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“Boom, Headshot!”
Abstract
The editors of Communication Research, Drs. Gibbs and Knobloch-Westerwick, wish to issue a retraction of the article entitled ““Boom, Headshot!?”: Effect of Video Game Play and Controller Type on Firing Aim and Accuracy” by Jodi L. Whitaker and Brad J. Bushman.
This article was first published online on April 30, 2012 and in print in the October 2014 issue of Communication Research (issue 41, pp. 879-891) as doi:10.1177/0093650212446622. It should be noted that, to ensure impartiality, Dr. Knobloch-Westerwick was not involved in the preparation of this decision, because she is on the faculty at the same institution as the corresponding author. This retraction is in response to inquiries from Drs. Markey (Villanova U) and Elson (Ruhr U Bochum), in agreement with the corresponding author Dr. Bushman.
A Committee of Initial Inquiry at Ohio State University recommended retracting this article after being alerted to irregularities in some variables of the data set by Drs. Markey and Elson in January 2015. Unfortunately, the values of the questioned variables could not be confirmed because the original research records were unavailable. In 2016, Drs. Markey and Elson sent their report to Dr. Gibbs, one of the editors of Communication Research, who decided that a retraction was warranted. A replication of the study by Dr. Bushman is in review.
... Página 3 de 18 war games oriented to promote fighting and shooting strategies, which can unconsciously result in undesirable conduct patterns (Whitaker & Bushman, 2012). Based on our conviction that collaborative play provides chances for highly advantageous socio-cognitive learning, the game CityVille was selected with the aim of verifying whether or not it facilitates collaboration and strategy exchange between players for the construction of virtual cities. ...
... Today's motion capturing controllers are vastly different than traditional controllers and the research surrounding the impact of game controllers demonstrates that Journal of Communication (2015) © 2015 International Communication Association different controllers have a significant influence on the gaming experience (Gerling, Klauser, & Niesenhaus, 2011;Kim, 2009;Markey & Scherer, 2009;McEwan, Johnson, Wyeth, & Blackler, 2012;McGloin et al., 2011;Whitaker & Bushman, 2012). ...
Previous research links violent video game play and aggression, and shows that playing games using natural mapping motion capturing controllers increases immersion and perceptions of realism. We extend current research by experimentally testing whether the “weapons effect” emerges when using a realistic gun controller to play a violent first-person shooter video game. The results provide compelling evidence that using a realistic firearm controller positively impacts cognitive aggression. Participants playing with the gun controller also experienced increased perceptions of game realism and feelings of immersion. The findings raise concerns about the harmful effects of popular realistic firearm controllers and are discussed in terms of the model matching hypothesis and the weapons effect.
Evidence of low replicability, poor reproducibility, and questionable research practices has prompted a broad effort toward transparency and openness in science, termed the open science movement. We examined articles published in HFES’s flagship journal, Human Factors, to gauge the prevalence of open science practices. Empirical articles published in the journal between the years 2017 and 2022 were assessed for evidence of study preregistration, materials sharing, data sharing, and analytic code sharing. The majority of articles made no mention of any open science practices. The most common practices adopted were data and code sharing, though these were reported in no more than 17% of the articles in any year. Journal policies may be worthwhile to better incentivize openness and transparency.
A concerning amount of biomedical research is not reproducible. Unreliable results impede empirical progress in medical science, ultimately putting patients at risk. Many proximal causes of this irreproducibility have been identified, a major one being inappropriate statistical methods and analytical choices by investigators. Within this, we formally quantify the impact of inappropriate redaction beyond a threshold value in biomedical science. This is effectively truncation of a dataset by removing extreme data points, and we elucidate its potential to accidentally or deliberately engineer a spurious result in significance testing. We demonstrate that the removal of a surprisingly small number of data points can be used to dramatically alter a result. It is unknown how often redaction bias occurs in the broader literature, but given the risk of distortion to the literature involved, we suggest that it must be studiously avoided, and mitigated with approaches to counteract any potential malign effects to the research quality of medical science.
The degree to which the content of video games influences aggression continues to be debated in the scholarly literature. The current article includes two studies, one of which replicates one study from Przybylski et al. (2014, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., 106, 441) and the other which extends related concepts into virtual reality. In the first study, two versions of Tetris were examined, differing in levels of difficulty. In the second study, participants played virtual reality games which differed in regard to difficulty and violent content. Difficulty increased hostility in the second study but not the first. Violent content influenced neither hostility nor aggressive behaviour. Results partially supported the frustration theory of aggression, but not theories of violent content effects. Implications for the field are discussed.
This paper will focus on the pleasure-seeking use of VR technologies and will examine pleasure as a driving force to dwell into other realities. Pleasure has a very important role in the choices humans make and the way they live so the emphasis will be on how hedonic consumption is not bad but is something that should be understood. It is among the human rights to seek worldly or cognitive pleasure, just like the use of psychoactive drugs. When moderately used, and understood, VR games and productions can have consciousness expanding experiences, but when overdone, it can cause more problems than the problems associated with over- exposure to video-games and pornography online.
