First Person Shooter free essay sample

This essay explores the evidence in support of a correlative and/or causal relationship between video game violence and increased aggression in children. A variety of studies are cited, including independent studies, longitudinal studies, meta-analyses and physiological experiments. The conclusion of the writer is that there is sufficient evidence to support the increase in aggression in children is causally affected by their exposure to video game violence. First Person Shooter Rapid gunshots filled the air, then muffled moans and shrieks sounded in the living room. The phone rang for the sixth time in the kitchen before Mom could answer with a breathless, â€Å"Hello? † She listened intently as the voice of Christian’s teacher on the other end explained that earlier that day Christian had threatened to â€Å"blow up the school. † â€Å"But he’s only in the third grade,† Mom thought as she quietly hung up the phone. She turned toward the living room where the cries of the wounded emerged as more shots were fired and shouted, â€Å"Christian, turn that video game off. . we need to talk! † For decades psychologists have studied the effect of violent television programming on children. Now a new source of media violence has worked its insidious way into children’s lives. Although it is only an emerging body of research, the evidence is clear. Video game violence makes children more aggressive. The History In America today, â€Å"youth between 8 and 18 spend over 40 hours per week using some type of media† (Anderson, 2003, p. 143). Television is still the most common form of media involvement, but video game play is rapidly growing in popularity. In this essay the term video game is used to refer to games played on any electronic system ranging from console stations, to hand-held devices, to computers. The advent of video games first emerged in 1977 with the introduction of Pong – a simple game similar to digital ping-pong. In the relatively short period of time since then, the graphics and realism of video games has increased exponentially. By the early 1990s, it became apparent that violent video games sold better and formatting of the games evolved from a third-person viewpoint to â€Å"first-person shooter†. In this format, the view of the player is as if they are the character and can see through his eyes, rather than seeing the whole character. The action in these games takes place as if the player is firing the gun, or stabbing the victim, or using his own fists. The high level of violence the player must display in these games is glamorized, reinforced, and rewarded. The relationship between the violence kids see and how they behave is not quantifiable, but numerous recent experiments reveal that even minimal exposure to such violence can cause an increase in aggressive behavior. The Evidence One longitudinal psychological study revealed that â€Å"viewing. . . violence at age 8 was a significant and positive predictor of serious adult criminality twenty-two years later independent of social class, intellectual achievement, or parenting variables† (as cited in Smith Donnerstein, 2003, p. 74). Many individual studies show a correlation between video game violence and increased aggression, but to get a clearer picture of the danger we turn to meta-analyses. Meta-analyses are statistical summaries of all empirical studies relating to a particular topic. They provide researchers with a more accurate statistical estimate of the effects considered in the studies. According to Anderson in his meta-analytic study of the effects of video game violence on aggression, â€Å"Overall, the results showed that exposure to violent video games significantly increases aggressive behavior, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and aggressive cognition† (p. 53) and that it causes a significant reduction in pro-social behavior. It was concluded that effects of exposure to violent video games on aggressive behavior in children has a more significant impact than the effects of second-hand cigarette smoke, the effects of calcium on bone density, and the effect of doing homework on academic performance. Another meta-analysis reviewed the data from twenty-eight studies in regard to the effect of video game violence on aggressiveness in children. Bensley Van Eenwyk (2001) determined that â€Å"Three of four studies using behavioral observations of aggression during freeplay found that violent video game play causes increased aggression or aggressive play immediately after the video game†(p. 253). Many of the psychological studies of the relationship between exposure to video game violence and increased aggression in children are correlation and do not show a direct causal effect. Other factors that can contribute to increased have to be considered in such correlation studies where causality cannot be proven. However, a new type of study by Webber, Ritterfeld, Mathiak, (2006) provide us with empirical physiological evidence that video games do increase aggression in a causal relationship. In this study, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used to take brain scans of activity in the parts of the brain associated with aggression immediately following exposure to violent video game activity. The part of the brain studied was the frontal lobe which had previously been determined to show reduced activity in anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) activity in teens with diagnosed â€Å"antisocial conduct and aggressive behavior disorders† (p. 2). The findings of Webber, Ritterfeld, Mathiak, are astonishing and provide definitive physiological evidence that exposure to video game violence causes an immediate response in the part of the brain where aggression is processed. The results of corresponding fMRI test by Matthews et al. (2005) reveal that â€Å"after high violent exposure to virtual violence, adolescents with no psychopathological history demonstrated the same reduced [ACC] brain activity in the frontal lobe as a control group of adolscents diagnosed with aggressive/disruptive behavior disorders† (as cited in Webber, Ritterfeld, Mathiak, 