural indicator of importance has been improving in recent years and decades even as media exposure and video game use among youth has increased. Juvenile murder, rape, robbery, and assault are all down significantly over the past decade. Aggregate violent crime by juveniles fell 43 percent between 1995 and (Thierer, 2010). 3

4 Instead trying to dismiss studies that are in-line with Brad Bushman, others play it neutral and research on how aggression is triggered when playing violent video games. One of which is a study by The University of Rochester, in which they conducted six different experiments involving how aggression is triggered when playing violent video games by manipulating game mechanics of the critically acclaimed shooter Half-Life 2 and using a heavily modified version of Half-Life 2 that was made to include no violence at all; both were tested alongside with each test cases. Players were asked to play through the game, but only a few were given a proper tutorial to familiarize themselves with the game. Researchers found out that the players who had not had the tutorial felt less competent and more aggressive, rather than people who had played the more violent version of the game. Based on their conclusions, one of the researchers, Dr. Przybylski (2014), explains: "We focused on the motives of people who play electronic games and found players have a psychological need to come out on top when playing... If players feel thwarted by the controls or the design of the game, they can wind up feeling aggressive. This need to master the game was far more significant than whether the game contained violent material. Players of games without any violent content were still feeling pretty aggressive if they hadn't been able to master the controls or progress through the levels at the end of the session." (Przybylski, BBC News Technology, as quoted by Dave Lee, 7th April 2014) Co-author Prof Richard Ryan, from the University of Rochester, also clarified: 4

5 "The study is not saying that violent content doesn't affect gamers, but our research suggests that people are not drawn to playing violent games in order to feel aggressive. Rather, the aggression stems from feeling not in control or incompetent while playing. If the structure of a game or the design of the controls thwarts enjoyment, it is this not the violent content that seems to drive feelings of aggression." With so many studies that are claiming violent video games causes violence or aggression, it is difficult to understand whether or not each and every one of them are conclusive because of the numerous counter-claims which are proven statistically, systematic or studies in which it was processed very similarly to each other and concluded the same results. Processes and factors with those kinds of studies are handled incorrectly and inconsistently, rendering some research bearing the same conclusion to be inconclusive. Although, it is not to say that people must disregard this topic entirely, we must further enhance our process to research in this particular topic. By narrowing the certain aspects of video game play and not focusing on its contents: This isn't intended to be an exhaustive look at the psychological literature, but the point is this: the question as to whether playing violent video games negatively affects behaviour hasn't been completely answered yet. Moreover, because 'violent video game' (much like 'screen time') is quite a broad concept, we're probably not capturing the subtlety of any effects in an adequate way at the 5

6 moment. To really get an understanding of what's going on, we need to be looking more at the way in which these sorts of games are being played for example, no one has yet really looked at if and how the multiplayer aspect of video games (playing in the same room together, playing online together) has any sort of effect. (Etchells, 2013, para. 9) 6

7 REFERENCE LIST Etchells, P. (2013, September). What is the link between violent video games and aggression?. Retrieved from Jenkins, H. (n.d). Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked. Retrieved from Lee, D. (2014, April). Aggression from video games 'linked to incompetence'. BBC News Technology. Retrieved from Thierer, A. (2010, February). Violent Video Games & Youth Violence: What Does Real-World Evidence Suggest?. Retrieved from Walch, T. (2014, February). BYU Hinckley lecture: science is clear, violent video games cause aggression. Dessert News. Retrieved from Hinckley-lecture-Science-is-clear-violent-video-games-cause-aggression.html?pg=all 7