When shooting a gun at a human target, firearms training instructors teach individuals to shoot for the upper torso because it is the largest lethal target on the human body. In contrast, violent first‐person shooter (FPS) video games reward players for headshots. The head is the smallest lethal target, and requires careful aim to hit. In this experiment, participants were randomly assigned to play a violent FPS game with humanoid targets that rewarded headshots, a nonviolent shooting game that punished hits to bull's‐eye targets with faces, or a nonviolent non‐shooting game. After gameplay, participants shot 16 “bullets” from a realistic gun at a life‐sized human‐shaped mannequin. Participants were told to hit the mannequin with as many bullets as possible, but they were not told where to aim. Consistent with operant conditioning theory, participants who played a violent FPS game that rewarded headshots had the most hits to the mannequin's head. Participants whose favorite video games were violent shooting games also had the most hits to the mannequin's head. These findings suggest that FPS games that reward headshots can influence people to aim for the head with a realistic gun after the game is turned off, even though the head is a much smaller target to hit and they are much less likely to hit another body part if they miss. FPS games are often used to train soldiers and police officers, but these findings suggest that such games might train individuals to hit the wrong part of the body.
The game CityVille, developed on social networks and focused on virtual city construction, allows players to have fun interacting online and collaborating with others in order to make their cities grow. The survey performed among members of the Fans-Cityville multinational community on Facebook (N=105) -63.0% men and 37.0% women- clearly shows that playing and sharing their hobby makes these individuals happy. 47.0% of them play between 3 and 6 hours every day and, although one can play for free, almost half of the players spend 8 USD per month on average to progress faster. Unlike men, whose outstanding competitive profile explains their exclusive goal of reaching the highest level-communicating with others only as a way to obtain new resources and win- women prioritize collaborative entertainment and thus assign more value to strategy exchange, mutual collaboration, and the opportunity to broaden their network of contacts and friends.
There is ongoing scientific and public interest in whether playing violent video games (VVGs) increases aggression. Here, we review the extant evidence for the effects of VVGs on aggression across three different types of research – (1) experimental, lab-based studies, (2) cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, and (3) epidemiological studies of societal violence (e.g. violent crime rates). Although the idea that playing VVGs causes aggression is intuitively appealing, empirical evidence suggests that strong claims about a positive relationship are unjustified. In the laboratory, playing VVGs leads to only small increases in aggression, and, when issues such as publication bias are accounted for, these estimates decline further in size (Hilgard et al. Psychological Bulletin 143:757, 2017). In terms of societal violence, the evidence consistently shows no relationship between VVG use and violence, sometimes even showing decreases in violence associated with increased VVG use (e.g. Markey, Markey & French, 2015). Evidence further suggests that the relationship between VVGs and aggression is not well understood, with factors such as narrative context, game difficulty, and competitiveness potentially influencing or accounting for any relationship between gameplay and aggression. Some studies suggest that, under some circumstances, VVGs may even reduce hostility (e.g. when used for mood management; Ferguson & Rueda (European Psychologist 15:99, 2010). At present, we feel the evidence weighs against the notion that VVGs cause aggression, though more sophisticated theoretical and methodological approaches are necessary to more fully understand the boundary conditions of the relationship.
This article examines the significance of the digital aesthetic of violence in the uniquely contemporary action-film “hero run” shoot-out sequences. By using the case studies of Kick-Ass (2010) and Wanted (2008), the article focuses on how the particular stylistic tendencies of these sequences display a link between the onscreen, digital-enabled mastery of the shooter with the offscreen digital mastery of the visual-effects artist.
The conflicting reports and diagnoses presented by forensic psychiatrists at the trial of Anders Breivik did not address the threat posed by him prior to his crimes, that is, the warning behaviors that were evident that may have indicated accelerating patterns of risk during the period prior to his attacks on July 22, 2011. In this case study, the authors analyze his activities and mental state through the lens of 8 warning behaviors that may indicate proximal and dynamic patterns of risk for targeted violence: pathway, fixation, identification, novel aggression, energy burst, leakage, last resort, and directly communicated threats. Breivik was positive for 6 of these warning behaviors. Although such superordinate patterns have yet to be shown to predict targeted violence, and may be very difficult “signals” to detect amid the “noise” of other cases, they may prove more useful in the threat assessment of such targeted or intended violence toward others than the accuracy of psychiatric diagnosis, whether a personality disorder or a mental illness; the latter is most germane to the threat management of the case. Such warning behaviors, although etiologically nonspecific, are discussed in the context of current attempts to validate these dynamic patterns of concern to threat assessors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
The war video games had been criticized, but CityVille -hosted social networks- promotes a constructive entertainment between players online, it fostering dynamics of social interaction and active participation. The survey carried out to gamers (N=105) reflects that you move them your desire to have fun building their own virtual cities. Men prevail its expansion to reach the maximum level, communicating with others to profit and gain, while women value more the exchange of strategies and mutual collaboration. Undoubtedly this game promotes problem solving from an optical Dialogic away from wars and confrontations.