2006 p. 3) It was further concluded that the reduction in brain activity in the ACC â€Å"occur exclusively in the immediate vicinity of violent game play and predominantly follow virtual violent activities in time† (Webber, Ritterfeld, Mathiak, 2006 p. 47). While the body of research is still small, the evidence supporting the negative results of exposure to violent video games is expanding rapidly and clearly suggests that all children, ranging from the very young to at-risk adolescents, are vulnerable to the damaging effects of the violence they are xposed to in repeated violent video game- play. Who Is At Risk? With the evidence accumulating, it would be irresponsible to assume that large segments of the population are immune to the negative impact that video game violence clearly has. As reported in the 2010 Youth Violence Fact Sheet issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010), â€Å"in 2007, 5,764 young people ages 10 to 24 were murdered—an average of 16 each day. Homicide was the 2nd leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24 [and] 84% were killed with a firearm. In 2008, more than 656,000 young people ages 10 to 24 were treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained from violence† (p. 1). The CDC fact sheet provides further data about violence and school-age children by stating â€Å"In a 2009 nationally-representative sample of youth in grades 9-12: 17. 5% reported carrying a weapon (gun, knife or club) on one or more days in the past 30 days [and that] between 1992 and 2006, 116 students were killed in 109 separate incidents – an average of 16. 5 student homicides each year† (p. 2). The results are clear across the board that violent video games have a negative causal effect that can increase aggressiveness in all children, yet some specialized groups may be more deeply affected by this increase in aggressive tendencies. The Young Player Young children (ages 10 to 12) are potentially at greater risk for increased aggression and other harmful effects because they are still learning social scripts. The social rules children develop early are referred to as scripts and become wired into the psyche where they tell the individual what to do, how to react and what is expected in common, everyday social settings. According to Funk, (2003), â€Å"It is well established that children learn general social rules and specific behaviors from repeated cycles of observation, practice and reinforcement. Such cycles are integral to playing violent video games† (p. 171). Funk, proposed that â€Å"a child could develop and internalize scripts for situations that trigger aggression [by] playing violent video games. If such scripts are derived from unreal violence that has no negative consequences [in the game-play], then the child’s response to violence in real life will. . . lack] recognition of the true consequences of violent actions and violence will be seen as a reasonable [response] in many interpersonal situations† (pp. 171-2). Very young children face another challenge when it comes to their developing psyche and the influence of video games – learning the basic constructs of morality. The development of morality in children continues throughout childhood as their higher-order emotions mature. Funk, supported this opinion stating, â€Å"The violent actions required by these [violent video] games are devoid of moral emotion and moral judgment† (p. 73). Professor Lasch-Quinn, (2003) reports that â€Å"Psychologists agree that the basic minimum requirements for the formation of moral conscience in children is the early development of a sense of empathy for others† (p. 50). Young children may suffer from impairment of moral development because the video games lack the normal connection between committing violent acts and realistic moral evaluation, in addition to depersonalizing the victims in the games and downplaying the perceived harm the victim receives. At-Risk Kids Another building block of the moral framework that children are constructing as they grow is that of attitude. Pro-violence attitudes are more prevalent in at-risk children such as victims of abuse or inner-city gang members (Funk, 2003 p. 174). The attitude of these at-risk children toward violence develops from a series of real-life experiences where violence is experienced as the primary way to express and resolve conflict. They view violence differently because it is something they encounter as part of daily life. Pro-violence attitudes are also prevalent in children who bully. According to Funk, victims of abuse, inner-city gang involved children and bullies â€Å"can now be identified as ‘high-risk’ with some degree of certainty† (p. 177) for developing aggressive behaviors as a result of violent video game interaction. Children with various cognitive and behavioral problems are also at greater risk. Funk stated that â€Å"It is well established that children with hostile knowledge structures. . . tend to misinterpret the actions of others as having hostile intent, [and] are more likely to behave in an aggressive manner† (p. 179). The evidence from the research supports the correlational and causal effects of violent video games on aggression in children and reflects that while all children are at risk, some groups may be more susceptible to the damaging effects. Conclusions As violent video games become an ever more popular form of entertainment for children, psychologists have increased their efforts to determine the relationship between the violence and increased aggression in children. Many studies reveal strong correlational data suggesting a direct link between interacting with violent video games and increased aggression. New physiological studies are able to pinpoint that certain areas of the brain that control aggression are affected by exposure to violent video game-play. Emerging data shows that while all children are at risk for an increased level of aggression due to violent video game play, certain groups are at greater risk for these disastrous results. As the number and variety of studies grow, it is clear that violent video games cause children to be aggressive.