Project

1. The Psychological Effects of Violent Video Games Are we unknowingly being taught to be violent

2. ABSTRACT Violence in America is a heavy concern and it brings to the forefront the question “Are violent video games responsible for the some of the violence perpetrated by the youth of today?” In this literature review I will explain the materials I am using to come to the conclusion of whether children are being influenced by violent video games or not. I have played video games and seen firsthand how they can influence someone, but just because they influence does not mean it is a negative influence.

3. OUTLINE OVERVIEW Video games are the national pastime and have a lot of influence The drive to become the best or beat the game can change the players outlook THE ARTICLES All articles agreeing to an increase in aggression, but a decrease in empathy in players who play violent video games All articles agree this is a subject that should be researched on a bigger scale THE EFFECTS Consistent play of violent video games can make a person more aggressive, antisocial and less empathic. The younger the person the more likely they will be influenced by the video game There may be a group of people who are predisposed to the influence of violent video games HYPOTHESIS The consistent playing of violent video games can cause a person to become more aggressive

4. OVERVIEW Video games are becoming the national pastime and with the popularity comes the influence these games have over the players. While the influence will not have a negative effect on all who play but there will be an effect on some. The concern is what will happen to the psyche of those who play violent video games. It takes a certain line of thought in order to become excellent at whatever you do. As with those who are well trained at police work, psychology, or football you tune yourself to react to things that are effective to your everyday endeavors. As the "gamer" trains themselves to be the best type of there is a great chance of carryover into the real world. And if the gamer is submerged in violent video games, games that reward violence, it is possible for the gamer to take this behavior into their real life. So the question is will violent video games breed a culture of violence? The following information will provide possible evidence to answer that question.

5. THE ARTICLES The overall position of the articles is that violent video games will lead a player of said video games to become more violent or aggressive. But the articles also state that this issue should still be researched. The articles definitely support one another and mirror the same beliefs and outcomes to one another. " Methodologically weaker studies yielded smaller effect sizes than methodologically stronger studies, suggesting that previous meta-analytic studies of violent video games underestimate the true magnitude of observed deleterious effects on behaviour, cognition, and affect.” (Anderson C. A., 2004)

6. THE EFFECTS Thegeneral consensus of all the articles is that violence in video games, with continued play, can change the psychological disposition of a person. It is believed the person is drawn into real life scenarios and this continues into the players actual life. The first affects are when the actual video game is being played, heart rates are raised, breathing intensifies and aggression continues as the game dictates. With repeated playing the person's psyche is becoming more in tune to what the video game needs in order to win. The articles go on to agree with this being more frequent as the age of the participant drops. "The evidence strongly suggests that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior." (C. A. Anderson, 2001) P.M. Markey lends a valid but rarely mentioned variable to the argument that it may be possible for the people who are affected by violent video game may have a predisposition to the heightened aggressiveness of the video game. This is the one article that has enough variance to be mentioned, all other follow suit and speaks well with the other articles. (Markey, 2010)

7. HYPOTHESIS After reading the articles and having the knowledge of my personal experiences my hypothesis is as follows: The consistent playing of violent video games can cause a person to become more aggressive, especially in younger participants. I believe human nature has the capacity to do “right” or “wrong”, but the determining factor is how the person is lead to become the person they are. Years ago children were a lot closer to their parents whereas now children have many different things that they cleave to at a much earlier age. In the past there would be time after work for parents to interact with their children and for some families one parent was always home. Now both parents are working or it is a single family home and the child spends a lot of time being raised by the television and the internet. With these electronic babysitters comes many things, specifically video games. Video game in a household where parental guidance is effective there is the likeliness that violent video games are not being played or if they are the parents are putting the violence in some perspective. But in a household where there is little or no parental guidance the youth can be easily lead to believe this is the proper way to deal with everyday situations. The following is my review of the literature I am using to answer the question: “Are violent video games creating violent children?”

8. In an article from the American Academy of Children & Adolescent Psychiatry titled “Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence”, children are exposed to many different violent variables from famous video games. Variables like “the killing of people or animals, the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol, criminal behavior, disrespect for authority and the law, sexual exploitation and violence towards women, racial, sexual, and gender stereotypes, foul language, obscenities and obscene gestures.” (Psychiatry, 2006) There has been a rise in childhood aggressiveness and anger but there has also been an increase in video game play amongst children. In the first thought this may seem like a slippery slope but as you look at the evidence of gun violence with the youth of this time period you begin to see one of the major factors, shooter type video games. “On April 20,1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold launched an assault on Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, murdering 13 and wounding 23 before turning the guns on themselves. Although nothing is for certain as to why these boys did what they did, we do know that Harris and Klebold both enjoyed playing the bloody, shoot-‘em-up video game Doom, a game licensed by the U.S. military to train soldiers to effectively kill. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which tracks Internet hate groups, found in its archives a copy of Harris’ web site with a version of Doom. He had customized it so that there were two shooter, each with extra weapons and unlimited ammunition, and the other people in the game could not fight back. For a class project, Harris and Klebold made a videotape that was similar to their customized version of Doom. In the video, Harris and Klebold were dressed in trench coats, carried guns, and killed school athletes. They acted out their videotaped performance in real life less than a year later.” (Shin, 2008)

