The positive effects of computers and video games on young

people
This area of the specification is entirely new. Make sure you
understand the studies relating to the positive effects of
computers and/or video games wellthe examiners might just
choose to test you on it!
Osswald (2010) found that participants who played a pro-social game
displayed significantly more pro-social behaviour than those participants
in the aggressive condition. Outline this research in the box below.

Further recent research has also found computer games to have a

positive effect on behaviour. Outline the research by Kahne et al. (2008)
and Lenhart et al. (2008) below.
Kahne et al (2008):

Lenhart et al. (2008)

Even social networking sites such as Facebook have been

found

to have

a positive

effect

on

behaviour.

In

G__________ et al. (2011) study, the researchers found

that participants who spent three __________ on their
Facebook _________ gave much more positive feedback in the follow-up
task than participants in both the ________ condition and the
_________ condition.

Evaluating research
into the positive
effects of
computers and video
games

The negative effects of computers and video games on young

people
Much research suggests that computers and video games solely have
negative effects on young people. Outline the effects which research
has highlighted as being caused by consoles such as the X-BOX and
computer games.
Effects of video/computer
game:
Increased Physiological
Arousal

Reduced Helping Behaviours

Increased
behaviour,
feelings.

aggressive
cognitions
and

Desensitisation to Violence

Notes:

Carnegey et als (2007) research is one of the key studies into the
effect of video games and computers. Complete the cloze task to
identify the key elements of this study:
1.

Carnagey et al. (2007) examined the effect of playing violence

computer games on responses to real-life violence. They allocated
participants to ____ conditions.

2.

Condition one PPs played a __________ game for 20 minutes

whereas condition two PPs played a ____-_____________ game
for 20 minutes.

3.

All PPs __________ __ _________ which showed real-life

violence and had their _______________ responses measured.

4.

Results found that PPs who had played the __________ video
game had ________ heart rates when watching the real-life
violence.

5.

This suggests that people can become ______________ to

violence, even after as little as ______________ playing time.

6.

This research is considered to be reliable because:

7.

It can however, be criticised because:

Homework 3:
Discuss what psychological research has told us about some of the
effects on young people of playing computer and/or video games.

[6

+ 8 marks].

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