News Study shows violent video games have a real effect

[Da Dego]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/12..._real_effects/

[ElThomsono]

Not surprising, games are just a mental excercise, whether it's minesweeper or CS. Reminds me of this article, giving surgeons computer games to play.

Brain age anyone?

[Cobalt]

Woohoo for more biased testing! If they really wanted to study the effects of violent games then they first need to establish that it isn't a general effect of games. By not going into the same amount of detail with the non-violent games it is possible to make the statement "Violent games reduce concentration" without the clarification that non-violent games don't reduce concentration.

Every time I see a study on the effects of violent games I cringe at the testing ethic.

[M4RTIN]

so they are saying for example a violent game makes you want to kill people, even though they didnt really prove that. it was just increased brain activity

[Da Dego]

Originally Posted by M4RTIN

so they are saying for example a violent game makes you want to kill people, even though they didnt really prove that. it was just increased brain activity

That's one thing the study did not say, though I didn't know how to write it into the article well. There was no discussion about a person just going off and killing someone because of a game or anything. It just makes you think differently - you become more instinctual, more gut-feeling oriented, and you have an inability to concentrate on tasks that don't play well to that (like a complex math problem)

[Veles]

44 people, wow thats a sample that holds alot of weight.

Although, TBH, I reckon he's right, but watching a scary or action packed film will have the same effect, as will reading a scary/action packed book (if you're one of those people who can really get into books).

As for the games increasing concentration, thats what Dr Kawashima's Brain Training is designed for, doing the various things activates parts of your brain, not just improves them over time (just like say, a jog warms up your boday as well as giving it good cardio training).

[Cthippo]

Meh, no surprise, really. After a few hours gaming it takes me a while before I settle down enough to sleep.

[specofdust]

I have to agree with Veles, this study seems pretty poor. I mean, were the people non-gamers, or gamers? And 44 is a low number, I'd have put a lot more weight in it if they'd done at least a hundred.

[mmorgue]

So, a radiologist performed an analysis on how (violent) video games affect people?

Wouldn't the effects he claims to see via MRI after an intense gaming session also be similar to what you'd see if you thoroughly focused on something of a similar nature? Meaning, that all he's doing is merely reporting on the physical brain functionality when exposed to a specific external stimulus?

To me that doesn't say anything about how people "behave" when exposed to (violent) games. Simply saying that the water is boiling when you apply a constant heat source doesn't indicate anything more than it's boiling.

Weird analysis, to me....

[SaintJ858]

The study is still very vague at what it shows, but it will encourage anti violent video game activist on "protecting the children."

[scq]

More brain activity does not always equate to more VIOLENT BRAIN ACTIVITY.

However, giving them the benefit of the doubt - does that slight increase matter much? Empirical evidence suggests that the bulk of the population can handle violent games and those which did result in tragedies are isolated incidents whose other factors are often overshadowed by politicians, interest groups, and Jack Thompson.

While video games are more emersive than TV, books, or magazines (since one can interact), how is this debate much more different from past criticisms of TV, comic books, and anti-church treatises to name a few?

I can understand how an action game vs. a violent game and a calmer game may produce different mental responses - but are those responses that powerful that they have a good chance of manifesting itself into physical violence?

[lepre]

i think it changes to pick random people or to pick abitual gamers.
some random people can't even move the mouse and press the keyboard the same time, and they get fragged and they get nervous because they suck

[TMM]

Originally Posted by ElThomsono

Not surprising, games are just a mental excercise, whether it's minesweeper or CS. Reminds me of this article, giving surgeons computer games to play.

Brain age anyone?

word. Its called adrenaline you silly doctors/scientists

[Emon]

Originally Posted by Da Dego

It just makes you think differently - you become more instinctual, more gut-feeling oriented, and you have an inability to concentrate on tasks that don't play well to that (like a complex math problem)

That should be expected. I'd bet a powerful film could have a very similar effect, maybe even a book.

[mattthegamer463]

Originally Posted by Emon

That should be expected. I'd bet a powerful film could have a very similar effect, maybe even a book.

My thoughts exactly. When I walk out of a movie theatre I feel a urge to pick up a gun and shoot (insert enemy here), and the feeling is far stronger than after I get up from a 2 hour bout of CoD2. I'm sure that someone would have the same feeling after playing Hello Kitty: Roller Rescue (but for entirely different reasons.)

[sui_winbolo]

Whenever I get into "Halo mode" I concentrate greatly on shooting anything that moves...including teammates. I'm working on fixing that aspect.

Of course your going to have different brain activity, playing FPS games are very fast paced and requires strong eye hand coordination. Very different compared to some games. If you're playing say an RPG, there's points in the game where you don't need to be focused strongly. In FPS games you are always focused because you don't know what's going to happen. It's the unknown factor that gets you.

[Sloth]

Of course they were feeling ready to kill, MoH: Frontline is hard as hell! Also, who wouldn't feel angry and bloodthirsty after having the Nazis kill your squadmate? And Nfs: Underground is very, very easy, beat it the day I got it, doesn't get you twitchy, doesn't make you on edge like a FPS does. Make a tetris game full of blood, gore, and violence and you'll get different results since even though it's bloody you'll not get that twitchiness. Make a FPS where your enemies are rabbits and you have to hug them or they kill you you'll see that "bloodlust" brain activity go up since it's just that extra reflexiveness you get when gaming

[wak]

yeah i agree with the film idea. While watching violent films with some hardcore action scenes e.g. gladiator and the final fight in LOTR i feel my arms twitching wanting to be there helping, my dad is the same and so are many of my friends...

[acron^]

I think there's a broad line between interactive violence and 'showcase' violence in games. The media doesn't seem to appreciate this and bundles any game with violence in it into the same category. The Germans have got it right though, the way that their censorship board identifies between gratuitous, unecessary levels of violence and realistic or historical representations of violence.

Why can't the rest of the world catch up?

[Nexxo]

The difficulty I have with studies like this is how general brain activity patterns are extrapolated to complex human behaviours. I think Da Dego sums up the findings quite well:

Originally Posted by Da Dego

There was no discussion about a person just going off and killing someone because of a game or anything. It just makes you think differently - you become more instinctual, more gut-feeling oriented, and you have an inability to concentrate on tasks that don't play well to that (like a complex math problem)

The problem is again, that what are actually probably quite normal cognitive processes are now extrapolated to "proneness to violent behaviour".

The argument that such subtle differences in thinking could result in violent behaviour or Columbine-style tragedies would be very shakey, I think. For starters, we have recently seen a similar tragedy in an Amish community where, I suspect, they have yet to introduce a Playstation to the household (perhaps in a tasteful wodden enclosure?).

I can also think of other games that are pretty violent, competitive and oppositional, and are likely to tap into that fight-flight, instinctual emotional thinking. Perhaps they should repeat that study with some American football players? Or how about rugby, or soccer? I think they would be amazed by the results. We certainly see enough proneness to violent behaviour on the spectator pitch...

Perhaps it is time to ban competitive sports along with video games. It is the only way to be safe.