9. Grace Shin’s article gives a few different cause and effect examples from those who have perpetrated violence and their possible connection to violent video games. This connects well with Carnagey and Anderson's article on how video games are rewarding violent behavior. Their article entitled "The effects of reward and punishment in violent video games on aggressive affect, cognition, and behavior". In their article they review the results of three studies that used an aggressive car racing game to find if video games have an effect on behavior or not. There were three scenarios where, nonviolent racing, a violent race where violent behavior was punished, and a violent race where violent behavior is punished. After playing the video games the subjects were tested for violent or aggressive behavior. "Rewarding violent game actions increased hostile emotion, aggressive thinking, and aggressive behavior. Punishing violent actions increased hostile emotion, but did not increase aggressive thinking or aggressive behavior. Results suggest that games that reward violent actions can increase aggressive thinking or aggressive behavior. Results suggest that games that reward violent actions can increase aggressive behavior by increasing aggressive thinking. (Anderson, 2009) As the articles goes forward they begin to connect how such certain reactions to violent video games, whether the game punish using violence or reward using violence, will begin to influence the behavior in the streets. "If they have been influenced by aggressive play that is punished then the player will show a decrease in violent or aggressive behavior in real life. Or if they have been playing a game that rewards aggressive or violent behavior then the players frustration will probably increase in real life situations." (Anderson, 2009)

10. Another possibility to be considered in the effects of violent video games on children is a possible predetermination to the susceptibility of violent video games. Is it possible there are children out there that are born with a something that leads them to be influenced by violent video games to be violent in the real world. In their article, "Vulnerability to Violent Video Games. A Review and Integration of Personality Research." The Markey's go on to breakdown the numbers when it comes to children and violent video games. "It is clear that most children who play these games do not go on to behave in violent or murderous ways. In fact, although many youths who have engaged in violent school rampages were video game players(Anderson, 2004), most also possessed maladaptive personality traits and characteristics."(Markey, 2010) The Markey's introduce another variable to the subject "Psychoticism". They believe the people who typically become violent are those who already suffer from traits of psychoticism and are the most likely to become violent after playing violent video games. "Markey and Sherer (2009) found that participants with elevated levels of psychoticism tended to experience higher levels of hostility and had more aggressive cognitions after exposure to violent video games than did individuals with lower levels of psychoticism or individual exposed to non-violent video games." I believe they are saying violent video game can increase violent behavior in those who play violent video games but they are also saying those who show certain traits will have a greater chance of acting on those urges after playing violent video games.

11. REFERENCES Anderson, C. A. (2004). An update on the effects of playing violent video games. Journal of Adolescence , Vol. 27, Iss. 1; 113-122. Anderson, C. A. (2010). Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review. Psychological Bulletin , Vol. 136 Issue 2, p151-173. Anderson, N. L. (2009). The Effects of Reward and Punishment in Violent Video Games on Aggressive Affect, Cognition, and Behavior. Iowa State University , 1. C. A. Anderson, B. J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal and pro-social behavior; a meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science , Vol. 12, Iss. 5; 353-359 . Funk, J. B. (2004). Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies, and the internet: Is there desensitization? Journal of Adolescence. , Vol. 27, Iss. 1; 23-39. GENTILE, D. O. (2009). Good game? The behavioural effects of video games . Economist . Irwin, A. &. (1995). Cognitive tempo, violent video games, and aggressive behavior in young boys. Journal of Family Violence , 337-350. Ivory, J. D. (2007). The Effects of Technological Advancement and Violent Content in Video Games on Players' Feelings of Presence, Involvement, Physiological Arousal, and Aggression. Journal of Communication , Vol. 57 Issue 3, p532-555. Markey, P. M. (2010). Vulnerability to Violent Video Games: A Review and Integration of Personality Research. Review of General Psychology , 1-4. Scott, D. (1995). The effect of video games on feelings of aggression. Journal of Psychology , Vol. 129 Issue 2, p121, 12p.