Recibido: 1 de julio de 2015 Aceptado: 14 de noviembre de 2015 Resumen Frente a los criticados videojuegos bélicos, CityVille-alojado en redes sociales-promueve un entrete-nimiento de carácter constructivo entre jugadores online, propiciando dinámicas de interacción social y participación activa. La encuesta realizada a videojugadores (N=105) refleja que les mueve su afán de divertirse construyendo sus propias ciudades virtuales. Los hombres priman su expansión para alcanzar el máximo nivel, comunicándose con otros para obtener beneficios y ganar, mientras las mujeres valoran más el intercambio de estrategias y la colaboración mutua. Sin duda, este videojuego fomenta la resolu-ción de problemas desde una óptica dialógica alejada de guerras y confrontaciones. Abstract The war video games had been criticized, but CityVille-hosted social networks-promotes a constructive entertainment between players online, it fostering dynamics of social interaction and active participation. The survey carried out to gamers (N=105) reflects that you move them your desire to have fun building their own virtual cities. Men prevail its expansion to reach the maximum level, communicating with others to profit and gain, while women value more the exchange of strategies and mutual collaboration. Undoubtedly this game promotes problem solving from an optical Dialogic away from wars and confrontations.
The headshot burst into the cultural imaginary with the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and it has been remediated from historical anxieties about execution and brain death to the eye-popping spectacle of the exploding head to video games, where it has entered a regime that holds virtuosic reflexes as the highest form of capital. By examining the textual and technological history of the headshot, this article develops a theory of mechropolitics: a way of thinking about political death worlds as they operate in the mechanics of video games and digital simulations. Moving beyond questions of whether violence in video games has a direct effect on aggression, mechropolitics mobilizes aesthetic and social justice critique to unmask the affective structures operating within digital death worlds. These prioritize twitch reflexes and offer few consequences—precisely the scenarios that render events like police shootings both legible and likely.
This article reviews the recent literature on uses, effects, and gratifications of media during emerging adulthood. We examine traditional media forms, including television, films, video games, music, and books, and also newer media, such as cell phones, social networking sites, and other Internet use. We find that emerging adults spend more time using the media than they spend doing any other activity, with the most time being spent on the Internet and listening to music. We also find that exposure to certain types of media content can influence both positive and negative outcomes in emerging adulthood, including, aggressive and prosocial behavior, body image, sexual behavior, friendship quality, and academic achievement. We also show that emerging adults use the media to gratify certain needs; key among these are for autonomy, identity, and intimacy needs. Finally, we discuss areas for future research involving media and emerging adulthood. © 2013 Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood and SAGE Publications.
Trends in quantitative communication research are reviewed. A content analysis of 48 articles reporting original communication research published in 1988-1991 and 2008-2011 is reported. Survey research and self-report measurement remain common approaches to research. Null hypothesis significance testing remains the dominant approach to statistical analysis. Reporting the shapes of distributions, estimates of statistical power, and confidence intervals remain uncommon. Trends over time include the increased popularity of health communication and computer mediated communication as topics of research, and increased attention to mediator and moderator variables. The implications of these practices for scientific progress are critically discussed, and suggestions for the future are provided.
Does media endorsement for catharsis produce a self-fulfilling or a self-defeating prophecy? In Study 1, participants who read a procatharsis message (claiming that aggressive action is a good way to relax and reduce anger) subsequently expressed a greater desire to hit a punching bag than did participants who read an anticatharsis message. In Study 2, participants read the same messages and then actually did hit a punching bag. This exercise was followed by an opportunity to engage in laboratory aggression. Contrary to the catharsis hypothesis and to the self-fulfilling prophecy prediction, people who read the procatharsis message and then hit the punching bag were subsequently more aggressive than were people who read the anticatharsis message.
Does distraction or rumination work better to diffuse anger? Catharsis theory predicts that rumination works best, but empir- ical evidence is lacking. In this study, angered participants hit a punching bag and thought about the person who had angered them (rumination group) or thought about becoming physically fit (distraction group). After hitting the punching bag, they reported how angry they felt. Next, they were given the chance to administer loud blasts of noise to the person who had angered them. There also was a no punching bag control group. People in the rumination group felt angrier than did people in the distrac- tion or control groups. People in the rumination group were also most aggressive, followed respectively by people in the distraction and control groups. Rumination increased rather than decreased anger and aggression. Doing nothing at all was more effective than venting anger. These results directly contradict catharsis theory.
