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Above are samples of violent video games that can be found
in many homes. Jennifer Faddis photo
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Violent
Video Games Have
Lasting Negative Impact
By Shannon Burke
Video games such as Gun and Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas might have been at the top of many
Christmas lists this year, despite their graphic violent content
and mature ratings. These games might be mere entertainment to
some, but a researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia
found that playing these violent games changes a person's brain
function and desensitizes chronic players to real world violence.
“Most of us naturally have a strong aversion to the sight of blood
and gore,” said Bruce Bartholow, assistant professor of psychological
sciences at MU. “Surgeons and soldiers may need to overcome
these reactions in order to perform their duties. But, for most
people, a diminished reaction to the effects of violence is not
adaptive. It can reduce inhibitions against aggressive behavior
and increase the possibility of inflicting violence on others.”
Bartholow, along with Brad Bushman from the University of Michigan
and Marc Sestir at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, asked 39 male undergraduate students how often they played
their five favorite video games and how violent the games were.
Next, the researchers showed participants a series of images on
a computer screen, including emotionally neutral images, such
as a man riding a bicycle; violent images, such as a man holding
a gun to another man's head; and negative, but nonviolent images,
such as a dead dog. As participants viewed these images, the researchers
measured a type of brainwave, known as P300, which is believed
to reflect how people evaluate images like these.
An MU researcher has
found that playing violent video games changes a person's
brain function and desensitizes chronic players to real
world violence. Jennifer Faddis photo
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After viewing the pictures, participants were told that the last
part of the experiment involved a competition with another participant
to see who could press a button faster following a series of tones.
Before each tone, participants set the level of a noise blast
that their opponent would receive if the opponent lost. There
actually was no opponent.
The researchers found that the participants who routinely played
violent video games showed less brain reactivity, measured by
diminished amplitude of the P300 brainwaves, when they viewed
the violent images compared to the equally negative, nonviolent
image. They also found that the smaller a participant's brain
response to violent images, the more aggressively he behaved during
the final part of the experiment.
“These findings are among the first to link chronic violent video
game play, diminished brain responses and aggressive behavior,” Bartholow said. “People often assume that any negative effects
of playing violent games are short-lived, but these results suggest
that repeated exposure to violent video games has lasting negative
consequences for both brain function and behavior.”
This study will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal
of Experimental Social Psychology. The study was featured
in several media outlets, including New Scientist Magazine,
WebMD and The Seattle Times.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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