Author: Lawrence Kutner Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1416564691 Category : Family & Relationships Languages : en Pages : 275
Book Description
Listening to pundits and politicians, you'd think that the relationship between violent video games and aggressive behavior in children is clear. Children who play violent video games are more likely to be socially isolated and have poor interpersonal skills. Violent games can trigger real-world violence. The best way to protect our kids is to keep them away from games such as Grand Theft Auto that are rated M for Mature. Right? Wrong. In fact, many parents are worried about the wrong things! In 2004, Lawrence Kutner, PhD, and Cheryl K. Olson, ScD, cofounders and directors of the Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health and Media, began a $1.5 million federally funded study on the effects of video games. In contrast to previous research, their study focused on real children and families in real situations. What they found surprised, encouraged and sometimes disturbed them: their findings conform to the views of neither the alarmists nor the video game industry boosters. In Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do, Kutner and Olson untangle the web of politics, marketing, advocacy and flawed or misconstrued studies that until now have shaped parents' concerns. Instead of offering a one-size-fits-all prescription, Grand Theft Childhood gives the information you need to decide how you want to handle this sensitive issue in your own family. You'll learn when -- and what kinds of -- video games can be harmful, when they can serve as important social or learning tools and how to create and enforce game-playing rules in your household. You'll find out what's really in the games your children play and when to worry about your children playing with strangers on the Internet. You'll understand how games are rated, how to make best use of ratings and the potentially important information that ratings don't provide. Grand Theft Childhood takes video games out of the political and media arenas, and puts parents back in control. It should be required reading for all families who use game consoles or computers. Almost all children today play video or computer games. Half of twelve-year-olds regularly play violent, Mature-rated games. And parents are worried... "I don't know if it's an addiction, but my son is just glued to it. It's the same with my daughter with her computer...and I can't be watching both of them all the time, to see if they're talking to strangers or if someone is getting killed in the other room on the PlayStation. It's just nerve-racking!" "I'm concerned that this game playing is just the kid and the TV screen...how is this going to affect his social skills?" "I'm not concerned about the violence; I'm concerned about the way they portray the violence. It's not accidental; it's intentional. They're just out to kill people in some of these games." What should we as parents, teachers and public policy makers be concerned about? The real risks are subtle and aren't just about gore or sex. Video games don't affect all children in the same way; some children are at significantly greater risk. (You may be surprised to learn which ones!) Grand Theft Childhood gives parents practical, research-based advice on ways to limit many of those risks. It also shows how video games -- even violent games -- can benefit children and families in unexpected ways. In this groundbreaking and timely book, Drs. Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson cut through the myths and hysteria, and reveal the surprising truth about kids and violent games.
Author: Craig A. Anderson Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0195345568 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 200
Book Description
Violent video games are successfully marketed to and easily obtained by children and adolescents. Even the U.S. government distributes one such game, America's Army, through both the internet and its recruiting offices. Is there any scientific evidence to support the claims that violent games contribute to aggressive and violent behavior? As the first book to unite empirical research on and public policy options for violent video games, Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents will be an invaluable resource for student and professional researchers in social and developmental psychology and media studies.
Author: Patrick M. Markey Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc. ISBN: 1942952996 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
In family rooms across America, millions of children and teenagers are playing video games, such as Call of Duty, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto, roaming violent virtual worlds—with virtual guns in their hands. In what sometimes seems like an increasingly violent world, it's only natural to worry about the effects of all this pixelated gore. But is that concern misplaced? Authors and psychologists Patrick M. Markey and Christopher J. Ferguson say it is. The media and politicians have been sounding the alarm for years, and with every fresh tragedy involving a young perpetrator comes another flurry of articles about the dangers of violent media. The problem is this: Their fear isn't supported by the evidence. In fact, unlike the video game–trained murder machines depicted in the press, school shooters are actually less likely to be interested in violent games than their peers. In reality, most well-adjusted children and teenagers play violent video games, all without ever exhibiting violent behavior in real life. What's more, spikes in sales of violent games actually correspond to decreased rates of violent crime. If that surprises you, you're not alone—the national dialogue on games and violence has been hopelessly biased. But that's beginning to change. Scholars are finding that not only are violent games not one of society's great evils, they may even be a force for good. In Moral Combat, Markey and Ferguson explore how video games—even the bloodiest—can have a positive impact on everything from social skills to stress, and may even make us more morally sensitive. Tracing the rise of violent games from arcades to online deathmatches, they have spent years on the front lines of the video game debate and now offer a comprehensive overview of the scientific research on gaming. With humor, complete honesty, and extensive research, they separate the myth from the medium. Moral Combat is an irreverent and informative guide to the worries—and wonders—of our violent virtual world.
Author: Nick Christopher Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC ISBN: 1534524266 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 24
Book Description
Violence in the media is a major topic of debate, and video games are often at the center of these debates. Are they too violent? Does playing a violent video game have any impact on a young person becoming violent themselves? Readers are encouraged to form their own answers to these challenging questions and to back them up with facts from the enlightening text. A detailed graphic organizer, vivid photographs, and helpful fact boxes are also included to guide readers as they explore the many facets of this controversial issue.