Experimental studies show that violent video games cause people to behave more aggressively, but how long does the effect last? In most experiments, aggression is measured immediately after gameplay. The present experiment is the first to test the long-term causal effects of violent video games on aggression. By the flip of a coin, participants played a violent or nonviolent game for 20 min. Within each group, half ruminated about the game. The next day, participants competed with an ostensible opponent on a competitive task in which the winner could punish the loser with painful noise blasts through headphones. Results showed that violent video games increased aggression 24 hr later, but only among men who ruminated about the game. Rumination keeps aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavioral tendencies active. If players ruminate about the violence in a game, the aggression-stimulating effects of the game persist long after it has been turned off.
The present experiment was designed to study the influence of response-consequences to the model on the imitative learning of aggression. Nursery school children were assigned randomly to 1 of the following groups: aggressive model-rewarded; aggressive model-punished; a control group shown highly expressive but nonaggressive models; and a 2nd control group which had no exposure to models. The children were then tested for the incidence of postexposure imitative and nonimitative aggressive responses. Children who witnessed the aggressive model rewarded showed more imitative aggression and preferred to emulate the successful aggressor than children in the aggressive model-punished group who both failed to reproduce his behavior and rejected him as a model for emulation. Control over aggression was vicariously transmitted to boys by the administration of aversive stimuli to the model, and to girls by the presentation of incompatible prosocial examples of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In order to test the hypothesis that reinforcements administered to a model influence the performance but not the acquisition of matching responses, groups of children observed an aggressive film-mediated model either rewarded, punished, or left without consequences. A postexposure test revealed that response consequences to the model had produced differential amounts of imitative behavior. Children in the model-punished condition performed signifcantly fewer matching responses than children in both the model-rewarded and the no-consequences groups. Children in all 3 treatment conditions were then offered attractive reinforcers contingent on their reproducing the model's aggressive responses. The introduction of positive incentives completely wiped out the previously observed performance differences, revealing an equivalent amount of learning among children in the model-rewarded, model-punished, and the no-consequences conditions. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article presents conceptual and empirical analyses of several of the ‘‘best practices’’ of learning and instruction, and demonstrates how violent video games use them effectively to motivate learners to persevere in acquiring and mastering a number of skills, to navigate through complex problems and changing environments, and to experiment with different identities until success is achieved. These educational principles allow for the gen-eration of several testable hypotheses, two of which are tested with samples of 430 elementary school children (mean age 10 years), 607 young adolescents (mean age 14 years), and 1,441 older adolescents (mean age 19 years). Participants were surveyed about their video game habits and their aggressive cognitions and behaviors. The first hypothesis is based on the principle that curricula that teach the same underlying concepts across contexts should have the highest transfer. Therefore, students who play multiple violent video games should be more likely to learn aggressive cognitions and behaviors than those who play fewer. The second hypothesis is based on the principle that long-term learning is improved the more practice is distributed across time. Therefore, students who play violent video games more frequently across time should be more likely to learn aggressive cognitions and behaviors than those who play the same types of games for equivalent amounts of time but less frequently. Both hypotheses were supported. We conclude by describing what educators can learn from the successful instructional and curriculum design features of video games.
A new questionnaire on aggression was constructed. Replicated factor analyses yielded 4 scales: Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility. Correlational analysis revealed that anger is the bridge between both physical and verbal aggression and hostility. The scales showed internal consistency and stability over time. Men scored slightly higher on Verbal Aggression and Hostility and much higher on Physical Aggression. There was no sex difference for Anger. The various scales correlated differently with various personality traits. Scale scores correlated with peer nominations of the various kinds of aggression. These findings suggest the need to assess not only overall aggression but also its individual components.
Examines some of the stimulus characteristics that enable external events or objects to elicit impulsive aggressive responses. It is proposed that stimuli connected with reinforcements can elicit components of the behavior that led to these reinforcements. To the extent that the individual has been rewarded for aggression, stimuli that are associated (either directly or through verbal mediation) with these rewards become capable of evoking impulsive aggressive reactions which can intensify his attacks upon some target. As a special case, since the angry person is reinforced when his frustrater is hurt, stimuli that have been paired with the pain he has inflicted on those who provoked him are also capable of eliciting impulsive aggressive reactions. (42 ref)
Does media endorsement for catharsis produce a self-fulfilling or a self-defeating prophecy? In Study 1, participants who read a procatharsis message (claiming that aggressive action is a good way to relax and reduce anger) subsequently expressed a greater desire to hit a punching bag than did participants who read an anticatharsis message. In Study 2, participants read the same messages and then actually did hit a punching bag. This exercise was followed by an opportunity to engage in laboratory aggression. Contrary to the catharsis hypothesis and to the self-fulfilling prophecy prediction, people who read the procatharsis message and then hit the punching bag were subsequently more aggressive than were people who read the anticatharsis message.
