Weekend Assignment for week 5
Computer games encourage aggressive behaviour. Argue for or against this statement.
Annotated Bibliography
Anderson, C. A., & Carnagey, N. L. (2009). Causal effects of violent sports video games on aggression: Is it competitiveness or violent content?. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), 731-739.
Anderson and Carnagey carried out three experiments to determine whether violent sports video game has an effect on the aggressive behaviour of the participants and whether the aggression behaviour was as a result of the competitiveness of the sport or the violent content of the game. The article reports that the experiments showed that violent video games increase players’ aggression. The article also reports that violent video games increased aggression behaviour not because of the competitive nature of the sport but because of the violent content of the sport. The article explains that the violent content increases aggressive behaviour because it increases the accessibility of knowledge related to aggression. This source is credible and supports the argument for the statement that computer games encourage aggressive behaviour.
Harris, J. (2001). The effects of computer games on young children: A review of the research (Vol. 72). Great Britain, Home Office, Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.
The book reviews several studies including studies that show computer games encourages children’s aggressive behaviours while others show that there is no evidence of computer game encouraging children’s’ aggressive behaviours. The book reports that more independent studies have shown the playing violent computer games is associated with aggressive behaviour, feeling, or attitudes.
For instance, children who played violent computer games were observed to be more violent after playing violent computer games compared to those who did not play or those who played non-violent computer games. The book claims that violence in computer games is beneficial to players and does not necessarily lead to violence. The book argues that violent or aggressive content in the video game allows players to release their aggression and stress in a non-destructive way thus enabling them to relax. This source is important as it provides information on the argument that computer game encourages aggressive behaviour and also provides a counter argument about the benefit of violence in computer games which should be responded to in making the argument for subject topic stronger.
Hasan, Y., Bègue, L., Scharkow, M., & Bushman, B. J. (2013). The more you play, the more aggressive you become: A long-term experimental study of cumulative violent video game effects on hostile expectations and aggressive behaviour. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(2), 224-227.
The article report on an experiment that was conducted to determine the cumulative effect of violent video games on aggressive behaviours and the hostile expectation three consecutive days. The article reports that violent media increases aggression. It claims that there is stronger evidence of violent computer game causing aggression in the short-term than in the long-term. The study also found out that the aggressive behaviour of those who played violent games increased over time but the aggressive behaviour for those who played non-violent computer games did not increase. Thus the article concludes that the more an individual plays violent games the more aggressive the individual becomes. This article is crucial as it supports the arguments for computer games encouraging aggressive behaviours.
Porter, G., & Starcevic, V. (2007). Are violent video games harmful?. Australasian Psychiatry, 15(5), 422-426. Retrieved from: http://doi.org/10.1080/10398560701463343
Porter and Starcevic used experimental, correlation and longitudinal study design to find out whether exposure to violent video games was related to violence or aggression. The study found out those adolescents who spent time playing violent video games showed hostility traits, high involvement in a physical fight, poor performance in school, and arguments with teachers. The authors also reported that in a laboratory environment, individuals showed a short-term increase in hostility attitude, physiological arousal, hostile feelings, and aggressive behaviour after play violent computer games compared to when they played non-violent video games. The article concludes that playing violent computer games is related to aggressive or/and anti-social behaviours. This research article is crucial in the argument for computer games encouraging aggressive behaviour because it presents reasonable and reliable reviews of experiments that prove that violent computer games are associated with aggressive behaviours.
Singer, D. G., & Singer, J. L. (2009). Imagination
and play in the electronic age.
Harvard University Press.
The book talks about electronic media for example television and computer games which are more accessible and widely used in the twenty-first-century. According to Dorothy and Singer, violent media are toxic because they stimulate destructive and aggressive behaviours. The author claims that television and computer games shape the real-life actions and imaginative worlds. The author argues that although television and computer games can be associated with some level of aggressive behaviors, they are not the main contributors to youth crimes because youth crime has been in existence before 90’s when computer games were not popular. Dorothy and Singe argue that with teachers’ and parents’ guidance empathy, creativity and imagination can be harnessed to enable children to reap the benefits of computer games. This source provides an argument against or a counter-argument that should be responded to while arguing for the statement that computer games encourage aggressive behaviours.
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