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Violent Games As Great Teachers

Posted by Zonk on from the takes-skill-to-pull-off-that-hit dept.

Gamepolitics and the site Physorg have an in-depth look at a study (pdf) done on the educational nature of violent games. While the implications of the study reinforce the old 'games lead to violent kids' saw, the authors of the research stress that they're more interested in talking up the benefits of games in education. "When considered in the light of what is known to be the "best practices" of education, violent video games appear to be exemplary teachers of aggression ... It should therefore be no surprise that video games are excellent teachers, both of educational content and of violent content... The fact that learning occurs regardless of whether the effects are intentional or unintentional is irrelevant, and should make us more thoughtful about designing games and choosing games for children and adolescents to play."

8 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. aggression? by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've killed many a simulated human being in my video game days. That teaches me about warfare and violence. However, I don't think linking teaching how to do violence to 'aggression' makes any sense. Why would playing fun war games make me angry?

    What makes me want to hurl the tv out the window is throwing an interception in Madden '08. I've never had that feeling when playing Day of Defeat though, even when I get bazooka'd, which is pretty embarrassing. Perhaps when the server drops my connection though.

    So video games may increase interest and understanding of violence and war, but if someone's having a good time, I don't think it is promoting 'aggression'. The anger is probably already there with or without video games. Unless it's Madden and the damn wide receivers won't fight for the ball.

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  2. Stupid shrinks. by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If violent games lead to violent kids, then why has there been no upswing of violence in that demographic since the advent of violent games? Violence has actually declined and while that has nothing (provable) to do with video games, it sure as hell puts paid to any notion that violent games create more violent kids. Kids were more violent 20 years ago.

    This is the huge problem with sociology. Put 1200 kids through a test where they're reporting their own answers, and then make blanket assertions about the world. If the world doesn't agree, must be a fluke, right? Their numbers, if real, would have to be reflected in actual numbers...The percentages are statistically very significant.

    Goes without saying that they got the results that supported their initial hypothesis.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    1. Re:Stupid shrinks. by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Either way it's all about Correlation != Causation.

      My argument against games making people more violent would be more historical. Lot's of things have, historically, been said to make people more violent, and this tends not to bear out in the real world. Marijuana was once thought to induce psychosis and violent behavior, and while we may or may not agree on whether or not marijuana ought to be legal, most people do acknowledge that it doesn't exactly make you violent. The same arguments were applied to movies, rock music, sports events, and comic books...Anything that might make the kids into ravening monsters. It just tends not to happen.

      On top of that, there has been no increase in violence since the advent of truly violent gaming. It's pretty widespread now, so you'd think that any actual upswing in violence would stand out against the preceding decades, but there isn't anything like that in the data.

      --
      ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    2. Re:Stupid shrinks. by soren100 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If violent games lead to violent kids, then why has there been no upswing of violence in that demographic since the advent of violent games? Violence has actually declined and while that has nothing (provable) to do with video games, it sure as hell puts paid to any notion that violent games create more violent kids. Kids were more violent 20 years ago. There are different kinds of violence -- some are very obvious such as the murder and beatings you mention, but there are other kinds of violence as well, that are more insidious.

      For example, which do you think is worse -- having someone beat you up, or cheat you out of $100,000 or even $10,000? The bruises would heal in weeks, but the financial damage could take much longer to heal. What if you got cancer and the insurance administrator got paid a bonus to disqualify you from treatment? What about the executives at Enron that cheated their employees out of their life savings? What about cheating with other people's spouses? There are many ways that people mistreat each other every day in many ways that make people suffer far morse than physical beatings ever could, and even make people wish that they were killed instead.

      So a game where people actively work against the best interests of other people and delight in their misfortune does not have to literally produce murderers to have negative effects in society. Just training generations of children to laugh at the pain, suffering and misfortunes of others can slowly leach away at the humanity in our society, teaching people to be more cruel and to cheat others more.

      The violent effects of video games don't even have to be confined to this country. For example, when Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, most people I know were in favor of the invasion -- it was treated like another video game. The massive human cost of the effects of the war didn't even enter into the minds of most Americans I talked to, even though it's inevitable.

      Most networks treated the start of the Iraq War as just another "Superbowl" type event, and very few Americans had the heart to even imagine the vast devastation the war would wreak on both Iraq and the US. Americans should have been horrified at the idea of attacking a defenseless country, but they cheered instead.

      I am not saying that violent video games caused the Iraq war, or that they should be banned. I have enjoyed many fragging sessions with co-workers and would still enjoy it. But I also think every action has an effect, and those effects should be thought about. In a day when massive fraud of all kinds is causing the sub-prime mortgage market to fail, taking along banks and threatening our economy, and when our the best and bravest of our country are killing and being killed abroad, and coming home to commit suicide here at far too high rates, one of our biggest problems seems to be a lack of concern for how our actions affect other people. America is still a great country filled with great people, but our position in the world is changing, and we have a lot to think about.

  3. This is absolutely true! by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

    My son is in 3rd grade and plays violent video games almost constantly. He's struggling in math and reading, but he's killing at an 8th grade level!

  4. Hangman by bi_boy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    According to this rational hangman is a pretty fucked up game.

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    Chicken fried butter sticks? Do ... do you use a fork? - Black Mage, 8-Bit Theater
  5. Re:Learning a violent act != being more violent by moderatorrater · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Reflexes from the driving sim plus some knowledge of physics and traffic laws/layout, not to mention spatial memory. Memory, spatial awareness and reflexes in an fps. Managing various spells is cost/benefits analysis and also optimal configuration of complex mechanisms in a fantasy rpg. Let's not forget either that these children are subconsciously learning that any problem which is given to them can be solved with the given resources, or if not, that the resource exists to solve the problem. They also receive a sense of achievement/ability and a feeling that they can affect the world as a whole.

  6. Re:Learning a violent act != being more violent by alan_dershowitz · · Score: 3, Informative

    There have been media studies that have shown that watching violence on television increases aggressiveness in the short and long term. This is not directly a study about video games, but it is counterintuitive to think that video games where you actually participate in onscreen violence would have a lesser effect than television.

    At the very least it is a fact that kids will imitate violent behavior they see. This is the reason that you don't see cartoons anymore with Daffy Duck being shot in the face, Porky getting his head snapped in a suitcase, or Sylvester getting hit in the head with a frying pan by Tweetie Bird: Because kids did these things to their siblings after seeing it on television. Obviously a kid isn't going to have a laser gun or a katana or something like in a video game, but instead he's just going to whip a cup or rock at his brother and yell ZAP.

    the game doesn't even have to be culturally unacceptable violence. Studies have shown that even things like watching a football game on television has the same effect. I'm not saying it's turning them into little killbots, but there is evidence that onscreen violence does increase aggressiveness.