In a previous study (see ^W37^n: 856) children imitated the behavior of a model in the presence of the model. The present study investigated the degree of imitation when the model was not present. Degree to which like-sexed model behavior would be followed was also studied. Nursery school children exposed to aggressively behaving models tended to imitate not only their aggressiveness but other behavior as well. There was some confirmation of like-sex imitation. The results were related to the psychoanalytic theory of identification.
Video games have become extensively integrated into popular culture. Anecdotal observations of young surgeons suggest that video game play contributes to performance excellence in laparoscopic surgery. Training benefits for surgeons who play video games should be quantifiable.
There is a potential link between video game play and laparoscopic surgical skill and suturing.
Cross-sectional analysis of the performance of surgical residents and attending physicians participating in the Rosser Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills and Suturing Program (Top Gun). Three different video game exercises were performed, and surveys were completed to assess past experience with video games and current level of play, and each subject's level of surgical training, number of laparoscopic cases performed, and number of years in medical practice.
Academic medical center and surgical training program.
Thirty-three residents and attending physicians participating in Top Gun from May 10 to August 24, 2002.
The primary outcome measures were compared between participants' laparoscopic skills and suturing capability, video game scores, and video game experience.
Past video game play in excess of 3 h/wk correlated with 37% fewer errors (P<.02) and 27% faster completion (P<.03). Overall Top Gun score (time and errors) was 33% better (P<.005) for video game players and 42% better (P<.01) if they played more than 3 h/wk. Current video game players made 32% fewer errors (P=.04), performed 24% faster (P<.04), and scored 26% better overall (time and errors) (P<.005) than their nonplaying colleagues. When comparing demonstrated video gaming skills, those in the top tertile made 47% fewer errors, performed 39% faster, and scored 41% better (P<.001 for all) on the overall Top Gun score. Regression analysis also indicated that video game skill and past video game experience are significant predictors of demonstrated laparoscopic skills.
Video game skill correlates with laparoscopic surgical skills. Training curricula that include video games may help thin the technical interface between surgeons and screen-mediated applications, such as laparoscopic surgery. Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons.
This study tested the hypothesis that violent video games are especially likely to increase aggression when players identify with violent game characters. Dutch adolescent boys with low education ability (N=112) were randomly assigned to play a realistic or fantasy violent or nonviolent video game. Next, they competed with an ostensible partner on a reaction time task in which the winner could blast the loser with loud noise through headphones (the aggression measure). Participants were told that high noise levels could cause permanent hearing damage. Habitual video game exposure, trait aggressiveness, and sensation seeking were controlled for. As expected, the most aggressive participants were those who played a violent game and wished they were like a violent character in the game. These participants used noise levels loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage to their partners, even though their partners had not provoked them. These results show that identifying with violent video game characters makes players more aggressive. Players were especially likely to identify with violent characters in realistic games and with games they felt immersed in.
Goal-oriented, task-specific training has been shown to improve function; however, it can be difficult to maintain patient interest. This report describes a rehabilitation protocol for the maintenance of balance in a short-sitting position following spinal cord and head injuries by use of a center-of-pressure-controlled video game-based tool. The scientific justification for the selected treatment is discussed.
Three adults were treated: 1 young adult with spina bifida (T10 and L1-L2), 1 middle-aged adult with complete paraplegia (complete lesion at T11-L1), and 1 middle-aged adult with traumatic brain injury. All patients used wheelchairs full-time.
The patients showed increased motivation to perform the game-based exercises and increased dynamic short-sitting balance.
The patients exhibited increases in practice volume and attention span during training with the game-based tool. In addition, they demonstrated substantial improvements in dynamic balance control. These observations indicate that a video game-based exercise approach can have a substantial positive effect by improving dynamic short-sitting balance.
This revised text provides updates that reflect new findings in the field of media violence research during childhood and adolescence. Throughout the book, special attention is paid to evaluating the role of developmental processes and to stressing the importance of methodology in understanding media violence research. Findings have been divided into two main areas: aggressive behavior and aggression-related constructs (e.g., emotions, cognitions, arousal) to help clarify media violence-related effects on youth.
A new questionnaire on aggression was constructed. Replicated factor analyses yielded 4 scales: Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility. Correlational analysis revealed that anger is the bridge between both physical and verbal aggression and hostility. The scales showed internal consistency and stability over time. Men scored slightly higher on Verbal Aggression and Hostility and much higher on Physical Aggression. There was no sex difference for Anger. The various scales correlated differently with various personality traits. Scale scores correlated with peer nominations of the various kinds of aggression. These findings suggest the need to assess not only overall aggression but also its individual components.