Author: Celia Hodent Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1000194760 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 105
Book Description
What impact can video games have on us as players? How does psychology influence video game creation? Why do some games become cultural phenomena? The Psychology of Video Games introduces the curious reader to the relationship between psychology and video games from the perspective of both game makers and players. Assuming no specialist knowledge, this concise, approachable guide is a starter book for anyone intrigued by what makes video games engaging and what is their psychological impact on gamers. It digests the research exploring the benefits gaming can have on players in relation to education and healthcare, considers the concerns over potential negative impacts such as pathological gaming, and concludes with some ethics considerations. With gaming being one of the most popular forms of entertainment today, The Psychology of Video Games shows the importance of understanding the human brain and its mental processes to foster ethical and inclusive video games.
Author: Barrie Gunter Publisher: Springer ISBN: 1137579854 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
This book is an academic work which reviews and critiques the research literature concerning violent games and their alleged effects on players. It examines the debates about the potential effects of these games and the divisions between scholars working in the field. It places the research on violent video games in the longer historical context of scholarly work on media violence. It examines research from around the world on the nature of video games and their effects. It provides a critique of relevant theories of media violence effects and in particular theories developed within the older media violence literature and then considers how useful this and newer scholarly work might be for policy-makers and regulators. The book identifies where gaps exist in the extent literature and where future research attention might be directed.
Author: Jeffrey Graham Publisher: Nova Science Publishers ISBN: 9781633210158 Category : Learning, Psychology of Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Video games are not necessarily uniform in the "lessons" they teach players. Indeed, even violent video games are not simply hotbeds of violent content. For example, the popular Call of Duty and Resident Evil series require players to behave violently in order to protect other people or computer characters. Thus, in these games, aggression is taught in simultaneity with altruism. The questions, then, arise 1) whether social learning is an appropriate explanation for long-term effects of games, and 2) whether games can only teach antisocial lessons. The first chapter of this book addresses video game effects from a long-term, holistic perspective, focusing on antisocial and prosocial outcomes, using a conveniently collected survey dataset. Moreover, this book also analyses video games by different genres. Furthermore, this book provides information on associations and gender differences in children's situational motivation, rate of perceived exertion and physical activity levels in exergaming; the efficiency of brain training versus recreational video games; the effect of social media in the video game industry; video games and their correlation with school and cognitive performance; video games and the effect they may have on seizures; and video gaming and the enhancement of prosocial behaviours.
Author: Asi Burak Publisher: Macmillan + ORM ISBN: 1250089344 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 237
Book Description
The phenomenal growth of gaming has inspired plenty of hand-wringing since its inception--from the press, politicians, parents, and everyone else concerned with its effect on our brains, bodies, and hearts. But what if games could be good, not only for individuals but for the world? In Power Play, Asi Burak and Laura Parker explore how video games are now pioneering innovative social change around the world. As the former executive director and now chairman of Games for Change, Asi Burak has spent the last ten years supporting and promoting the use of video games for social good, in collaboration with leading organizations like the White House, NASA, World Bank, and The United Nations. The games for change movement has introduced millions of players to meaningful experiences around everything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the US Constitution. Power Play looks to the future of games as a global movement. Asi Burak and Laura Parker profile the luminaries behind some of the movement's most iconic games, including former Supreme Court judge Sandra Day O’Connor and Pulitzer-Prize winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. They also explore the promise of virtual reality to address social and political issues with unprecedented immersion, and see what the next generation of game makers have in store for the future.
Author: Gareth Schott Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA ISBN: 1628925604 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 288
Book Description
It was over a decade ago that experimental psychologists and media-effects researchers declared the debate on the effects of violent video gaming as “essentially over,” referring to the way violence in videogames increases aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviors in players. Despite the decisive tone of this statement, neither the presence nor popularity of digital games has since diminished, with games continuing to attract new generations of players to experience its technological advancements in the narration of violence and its techniques of depiction. Drawing on new insights achieved from research located at an intersection between humanities, social and computer sciences, Gareth Schott's addition to the Approaches in Digital Game Studies series interrogates the nature and meaning of the “violence” encountered and experienced by game players. In focusing on the various ways "violence" is mediated by both the rule system and the semiotic layer of games, the aim is to draw out the distinctiveness of games' exploitation of violence or violent themes. An important if not canonical text in the debates about video games and violence, Violent Games constitutes an essential book for those wishing to make sense of the experience offered by games as technological, aesthetic, and communicational phenomena in the context of issues of media regulation and the classification of game content “as” violence.
Author: Gloria Adams Publisher: ISBN: 9781534500723 Category : Video games Languages : en Pages : 224
Book Description
The video game industry is big business, and with the improvement of Virtual Reality technology, video games will only become more realistic and immersive. Fears abound that they drive their players to commit violent acts. While many people believe the games desensitize kids to violence, others argue that there has been no scientific connection between aggressive behavior and video games. Is immersion in violent video games a bridge to committing real-life acts of violence, demeaning women, and bullying? Or can video games actually help troubled kids, by providing them with a safe outlet for their aggression and a way to work out their frustrations?
Author: Lawrence Kutner
Author: Craig A. Anderson
Author: Patrick M. Markey
Author: Nick Christopher
Author: Celia Hodent
Author: Barrie Gunter
Author: Jeffrey Graham
Author: Asi Burak
Author: Gareth Schott
Author: Gloria Adams