Some Video Gaming is Positive
Playing Non-violent Electronic Games Improves Social Interaction
Jun 24, 2009
There are plenty of critics of video games. As an article in The Economist (May 30, 2009) points out: “Many are unquestionably violent and, as has been the way with new media from novels to comic books to television, they have been accused of corrupting the moral fabric of youth. Nor are such accusations without merit."
Negative Effects of Video Games
There does seem to be a connection between violent games and increased violent tendencies in those who play them. Kristin Kalning reported on a study on the subject on MSNBC (December 6, 2006).
“Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine,” wrote Ms. Kalning, “say that brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal – and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition, and attention.”
Vince Mathews, who conducted the study, had teens play a non-violent racing game, “Need for Speed: Underground.” Another group played “Medal of Honour: Frontline,” a violent first-person shooter game.
After playing the games for 30 minutes, the youngsters were given MRI scans. The brains of those playing the violent game showed negative effects; the racers did not.
Video Games do have a Bright Side
Two recent studies show that not all video games produce the impact of “Medal of Honour.”
At Iowa State University, Douglas Gentile has been testing the effects of playing pro-social games on children and young adults.
The Economist reported that some of the study subjects were given a game to play involving “cartoonish fighting and destruction...Others were assigned ‘Chibi-Robo!’, which involves helping characters in the game by doing their chores, or ‘Super Mario Sunshine,’ in which players clean up pollution and graffiti.” Others played maze games.
After playing, the young people were asked to choose a selection of puzzles for a partner to solve. “Those who had been playing pro-social games were significantly more likely to help their partner by selecting easy puzzles. The opposite was true for those assigned violent games.”
Some Games Promote Cooperation
Dr. Gentile carried out a second assessment of non-violent games in Singapore and Japan. The results showed that those who played games in which characters helped people “were most likely to help, share, cooperate, and empathize with others.” These young people also had lower scores for hostile behaviour and the acceptance of violence.
There is another study that confirms Dr. Gentile’s work. Tobias Greitemeyer of the University of Sussex, in England, and Silvia Osswald of Ludwig-Maximilian University, in Munich, have worked with students playing “Lemmings,” a game in which players try to protect cute little rodents from a variety of threats. Another group played “Tetris,” a game of arranging falling shapes.
The “Lemmings” players showed “fewer aggressive thoughts, responses, and actions” to questionnaires than the “Tetris” gamers.
The results of all these studies are to be published in upcoming issues of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
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