Theorizing on aggression catharsis that follows psychoanalytic or ethological reasoning formulated in the frustration–aggression hypothesis assumes a basic linear cause–effect model. According to this model, provocation to aggression creates a state of arousal that motivates aggression, which in turn lowers arousal and diminishes the probability of further violence. Evidence from psychophysiological research indicates that under some conditions, aggression does produce decreased arousal when the latter is quantified in terms of cardiovascular activity. Data regarding the effects of aggression on the other indices of autonomic recovery are ambiguous. Aggression does not promote cardiovascular recovery in the following conditions: when the target possesses a higher social status than the attacker, when aggression is a manifestly inappropriate response in a given situation, and when the individual is predisposed to react to aggression with the feelings of guilt. The notion of catharsis has not been confirmed, that reductions in aggression following aggression, insofar as they have been demonstrated, might be more parsimoniously explained in terms of active inhibition, and that in the absence of such inhibitions the expression of aggression increases the likelihood of further such behavior.
The vast majority of soldiers are loathe to kill in battle. Unfortunately, modern armies, using Pavlovian and operant conditioning, have developed sophisticated ways of overcoming this intinctive aversion. The psychological cost for soldiers, as witnessed by the increase in post-traumatic stress, is devastating. The psychological cost for the rest of us is even more so: contemporary civilian society, particularly the media, replicates the army's conditioning techniques and, according to Grossman's controversial thesis, is responsible for our rising rate of murder, especially among the young. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Presents a unified conceptual system for understanding both individual and collective violence. The learning of aggression, the processes which trigger violence, and the rewards and punishments of aggression are discussed. Guidelines for reducing societal levels of aggression are presented. (42 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
[suggest that] presenting training information visually seems more appropriate for teaching the use of these systems / users can see how to perform procedures and can immediately observe the results / the present concern is with the use of animated demonstrations—on-screen playback of correct interface procedures—as training tools for software
motivational aspects of animation training / efficacy of animation-based instruction / active vs passive learning / designing for enjoyment and retention (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We assessed a notetaking intervention targeting the passive learning style and disruptive behaviors exhibited by adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in school. Teens with ADHD were able to learn the notetaking strategies through the use of a modification of the Directed Notetaking Activity (Spires & Stone, 1989). Furthermore, measures of comprehension and disruptive behavior improved as a function of both the product and process of the notetaking procedures. We discuss individual differences as well as implications for integrating psychoeducational, behavioral, and pharmacological interventions for adolescents with ADHD. The problems facing adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have recently been well documented (cf. Barkley, Anastopoulos, Guevremont, & Fletcher, 1991; Evans, Vallano, & Pelham, in press; Hinshaw, 1992; Klein & Mannuzza, 1991; Weiss & Hechtman, 1986). Problems with academic achievement and behavior at school are consistently reported. Among a variety of school-related problems, investigators have identified the following areas as particularly difficult for ADHD teens: sustained attention, aggression, poor academic performance, fidgeting, off-task behavior, and out-of-seat be-havior (Barkley et al., 1991; Fischer, Barkley, Edelbrock, & Smallish, 1990). In addition, academic difficulties in reading, writing, and mathematics have also been documented (Barkley et al., 1991; Frick et al., 1991). These difficulties are Requests for reprints should be sent to Steven W. Evans, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic,
Guns figure prominently in American culture. There is, however, considerable variability in attitudes toward guns. The beliefs and feelings that comprise attitudes toward guns may well be important moderators of numerous social behaviors. For this reason, a three-dimensional attitudes scale was constructed. The first factor consists of an abstract set of beliefs concerning the right of the American public to own or not own guns. The second and third factors tap more concrete beliefs about the consequences of gun ownership. Specifically, the second factor assesses the degree to which people believe gun ownership affords protection against crime. The third factor measures the degree to which people believe guns stimulate crime. Discriminant validity of the subscales is shown by the pattern of correlations obtained with the three dimensions and various other social and personality measures. Regression analyses indicate that the subscales are uniquely predicted by different social variables. Discussion centers on the usefulness of such a measure for future research on aggression, social policy, and attitude change.
— Video games are at the center of a debate over what is helpful or harmful to children and adolescents, and there is research to substantiate both sides. The existing research suggests that there are at least 5 dimensions on which video games can affect players: the amount of play, the content of play, the game context, the structure of the game, and the mechanics of game play. This article describes each of these 5 dimensions with support from the scientific literature, arguing that this approach can allow people to get beyond the typical “good–bad” dichotomous thinking to have a more nuanced understanding of video game effects and to provide testable hypotheses for future research.
The current study examined the potential moderating effects of motion capture technology and partici- pants' own level of psychoticism on their hostility and aggressive thoughts after playing violent video games. A total of 118 participants (68 females, 50 males) first completed a measure of psychoticism and then played either a violent video game or a non-violent video game using either a traditional con- troller or motion capture controls. Immediately after the video game play period, participants' current level of hostility and aggressive cognitions were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Results indi- cated that the use of motion capture controls did not increase the negative effects of violent video games. However, participants with elevated levels of psychoticism were much more affected by violent video games than other participants. Such findings suggest that only some individuals are adversely affected by violent video games and that those who are affected have preexisting dispositions which make them susceptible to such violent media.
