Sanchez 1 Angel Sanchez Professor Leslie Wolcott ENC 1102 22 October 2013 Violent Video Games and its

Effects on Childrens Behavior: An Annotated Bibliography The media form of video games is growing to become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, surpassing movies and television. As trends do change in society, so does the different trends go on within the video game community. However, there has always been one factor in the media industry as a whole, not just video games, that has never truly been resolved: does the growing nature of violence in video games (as well as other forms of media) contribute to an increase in aggressive behavior in children and teens, and can the increase in aggression along with the violent video games be responsible for certain actions taken by young people that can cost the lives of others. For instance, the shooters of Columbine were said to have been big fans of the video game Doom. Many people suggest that the violent nature of the game, included with their aggressive behavior, inspired them to cause chaos at the school. This annotated bibliography contains articles from peer-reviewed journals that discuss numerous studies that were conducted to figure out if there was a correlation between games and behavior. Some of these were reviews of studies done by other researchers while others were original research. Although all of these studies came up with results that point to one side of the argument, for the most part, each study showed some sort of methodological flaw that can skew the results; however, this topic is very difficult to study on due to the nature of having numerous variables to consider, many of which are virtually uncontrollable. Also included are some articles explaining some resolutions that could occur to pacify this issue, most of which are calls for

Sanchez 2 formal legislation to control the sale of mature-rated content to minors. What is not included in this annotated bibliography is the continually asked question: if violence in the media does contribute to affecting childrens behaviors and thoughts, then who is truly responsible of this outcome, the children, the parents, the merchants who sold the child and/or parent the game, or is it the fault of the game developers and publishers for creating these games in the first place. This question/debate is not included because it does not focus the attention towards the children themselves. Although it is another important topic discussed within the media community, it would be too big of a discussion to cover within this annotated bibliography. This annotated bibliography is mainly targeted towards parents. Until they are old enough to start understanding for themselves, it is the parents responsibility for the childs behavior or actions. For instance, if the parents are successful in informing themselves as well as the children about certain content that is out there in video games thus having some form of control over what their kids play, then how are they going to enact a similar understanding when the kids become exposed to the violent video games through advertisements or through their peers? This, among other issues, is mentioned throughout this bibliography within several of the sources.

Anderson, Craig, and Brad Bushman. "Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature." Psychological Science. 12.5 (2001): 353359. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. Craig Anderson and Brad Bushman, both from Iowa State University, reviewed studies that were done that suggests that children being exposed to playing violent video games can cause an increase in aggressive behavior. They based this on previous studies that

Sanchez 3 suggest that exposure to television and movie violencewill increase aggressive behavior (Anderson and Bushman 353). They use terrible school shootings, such as Columbine, as a catalyst for their arguments. Although they recognized that the shooters of these tragedies have a habit of playing violent video games, there is no hard evidence that can prove that violence in video games would directly lead to a more aggressive behavior in children. They go on to suggest that instead of having media progressively becoming more violent, the media industry should promote more prosocial behaviors and attitudes through their products. This discusses real-life examples of childhood aggression due to video games as well as providing possible resolutions to the issue at hand. Anderson, Craig, and Karen Dill. "Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 78.4 (2000): 772-790. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. This article by Craig Anderson and Karen Dill discusses studies that were performed to see if real life video game playing can have the same effect as just being exposed to the game. They are trying to see if playing violent video games can cause an increase in aggressiveness, then just watching footage of the same violence can lead to a similar result. They find out that it is possible to have people, not just children, experience an increase in aggressive thoughts and behavior just by simply being exposed to the media. This is important because not only does this issue need a resolution for children obtaining and playing the game, but also being exposed to it in the outside world via advertisements or watching other people play, etc.

