Who plays video games?
* 88% of households have
some form of video game
* 70% of gamers are aged 18+
* The average gamer
is aged 24 – 35 years.
Most gamers have been
playing for approximately
11 years
Video Games are classified into the
following groups:
*Early Childhood
*Everyone ages 6 and older
*Everyone ages 10 and older
*Teen ages 13 and older
*Mature 17years +
Why do people play video games?
Entertainment
Video games are identified by many people as a popular
hobby/past time.
Story
Many games have a plot and like a reader of a novel, the
player is encouraged to persevere to the end so they can
see what will happen and how it will be resolved.
Atmosphere
Video games enable the player to be instantly transported
to exotic locations and imaginary worlds.
Role playing
Players are presented the
opportunity to take on the
role of heroic characters,
sport stars, spies etc.
Interactivity
The player is more than an observer of the action in
the games, they are able to live it!
Progress/achievement
Many games have a level system and as the player
accomplishes a level they are able to feel immediate
gratification and success.
Social Dimension
Many games enable multi players and facilitate
socialisation, teamwork and co-operation.
Intensity
Video games are often fast paced and high impact
eg. explosions, shoot out, racing, carnage etc.
Psychological Effects of Gaming
Addiction failure to stop playing games difficulties in work or school, telling lies to
loved ones, decreased attention to personal hygiene, decreased attention to family
and friends, and disturbances in the sleep cycle. Withdrawal symptoms can even
include behaviours as severe as shaking.
Substance Abuse to attain offline the ‘adrenaline rush’ games may provide.
Maladaptive behaviours such as the ‘sunk cost fallacy’ whereby one is compelled
to keep playing in order to feel that previous time and effort were not wasted.
Autistic children have been helped with developmental disorders.
Predisposition to Violence The Academy of Paediatrics says “More than
one thousand scientific studies and reviews conclude that significant exposure to
media violence increases the risk of aggressive behaviour in certain children,
desensitizes them to violence and makes them believe that the world is a ‘meaner
and scarier’ place than it is.”
Mood Enhancement as related to effects of physical activity-games like Wii,
which may be particularly beneficial to otherwise sedentary people.
Emotional Health and Self Esteem may be boosted according to the
gamer’s self-perception.
‘Method Acting’ hypothesis which argues that children can engage in scary or
confronting issues in the virtual world to role-play responses.
Physiological Effects of Gaming
Professor Akio Mori
Tokyo's Nihon University
Study Results (next two slides)
Physiological Effects of Gaming
Akio Mori’s, a professor at Tokyo's Nihon University, study
found the following results:
that the decrease of beta wave activity and usage of the
prefrontal region of the brain may correlate with the
aggressive behaviour, and,
that the decrease of beta waves continued after the video
game was turned off, implying a lasting effect.
This study also asserts that a lack of use of the frontal
brain, contributed by video games, can change moods and
could account for aggressive and reclusive behaviour. An
important question arises: if the brain is so impacted by
video games as to create behavioural changes, must that
mean that the brain perceives the games as real?
Professor Mori citing his own research said, “Many video
games stir up tension and a feeling of fear, and there is a very
real concern that this could have a long-term effect on the
autonomic nerves.” These are the nerves that control the
involuntary organ processes such as heart rate and breathing.
Multiple studies have reported that playing video games can
significantly increase heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen
consumption. If studies show that heart rate is increased
when playing video games, then it seems that the brain is
responding to the video game as if the body is in real danger.
Does repeated exposure to this "false" sense of danger have
an effect on what the brain then perceives as real danger?
Other studies have suggested that there is a physical change
in the structure of the brain caused by the neurotransmitter
dopamine released during frequent playing.
Gender stereotypes in computer games are perhaps the
greatest area of concern. According to the author of
'Videogames', James Newman, female characters are
extremely under-represented in video games and make up
only 16 per cent of all female characters. (Newman, 2004)
Furthermore, while 47 per cent of male characters in computer
games are portrayed as competitors, 50 per cent of female
characters are depicted as props or bystanders. (Newman,
2004)
Even male and female character roles and behaviour have
become stereotyped. Research by Children Now, a media
organization that deals with rectifying child issues, showed
that men in computer games were frequently portrayed as
aggressive, whereas women wore revealing clothing and
screamed a lot. http://www.childrenow.org
Most popular computer games represent males with
weapons or a buxom woman in distress. (Newman, 2004)
An example of this is 'Tomb Raider', where the main
protagonist Lara Croft, is under-dressed. While these
images are attractive to men and linked to male behaviour,
these images do not appeal to females and are seen to be
sexist, as they portray women as brainless, helpless,
sexual objects. (Newman, 2004)
And while there are games for girls with these theories in
mind, they have generally proven not to be very successful,
as many games are too 'girly' for many women and focus
around beauty and fashion, which many girls do not relate
to or take as an insult. (Newman, 2004)
Racism is of concern as most characters in computer
games are Caucasian.