An experimental study was conducted to test the transfer of skills from a complex computer game to the flight performance of cadets in the Israeli Air Force flight school. The context relevance of the game to flight was argued on the basis of a skill-oriented task analysis, using the framework provided by contemporary models of the human processing system. The influence of two embedded training strategies was compared, one focusing on the specific skills involved in performing the game, the other designed to improve the general ability of trainees to cope with the high processing and response demands of the flight task and teach better strategies of attention control. Efficient control and management of attention under high task load are argued to be skills that can improve with proper training and generalize to new situations. Flight performance scores of two groups of cadets who received 10 h of training in the computer game were compared with those of a matched group without game experience. Both game groups performed significantly better than the no-game group in the subsequent test flights. The results are discussed with reference to the theoretical framework within which the context relevance of the game was supported. Also considered are the effects of the different training schedules and the significance of the data to the study of attention control. The game has now been incorporated into the regular training program of the Air Force.
The recent proliferation of electronic video games has caused an outcry from those who question the merits of the games, while others maintain the games improve eye-hand coordination. At present, no empirical data are available to indicate whether there are differences in eye-hand coordination between video game users and non-users. Comparing 31 video game users and 31 non-users showed users have significantly better eye-hand motor coordination on a pursuit rotor. However, no relationship was found between an individual's eye-hand motor coordination and the amount of time spent weekly playing video games or the length of experience with video games.
Administered the Attitudes Toward Guns and Violence Questionnaire (AGVQ) to 1,619 students in Grades 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 12 from four demographically diverse school systems. Fifty-two of the 61 items exhibited satisfactory part-whole correlation and correlation with a validity criterion. Factor analysis revealed four main factors: Aggressive Response to Shame, Comfort With Aggression, Excitement, and Power/Safety. The instrument was reduced to 23 items by deleting items with high cross-loadings. Construct validity was similar for the longer and shorter versions. Youth who self-reported owning a gun produced scores 1.5 SD higher than nonowners. Low scores were associated with a 1 in 125 chance of gun ownership, and high scores were associated with a 1 in 3 chance. Congruency coefficients indicated similar factor structure for the present sample and a separate sample of 5th-, 7th- and 9th-grade students. These results indicate that the AGVQ is a reliable and valid measure of violence-related attitudes in young people.
When attempting to implement evidence-based medicine, such as through clinical guidelines, we often rely on passive educational tactics, for example didactic lectures and bulletins. These methods involve the recipient in relatively superficial processing of information, and any consequent attitude changes can be expected to be short-lived. However, active methods, such as practice-based discussion, should involve recipients in deep processing, with more enduring attitude changes. In this experiment, the aim was to assess the efficacy of an active strategy at promoting deep processing and its effectiveness, relative to a typical passive method, at changing attitudes between groups of GPs over 12 months across an English Health District.
All 191 GPs operating from 69 practices in the Wirral Health District of Northwest England were assigned, with minimization of known confounding variables, to three experimental groups: active, passive and control. The groups were shown to have similar learning styles. The objective of the study was to impart knowledge of best management of infections as captured in a series of locally developed clinical guidelines. The passive group GPs were given a copy of the guidelines and were invited to an hour-long lecture event. The GPs in the deep group were given a copy of the guidelines and were invited to engage in an hour-long discussion about the guideline content at their own premises. The control group received neither the guidelines nor any educational contact regarding them. Three months before and 12 months after the interventions, all GPs were sent a postal questionnaire on their preferred empirical antibiotic for 10 common bacterial infections. The responses were compared in order to ascertain whether increased knowledge of best clinical practice was evident in each group.
Seventy-five per cent (144/191) of GPs responded to the pre-intervention questionnaire, 62 % (119/191) post-intervention. Thirty-four per cent (22/64) of GPs in the passive group attended the lecture; 91% (60/66) of the active group engaged in discussion at meetings with the authors. A significantly higher proportion of the active group participants' speaking time, during a sample of four visits, was devoted to verbal indicators of active processing than the passive group lecture attenders (difference = 55%, Fisher's exact test P = 0.002, OR = 11.5, 95% CI 2.1-113.4). Inter-observer agreement on the classification of the verbal evidence was highly statistically significant for all classes (Pearson's product moment correlation, P < 0.0005, r = +0.893 to +0.999) except repetition (P > 0.05, r = +0.407). Median compliance of responses with the guidelines improved by 2.5% within the control group and 4% within the passive, but by 23% within the active. The difference between the changes in the active and control groups was highly statistically significant at 17.5% (Mann-Whitney test, P = 0.004, 95% CI 6-29%). However, for the 10 infections, the median difference between the changes in the passive and control groups was not significant at 3% (P = 0.75, 95% CI -8 to +12. The median difference between changes in the active and passive groups was significant at 17% (P = 0.015, 95% CI 7-24%) in favour of the active.