Sanchez 4 Bond, David. "The Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior and the Relationship to School Shootings." Outstanding Honors Theses. Paper 56 (2011): n. page. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. David Bond, from the University of South Florida, based his thesis on the controversial relation between childrens aggressive behavior and violent video games. He also attempts to examine the evidence that playing violent video games plays a role in the behaviors of school shooters (Bond 2). He explores the growth of the video game industry into becoming the most popular form of media available as well as the growing popularity of mature-rated video games. He then goes on to explain how many studies were done to examine if violent video games can cause an increase in aggressive behavior, but the conclusion is not definite because many of the results go both ways; violence in video games might not cause an increase in aggression at all or it would cause short/long term increases. It is a very difficult experiment due to the many variables that could affect the overall study. This relates to the topic because it is yet another suggestion that studies were done but there is no clear cut answer to if violence in video games, or in any form of media, would cause an increase in aggression in young people. Carpentier, Francesca. "Media Influence on Youth: Scientific Evidence, Policy Considerations, and the History of Media Self-Regulation." Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk. 4.1 (2013): n. page. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. In her article, Francesca Carpentier discusses various ways that people tried to regulate the content within the media throughout history as well as convincing the reader of how the negative behaviors in children can be linked to the ever-growing presence of violence in the media. She first explains how certain studies such as the Payne Fund Studies,

Sanchez 5 which examined popular movies in an early attempt to understand what depictions of violencedid to young peoples minds (Carpentier 1), tried to create formal regulation of media content, yet they eventually moved on to innovations such as the modern-day V-chip. She goes on to explain how policymakers should be involved in controlling the content while keeping in mind the protections given to the media through the First Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibit overbroad rules of censorship (Carpentier 3). Dunkelberger, James. "The New Resident Evil? State Regulation of Violent Video Games and the First Amendment." Brigham Young University Law Review. 2011.5 (2011): n. page. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. In this article, James Dunkelberger, graduate of Reuben Clark Law School of Brigham Young University, provides another argument where there should be formal legislation to regulate violent content in video games. He describes how past laws were passed to restrict the sale of violent, mature-related video games to minors yet many of them are deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, such as the famous case Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Association. Although this does not provide anything towards the possible correlation between aggressive children and violent video games, it does provide an attempt towards resolving this issue: formal government regulation via legislation. Farrar, Kirstie, Marina Kremar, and Rory McGloin. "The Perception of Human Appearance in Video Games: Toward an Understanding of the Effects of Player Perceptions of Game Features." Mass Communication and Society. 16.3 (2013): 299-324. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.

Sanchez 6 Kirstie Farrar, associate professor of the Communication Department in the University of Connecticut, Marina Kremar, associate professor at Wake Forest University, and Rory McGloin, assistant professor at the University of Connecticut, describes a study they conducted to see how a human-looking target within a video games would cause an increase in player hostility as well as the players expectations of the game against a nonhuman target. They gathered a sample of college-aged participants to play the video game Quake in a session with human-looking targets and another session with non-human looking targets. Before they conducted the primary experiment, though, they did a short study with participants that were not involved with the primary experiment and showed them pictures of all the target characters available in the game to rate them on their humanness features. They selected characters whose features are the most extreme both ways and utilize them in the main study. They then conclude that although more aggressive behavior is seen when using human-like targets, the researchers believe a more important discovery where having human-looking targets causes the player to expect a more hostile/violent experience than if fighting against a target that does not appear human. This relates to my topic because, although it does not provide a study with children being the participants, it does provide a starting point for any other study that could be conducted in this manner to show that even having something as simple as human targets can create hostility and promote violence within the game and, in turn (possibly), to the player. Gentile, Douglas, and Craig Anderson. "Violent Video Games: The Effects on Youth, and Public Policy Implications." Children as Consumers of Violence. (2006): 225-246. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

Sanchez 7 Douglas Gentle and Craig Anderson discuss the overall need for research that specifically targets childrens aggression gained from playing violent video games. They recognize that there is already existing research that suggests that violence from movies and television can cause an increase in aggressive behavior among children. They go over a history of violence in video games as well as the research that was done to examine the possible relationship between video games and the childs behavior. They examined different types of studies and experiments performed as well as big questions that came up through the process of some of the experiments. They also explain some public policy options that were explored as a result of this research, such as self-regulation through the industry with the ESRB or even having government intervention to regulate the content. This is important to the issue at hand because it declares that similar research was done and it showed a very important factor that movies and television affect childrens behaviors, therefore, it is only obvious that the same research must be done for video games due to their growing popularity. Ivory, Adrienne, and Christine Kaestle. "The Effects of Profanity in Violent Video Games on Players' Hostile Expectations. Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings, and Other Responses." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 57.2 (2013): 224-241. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Adrienne Holz Ivory, assistant professor in the Department of Communication of Virginia Tech, and Christine E. Kaestle, associate professor in the Department of Human Development of Virginia Tech, discusses how hostility within video games, specifically profanity, would affect the players expectations, or overall behavior. They recognize that studies were made on the effects of general violence in videogames, but they wanted to see how verbal aggression (profanity) can cause hostile thoughts, expectations, feelings,

