Video games have been growing in popularity since the introduction of Pong in the 19 seventies. Today 1.2 billion people worldwide play video games. And in America 90% of kids play video games for an average of two hours per day. Many gamers find that playing daily offers them relief from the
stresses of life gamers also often boast about the sense of community that they find when engaging in online multiplayer games. A study that was published in the August 2018 Journal of Pediatrics found that girls and boys aged ten to 15 who played video games for less than an hour a day had fewer emotional problems showed less hyperactivity and were more sociable than those who played no video games. However despite these findings video games and especially violent video games have been under scrutiny in the past decade and much research has been conducted on the harmful effects that playing violent video games can have on players. Today I'm going to focus on these harmful effects. And later I'll discuss some implications for the future of psychology research on video games. First many studies have made connections between violent video games and aggression in adolescence. The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is August 2018 Issue published research that stated that teens who played violent video games were more likely to participate in the use of drugs and alcohol. And they were more likely to engage in dangerous driving. Another study from Wake Forest University found that gamers who play violent games often show increased levels of hostility and aggression. In fact it was the revelation that the gunmen involved in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was an avid video game player that really sparked the initiative to determine why games are linked to aggression. Unfortunately it sometimes takes a terrible tragedy to call attention to a topic. Now examine this researchers observed the neurological activity of a group of men while they played video
games over the course of a week. This group of men were chosen because they did not typically engage in that activity. Mri scans show that the players had less activity in the brain areas involved in controlling emotion and aggression. Another study from the University of Missouri provided an explanation for why violent video games often cause players to become more aggressive. They found that the brains of gamers to become desensitized to violence which leads to an increase in aggression. In their study 70 participants in their teens and twenties were randomly placed into group. One group played nonviolent video games while the other plate a violent video game. After 25 minutes the researchers measured brain responses as participants we're engaging in a variety of tasks. In the end they found that participants who would play one of the violent video games like Call of Duty hit man or Grand Theft Auto showed more aggression while they engaged in the tasks. Bruce bar solo and associate professor of psychology at the University of Missouri. And my good friend has spoken about the fact that children who spend more time playing video games could become accustomed to
violent behavior. Whether young brains are still forming. He says that video games encourage active participation in violence. And although video games can be an excellent tool for teaching because they reward their players for succeeding and tasks. These tasks are often violent ones. So with all of these findings linking video games to aggressive behavior what should be done should policy makers blame violent video games for violence in society should parents restrict their children from violent video games should children be prohibited from buying these kinds of games well I can only speak for psychologists. The research must continue. Several studies are currently being conducted to get closer to the truth. There are still many questions that are unanswered and such as are the long-term effects that can stay with a person after leading video games in their childhood does all violent content have the same effects are people of any age affected by violent video games in the same way. As more and more of these questions are explored and answered people will have more information to make decisions and possibly legislation regarding video games
