- What is your reaction to this article?
Aggressive behaviour in boys is directly related to actively playing a violent video game rather than just passively watching the game. On the other hand, girls are neither affected by actively playing a violent video games nor passively watching it. However, it is not possible to determine the actual extent of aggression that was reflected by the boys by either participating actively or passively in violent video games or in non-violent ones. Peers are nominated to determine the extent of aggression. Nevertheless, the research reflected gender parity in relating aggression to the nature of the game which could be attributed to the difference in everyday engagements of these children.
- What did you learn from this article?
The lesson learnt is that violent video games are detrimental to a child’s psychological development and therefore they should be regulated or supervised. The study is crucial in reinforcing the social debate on children’s active participation in violent video games at homes especially for boys whose effects are enormous.
- How does this article relate to children’s development in a general sense?
This article relate to children’s development because boys in the study were subjected to playing many violent video games in actual sense at homes and were used to emulating them and behaving violently as a result. In comparison, girls in actual life were not used to playing such games and therefore they could not subsequently reflect aggression. Therefore, boys could only be reflecting the already existing aggressive schemata previously attained through recurrent exposures. As a result, such aggression could be taken to playgrounds where they play violently. No schemata could be triggered in girls since they had no previous exposures to such games. The more the boys expose themselves to such games, the more they activate the aggressive schema on re-exposure. The effect of playing a simple violent video game is so enormous especially on boys.
- What were the authors’ hypotheses?
‘Playing violent video games will lead to higher levels of aggression than watching a non-violent game’.
- What are the findings of this research? Were there any limitations to this study’s findings? If so, what were they? (Remember to base your answer to this question on who the participants were, how the research was conducted, who conducted the research, where the research was conducted, etc.)
The study done by Hanneke Polman, Bram Orobio de Castro, and Marcel A.G. van Aken aimed at evaluating the “Differential effects of actively playing vs. passively watching the same violent game on subsequent aggressive behaviour’. It was conducted on 57 children, 10-13 years of age. It utilized peer nominations to determine children aggression in real life which is crucial in analyzing the actual effect of violent video games on children. The study involved establishing three games situations i.e. active, passive violent and non-violent games. After actively playing a violent video game, boys were more aggressive than when they passively watched the game. Girls showed no relationship between watching a violent video game and aggression.
The study’s limitations include generalizations for instance; television violence involved passively viewing on screen a violent video game. The children were conscious that they were not viewing a TV program but a video game since the graphics are different. Moreover, measuring aggression could not be accurate since some children would have been provoked by their peers while others were not, which was not considered in the study. It also was not clear on the differences among the small number of individual’s. Thus on girls, it is not precise that violent video games had absolutely no effect on them since the results could be negligible due to use of small samples. In addition, the boys reflected no differences for those actively involved in violent and non-violent video games since there lacked significant strength in the tests. To solve these issues, there is a need to have a large sample to detect small effects.
- Does what you read in the article relate to what you read in the text, what you learned in class, and what you believe to be true about violent video games and aggression in children?
Yes. The content of the article relates to class work and it is also true that violent video games cause aggressive behaviour on children.
- What consistencies did you find between the article’s findings and what you have learned from the book and lecture?
Aggressive behaviour in children is directly related to actively playing a violent video game rather than just passively watching the game. Moreover, it is not possible to determine the actual extent of aggression that was reflected by the boys by either participating actively or passively in violent video games or in non-violent ones
- What are some suggestions for future research on this topic?
A future study may entail relating aggression to peers who provoke or otherwise in determining the effect of violent video games on children’s aggression. The study could also involve a larger sample where a passive non-violent game situation is considered, which could help evaluate if aggression is dependent on child’ daily activity in actual life. Besides, a similar future study could evaluate the reason behind viewing violent video games and aggression e.g. theoretical mechanisms.
- What advice, if any, would you give to parents based on what you have read?
Special attention should be given to the participation of children especially boys in violent video games at home. Such games should be supervised and regulated since they result to aggressive behavior on children.
Works Cited:
Polman, Hanneke, Bram, de Castro and Marcel, van Aken. Experimental Study of the Differential Effects of Playing Versus Watching Violent Video Games on Children’s Aggressive Behavior. Aggressive Behavior, Volume 34, pages 256–264 (2008). The Netherlands: Wiley-Liss, Inc. 2007.
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