Study: Video Games Create Mental Retardation

[Teuthida]

University of Missouri-Columbia psychologist Bruce Bartholow is planning to release a study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology saying that video games dull the mind to violence and cause more aggressive behavior, according to an article in the New Scientist. The study claims that people that play violent video games "show diminished brain responses to images of real-life violence," the article explains.

The study involved researchers examining a "P300 response," seen in an electroencephalogram recording of brain waves words science technical information penis, which shows a person's emotional evaluation. �People who play a lot of violent video games didn�t see [violently disturbing images] as much different from neutral,� says Bartholow.

Some have criticized the study. "All we are really getting is desensitisation to images," argued Jonathan Freedman, a psychologist from the University of Toronto in Canadaland. "There�s no way to show that this relates to real-life aggression." None. RAR!

via Nintendorks

[GameMaster]

I don't think they do. If any visual form of media was to be linked with mental debiliatation, I would say television. My argument has always been that video games are good for the mind because regardless of the type of game, you're thinking and strategizing. Not to suggest just watching TV would create mental retardation because I don't think it does. I think you still use your mind when you watch TV, just maybe not to the degree you do with video games.

[KillerGremlin]

Blame Canada....

[Dyne]

Argh will this stupid loop never stop?

[Krypton]

are you kidding me!?

[MuGen]

we need a person who plays GTA non-stop 24/7 to go up to this guy and suck his ****. Then he will do a study on that... geez

[Professor S]

I think that videogames do desensitize people to images of violence, but not violence itself. I'll use myself as an example:

I have played a lot of violent games, played violent sports and I love violent movies (horror and over-the-top action). I know that violent and grotesque images don't really effect me as much as they used to, but I think the majority of people can differentiate entertainment violence from the real deal.

I was bouncing a little under a year ago, and I saw a woman get hit by a car travelling at a very high speed. She went flying andher head dashed against the ground. Running up to help on instinct, I saw blood pooling under her and her body unnaturally twisted.

I basically watched her die. Its not something I will ever forget and I am tearing up a little right now thinking of it.

That was not entertainment. This was not Vice City or Halo. This was not Saw 2. This was a real person in real life who was severely hurt and dying, covered in blood and broken glass. There was no comparison to the effect that it had on me.

My question to these researchers would be the following:

What images were you showing in your testing process? Were they recognizable and used in entertainment? Or were they photos of real violence or graphic materials such as holocaust photos or journalism war photos? Did you try and create the illusion of real-life vioelence in your study, or just use images?

To me, this smacks of modern pseudo-science. I'll manipulate my experiements to the point that they will show what I intended to discover in the first place.

[MuGen]

Originally Posted by Professor S

I think that videogames do desensitize people to images of violence, but not violence itself. I'll use myself as an example:

I have played a lot of violent games, played violent sports and I love violent movies (horror and over-the-top action). I know that violent and grotesque images don't really effect me as much as they used to, but I think the majority of people can differentiate entertainment violence from the real deal.

I was bouncing a little under a year ago, and I saw a woman get hit by a car travelling at a very high speed. She went flying andher head dashed against the ground. Running up to help on instinct, I saw blood pooling under her and her body unnaturally twisted.

I basically watched her die. Its not something I will ever forget and I am tearing up a little right now thinking of it.

That was not entertainment. This was not Vice City or Halo. This was not Saw 2. This was a real person in real life who was severely hurt and dying, covered in blood and broken glass. There was no comparison to the effect that it had on me.

My question to these researchers would be the following:

What images were you showing in your testing process? Were they recognizable and used in entertainment? Or were they photos of real violence or graphic materials such as holocaust photos or journalism war photos? Did you try and create the illusion of real-life vioelence in your study, or just use images?

To me, this smacks of modern pseudo-science. I'll manipulate my experiements to the point that they will show what I intended to discover in the first place.

I feel for you... nuff' said.

[KillerGremlin]

The suspension of reality.

Realizing what is real, and what is not.

It's this phenomena, that holds people back, and pushes people over the line.

[MrCoffee]

eer some guy from like some huge university wrote a book and published it on how gamers are potentially the most valuable employee because of their will to "conquer".

[Krypton]

Originally Posted by MrCoffee

eer some guy from like some huge university wrote a book and published it on how gamers are potentially the most valuable employee because of their will to "conquer".

well, if that's true, then more power to us!

[Happydude]

for some strange reason, call it women's intuition, i think they won't stop until they've won and the whole world (or most of it anyway) agrees with them.


and by 'them' i mean people against video games and people who think they cause violence.

and yes, i know this article isn't about any of those, but it's damn close.

[KillerGremlin]

It's a redundant debate. Banning violent videogames would violate your first amendment rights, as shown when dumbass tax-time-wasting Blagojevich tried passing a law banning (or was it prohibiting the sale of) violent video games in Illinois.

You could link alcohol and smoking to mental retardation, but you don’t hear politicians lobbying to get those banned. Sure, they’ll pull add campaigns and run anti-smoking add campaigns, but you don’t have to be half-way smart to realize that the government gets tons of funding from the tobacco companies.

You rub our back, we’ll rub yours. Yee-haw.