Yet another study tried to prove that video games cause aggression, a few days ago. But it failed before it even concluded.
Many gaming websites wonder whether the researchers from the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Violent Media took the study seriously or not as their statement said that “Violent video game play is linked to increased aggression in players but insufficient evidence exists about whether the link extends to criminal violence or delinquency”.
Yes, anyone who’s ever played a game can attest that dying stupidly will make your blood pressure rise, but no one who’s had that experience turned off the game, left the house and went on to commit acts of “criminal violence or delinquency”.
Over 200 psychologist, scholars and other field experts from across the country have spoken out since from the American Psychological Association published the report and made it clear that there is no proof which supports the theory that video games make people commit violent acts out in the real world.
One of the loudest voices in the debate belonged to Chris Ferguson, a psychology professor from Stetson University, who published a written statement explaining exactly why the report is wrong to link behavioral aggression to video games.
He informed that there are many problems with the American Psychological Association’s statement, but one of his biggest arguments was that the task force was poorly comprised and that it had a poor “basis for its conclusions on research”.
He went on to explain that said task force seemed to have been compiled of scholars with obvious anti-media views, whose previous attempts at blaming video games for acts of violence had failed. In fact, two (2) of the researchers on the task force had previously supported an amicus brief which had the goal of regulating violent video games back in 2011.
He also pointed out that several other studies have definitely proven that there is no link between behavioral aggression and video games.
Another problem with the task forced seemed to be that is was compiled of similar types with similar interest and similar believes – older adults (age 50 or older), the close-minded kind. On top of this, professor Ferguson reminded everyone that “age and negative attitudes toward youth predict anti-game attitudes”.
It’s also worth mentioning that the new report did not consider short-term effects vs long-term effects. As mentioned above, many people get angry and frustrated when playing a game and dieing stupidly or running out of time just before completing a task.
But what do people do with that anger and frustration? Do they store it somewhere and let it out into the real world once they’ve finally had enough? Do they forget about it the moment they step away from the game? Does it motivate them to restart the game and pay more attention the second time around?
There are virtually no studies that have given the investigation the time and respect it deserves.
Image Source: telegraph.co.uk
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