An active educational strategy attracted more participation and was more effective at generating deep cognitive processing than a passive strategy. A large improvement, lasting for at least 12 months, in attitude-compliance with guidelines on the optimal treatment of infections was imparted by the active processing method. A typical passive method was much less popular and had an insignificant impact on attitudes. The findings suggest that initiatives aiming to implement evidence-based guidelines must employ active educational strategies if enduring changes in attitude are to result.
As video-game playing has become a ubiquitous activity in today's society, it is worth considering its potential consequences on perceptual and motor skills. It is well known that exposing an organism to an altered visual environment often results in modification of the visual system of the organism. The field of perceptual learning provides many examples of training-induced increases in performance. But perceptual learning, when it occurs, tends to be specific to the trained task; that is, generalization to new tasks is rarely found. Here we show, by contrast, that action-video-game playing is capable of altering a range of visual skills. Four experiments establish changes in different aspects of visual attention in habitual video-game players as compared with non-video-game players. In a fifth experiment, non-players trained on an action video game show marked improvement from their pre-training abilities, thereby establishing the role of playing in this effect.
Performance of laparoscopic surgery requires adequate hand-eye coordination. Video games are an effective way to judge one's hand-eye coordination, and practicing these games may improve one's skills. Our goal was to see if there is a correlation between skill in video games and skill in laparoscopy. Also, we hoped to demonstrate that practicing video games can improve one's laparoscopic skills.
Eleven medical students (nine male, two female) volunteered to participate. On day 1, each student played three commercially available video games (Top Spin, XSN Sports; Project Gotham Racing 2, Bizarre Creations; and Amped 2, XSN Sports) for 30 minutes on an X-box (Microsoft, Seattle, WA) and was judged both objectively and subjectively. Next, the students performed four laparoscopic tasks (object transfer, tracing a figure-of-eight, suture placement, and knot-tying) in a swine model and were assessed for time to complete the task, number of errors committed, and hand-eye coordination. The students were then randomized to control (group A) or "training" (i.e., video game practicing; group B) arms. Two weeks later, all students repeated the laparoscopic skills laboratory and were reassessed.
Spearman correlation coefficients demonstrated a significant relation between many of the parameters, particularly time to complete each task and hand-eye coordination at the different games. There was a weaker association between video game performance and both laparoscopic errors committed and hand-eye coordination. Group B subjects did not improve significantly over those in group A in any measure (P >0.05 for all).
Video game aptitude appears to predict the level of laparoscopic skill in the novice surgeon. In this study, practicing video games did not improve one's laparoscopic skill significantly, but a larger study with more practice time could prove games to be helpful.
Many Americans live with physical functional limitations stemming from stroke. These functional limitations can be reduced by task-specific training that is repetitive, motivating, and augmented with feedback. Virtual reality (VR) is reported to offer an engaging environment that is repetitive, safe, motivating, and gives task-specific feedback. The purpose of this case report was to explore the use of a low-cost VR device [Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2) EyeToy] for an individual in the chronic phase of stroke recovery.
An individual two years poststroke with residual sensorimotor deficits completed 20 one-hour sessions using the PS2 EyeToy. The game's task requirements included target-based motion, dynamic balance, and motor planning. The feasibility of using the gaming platform was explored and a broad selection of outcomes was used to assess change in performance.
Device use was feasible. Clinically relevant improvements were found on the Dynamic Gait Index and trends toward improvement on the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Berg Balance Scale, UE Functional Index, Motor Activity Log, and Beck Depression Inventory.
A low-cost VR system was easily used in the home. In the future it may be used to improve sensory/motor recovery following stroke as an adjunct to standard care physical therapy.
Although most health professionals perform home visits, there is not a structured method for performing them. In addition, in-training health professionals' exposure to home visits is limited for logistical reasons. A new method for medical students to learn how to perform an effective home visit was developed using an instructional video game. It was expected that students would learn the principles of a home visit using a video game while identifying the usefulness of video gaming (edutainment) in geriatrics education. A video game was created simulating a patient's house that the students were able to explore. Students played against time and distracters while being expected to click on those elements that they considered to be risk factors for falls or harmful for the patient. At the end of the game, the students received feedback on the chosen elements that were right or wrong. Finally, evaluation of the tool was obtained using pre- and posttests and pre- and postexposure feedback surveys. Fifty-six fourth-year medical students used the video game and completed the tests and the feedback surveys. This method showed a high level of engagement that is associated with improvement in knowledge. Additionally, users' feedback indicated that it was an innovative approach to the teaching of health sciences. In summary, this method provides medical students with a fun and structured experience that has an effect not only on their learning, but also on their understanding of the particular needs of the elderly population.
Action video games modify visual attention
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The impact of video games in surgical training
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The fundamentals of learning
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Stop teaching our kids to kill
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Media entertainment: The psychology of its appeal
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