Roman Bystrianyk
August 22nd 06, 05:40 PM
"Violent video games 'desensitise' players", Daily Mail, August 17,
2006,
Link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401113&in_page_id=1770
Violent video games can 'desensitise' players to the horrors of
real-life brutality after just 20 minutes of playing, scientists have
discovered.
A new study found that students who played graphic games for only a
short of period of time were less emotional when later confronted with
scenes of real violence, such as beatings, stabbings and shootings.
The findings add to a whole raft of previous research which shows that
repeated exposure to screen violence can have a harmful effect on
youngsters.
It follows the public outcry in 2004 when the ultra-violent game
Manhunt was implicated in the savage murder of a teenage boy.
The parents of Stefan Pakeerah called for it to be banned after the
14-year- old died at the hands of Warren Leblanc, 17, who was said to
be obsessed with the game.
For the latest study, American psychologists carried out experiments on
257 college students, both male and female.
One group was given 20 minutes to play one of four violent games -
"Carmageddon", "Mortal Kombat", "Future Cop" and "Duke Nukem".
The other group was given one of four "passive" games to play including
"3D Pinball", "Glider Pro", "3D Munch Man" and "Tetra Madness".
Both where then shown ten-minute videos of shootings, stabbings, prison
fights, courtroom outbursts, and confrontations with police - and
tested for their emotional response. This was measured by their heart
rate and perspiration.
Those who had engaged in violent games had 'lowered physiological
responses'. In other words, their heart rates were lower and they
sweated less.
This showed they had become desensitised to the brutality of the real
world, said psychologist Professor Nicholas Carnagey, of Iowa State
University, who led the study.
The students who played the non-violent games had increased heart rates
and perspiration when they saw the video footage - meaning they were
upset by it.
Professor Carnagey said he was 'surprised' at how quickly the games
dulled the players' response to real-life violence.
He said: "Students who played violent games for twenty minutes had
lower responses when they watched the videos of real-life violence.
"A lot of other studies on exposure to violent video games indicated
that we would find this desensitisation but it surprised us that only
20 minutes of exposure was enough to show this effect."
He warned: "It appears that individuals who play violent video games
get used to it. They eventually become physiologically numb to it."
The study, published the findings in the Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, said parents should be wary about the effect that violence
in PC games and on television has on their children.
Previous research has found that youngsters already predisposed to
violence are encouraged to carry out attacks and commit other crimes
such as joyriding as a result of playing video games.
However, others studies have shown the graphic games can have a harmful
effect even on youngsters with no previous history of aggression.
Professor Mark Griffiths, from the psychology division at Nottingham
Trent University, warned that children were more at risk of being
affected by violent video games than adults as their brains were not
yet fully formed.
He said: "Society as a whole has become more desensitised to violence
because of the increase in violent images in films, on television and
in computer games."
2006,
Link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401113&in_page_id=1770
Violent video games can 'desensitise' players to the horrors of
real-life brutality after just 20 minutes of playing, scientists have
discovered.
A new study found that students who played graphic games for only a
short of period of time were less emotional when later confronted with
scenes of real violence, such as beatings, stabbings and shootings.
The findings add to a whole raft of previous research which shows that
repeated exposure to screen violence can have a harmful effect on
youngsters.
It follows the public outcry in 2004 when the ultra-violent game
Manhunt was implicated in the savage murder of a teenage boy.
The parents of Stefan Pakeerah called for it to be banned after the
14-year- old died at the hands of Warren Leblanc, 17, who was said to
be obsessed with the game.
For the latest study, American psychologists carried out experiments on
257 college students, both male and female.
One group was given 20 minutes to play one of four violent games -
"Carmageddon", "Mortal Kombat", "Future Cop" and "Duke Nukem".
The other group was given one of four "passive" games to play including
"3D Pinball", "Glider Pro", "3D Munch Man" and "Tetra Madness".
Both where then shown ten-minute videos of shootings, stabbings, prison
fights, courtroom outbursts, and confrontations with police - and
tested for their emotional response. This was measured by their heart
rate and perspiration.
Those who had engaged in violent games had 'lowered physiological
responses'. In other words, their heart rates were lower and they
sweated less.
This showed they had become desensitised to the brutality of the real
world, said psychologist Professor Nicholas Carnagey, of Iowa State
University, who led the study.
The students who played the non-violent games had increased heart rates
and perspiration when they saw the video footage - meaning they were
upset by it.
Professor Carnagey said he was 'surprised' at how quickly the games
dulled the players' response to real-life violence.
He said: "Students who played violent games for twenty minutes had
lower responses when they watched the videos of real-life violence.
"A lot of other studies on exposure to violent video games indicated
that we would find this desensitisation but it surprised us that only
20 minutes of exposure was enough to show this effect."
He warned: "It appears that individuals who play violent video games
get used to it. They eventually become physiologically numb to it."
The study, published the findings in the Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, said parents should be wary about the effect that violence
in PC games and on television has on their children.
Previous research has found that youngsters already predisposed to
violence are encouraged to carry out attacks and commit other crimes
such as joyriding as a result of playing video games.
However, others studies have shown the graphic games can have a harmful
effect even on youngsters with no previous history of aggression.
Professor Mark Griffiths, from the psychology division at Nottingham
Trent University, warned that children were more at risk of being
affected by violent video games than adults as their brains were not
yet fully formed.
He said: "Society as a whole has become more desensitised to violence
because of the increase in violent images in films, on television and
in computer games."