Daily Tech, IL
07-28-06
One more study claims violence on the computer has ill effects
Researchers believe that violent video games have the ability to "desensitize
people to real-life violence." Iowa State University psychology professor
Craig Anderson and ISU professor Nicholas Carnagey worked alongside
Brad Bushman, who formerly worked at ISU but now works at the University
of Michigan. The heart rates and galvanic skin responses were taken from the
257 student participants before the procedure began. Each student then played
a violent video game for 20 minutes. After the gaming session, another round of
heart rate and galvanic responses were taken. Test subjects were then shown
clips of real-life violence to see if there was any negative effect. The researchers
found that the physiological reactions of the 257 students indicated that they
were "less physiologically aroused by real violence" after gaming.
The students played one game out of a selection of eight video games -- four
non-violent and four violent -- The four non-violent video games were 3D Pinball,
3D Munch Man, Tetra Madness and Glider Pro; the four violent video games
were Duke Nukem, Mortal Kombat, Carmageddon and Future Cop. The filmed
footage included courtroom outbursts, shootings, police confrontations, and
prison fights.
The study, titled "The Effects of Video Game Violence on Physiological
Desensitization to Real-Life Violence" has been published in the Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology.
A researcher from the University of California at San Francisco, and University of
Pittsburgh conducted a study of 100 undergraduate males between the ages of
18 to 21. The study suggested that paranoia may have something to do with
violent video games. The research shows evidence that people who played the
violent video games in the test were more likely to be less cooperative and more
paranoid. The studies to see if there is a correlation between violent video
games and violence will continue in the future.