Consumerism is a problem, as many people feel pressured
to keep up with buying the latest games, which can cost
more than $100 dollars.
Social Isolation would appear to be a problem. Fromme
suggests otherwise as studies show that most students do
not give up physical/outdoor activities for gaming. He also
suggests that gaming forms a bond ‘offline’ with gamers as
a conversational link.
Effects of Gaming: Case Studies
Use of video games in recent studies showed a distracting effect on
patients, reducing a need for painkillers, and in some case, quicker
physical healing.
Study on helping physically disabled children, as well as children with
multiple handicaps, burn victims, spinal cord injury and muscular
dystrophy patients, and patients exhibiting anti-social and via video
games shows initial benefits but no follow-up or robust controlled studies
have been conducted.
Negative effects of gaming studies show increased aggressiveness,
incontinence, joint pain, auditory hallucinations, obesity.
Effects of violent video Games on aggressive Behavior, aggressive
Cognition, aggressive Affect, physiological Arousal, and prosocial
Behavior: A meta-analytic review of the Scientific literature (Andersen and
Bushman) analyses the scientific literature of all effects of gaming. This is
a dated article (2001) but still useful for the questions it raises.
Video Games and Violence by Derrick Janushewski and Myna Truong is
reasonably readable and analyses the volume of violence in
contemporary video games.
List of Useful Resources
Reasonably readable resources include:
Mediascope website, highlights data from various scientific studies concerning
video games.
Mediascope website, violent video games causing aggression.
Japan Today News website, an interesting news site and discussion board.
Mega Games website, a hardcore gaming site, including cheats, demos, and
facts.
Beliefnet website, centres around spiritual, religious, and moral issues.
Sunday Herald online, a news resource.
Games Studies, a paper called Computer Games as a Part of Children's Culture
by Johannes Fromme
Video Game Addiction: Do We Need a Vide Gamers Anonymous?, an article by
Mary Slimme looking at the connection between gaming and other forms of
addiction.
How Video Games Affect Health is a brief article written by a gamer.
The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children by Aimee Tompkins
briefly looks at desensitization of gamers to violence.
Video Games That Improve Emotional Health is a controversial piece by Trevor
Gorp that claims that, depending on the game, self-perception may be altered
positively.
Playing the Blame Game: Video Games Pros and Cons by Alvaro Fernandez is
Stimulus Questions/Points for Educators
1. To what degree is it acceptable of use ‘escapism’ to deal with the mundane
areas of life? When does this become a problem for the individual? the
community?
2. What is the role of ethicists in the debate regarding child/adolescent access to
immersion/role-playing games?
3.What is the role of government censorship?
4. Is the individualism of the video game a further isolating factor for youth?
5. Is the (almost) exclusive reliance on the visual sense a cause for concern?
6. How can we encourage a balanced approach in leisure time activities for
children (/adults)?
7. How can we best educate children to question their cultural constructs in an
age- appropriate fashion?
8. Is it possible/desirable to produce games that are life-affirming as well as being
popular?
9. Should we care about the effects of Gaming if only a small number of people
are negatively affected by it?
10. Is it fair to blame the promotion of violence in the theatres, in the music, and
on video games for deviant behaviour? How much are parents/the broader culture
responsible?
11. Even though gaming can increase cognitive abilities, is it safe to say that
violent blood-filled games always lead to desensitization to violence?
12. What do longitudinal studies tell us (where they exist)?
Bibliography
http://allpsych.com/journal/violentmedia.html
http://multimedia.design.curtin.edu.au/cache/v/0003/
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1719
http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/soc/courses/stpp4C03/ClassEssay/videoga
mes.htm
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/331/7509/122
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/text2-27-2004-51038.asp
http://www.childrennow.org
http://www.gameinnovator.com/health.php
http://www.gamestudies.org/0301/fromme/
http://www.ifets.info/journals/11_2/21.pdf
http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/20002004/01ab.pdf
http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/09/26/playing-the-blame-gamevideo-games-pros-and-cons/
Newman, J. (2004) Videogames, London : Routlege. ISB 0415281911
www.newman.ac.uk
www.psycholgical.iastate.edu/~dgentile