Sanchez 8 etc. for the player. With this, they plan to create an emphasis where profanity/violence in many other forms of media can cause a similar reaction to the viewer/listener/player. This is relevant because it portrays situations where it looks at a factor of aggression (profanity) and see how the presence, or non- presence, can affect the player psychologically. Mitrofan, O., M. Paul, and N. Spencer. "Is aggression in children with behavioral and emotional difficulties associated with television viewing and video game playing? A systematic review." Child: Care, Health, and Development. 35.1 (2008): 5-15. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. In this article, Mitrofan (Health Sciences Research Institute in the University of Warwick), Paul (Health Sciences Research Institute in the University of Warwick), and Spencer (School of Health and Social Studies in the University of Warwick) summarizes twelve studies that were conducted to prove associations between television viewing and video game playing and aggressive behavior in children with any previously-known behavioral or emotional difficulties. They explain the methods as well as share the results from each respective study; however, they did recognize that the studies had significant methodological flaws (Mitrofan, Paul, and Spencer 5). They go on to advise that there is a need for rigorous qualitative and quantitative research, especially adequately powered studies, and the development of valid and reliable measures (Mitrofan, Paul, and Spencer 14). This shows how important yet difficult it is to have a methodological accepted study to see if violence or aggression in the media can affect children with already dysfunctions in behavior or emotion.

Sanchez 9 Mott, Garrett. "Game Over for Regulating Violent Video Games? The Effect of Brown V. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n on First Amendment Jurisprudence." Loyota of Los Angeles Law Review. 45.2 (2012): 633-655. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. This article pertains to the Supreme Court case Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Association. The case is about the constitutionality of the law passed by California that prevents the sale of violent video games to minors without parental supervision. The law is supposed to require merchants to shelve the mature-related games, generally violent by nature, separate from the rest of the stock; however, many businesses just post the ESRB ratings as well as inform parents about it. The Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional in a way that it violates the First Amendment, therefore revoking the law. Although it was ruled unconstitutional, this does show that the media influence towards children and have a significant risk that formal legislation might be resolution to the issue. It all depends on what said legislation requires, or in this case restricts, and if it is indeed constitutional. Robinson, Nicholas. "Video Games and Violence: Legislating on the 'Politics of Confusion'." Political Quarterly. 83.2 (2012): 414-423. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. Nicholas Robinson, lecturer in Public Policy and Videogames Research in the School of Politics and International Studies from the University of Leeds, explores how there is a growing controversy pertaining to violence in videogames and the accessibility of said games to inappropriate age groups in the United Kingdom, specifically minors. One big issue that he expresses in this article is how parents are responsible for paying attention to the ratings systems in place in the UK and Europe but many are neglectful or ignorant of the ratings and they continue to buy age-inappropriate games to minors; however, he does

Sanchez 10 include how the overall ratings system in the UK is confusing in a sense that the ratings program change from one thing to another with a small percentage of video games released being rated by the British Board Film Classification (Britains equivalent of Americas MPAA).This is relevant because it shows how children can still get their hands on violent video games due to parents neglectfulness or ignorance of the national content regulation; however, they continue to ignore said regulation due to the exclusion of a single standard for content regulation. Schwinn, Steven. "Video Games and the First Amendment: Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association."Social Education. 75.4 (2011): 200-203. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. This article is another look at the Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association Supreme Court case. Steven Schwinn, writer for Social Education, discusses how the media of video games have gone from something harmless and simple such as Pong and Space Invaders to something more realistic, yet more violent. This provides a more similar summary of what the California law details, such as the civil fine of up to $1000 for each infraction as well as their definition of the term Violent Video Game. It also provides an overview of the First Amendment and of it is significant in this particular case along with similar cases. Although this article is basically another summary of the Supreme Court case, it is more suitable for the general public due to the more simplistic wording as well as providing basic information on the law, the Amendment, and the arguments made within the case itself. Shibuya, Akiko, Akira Sakamoto, Nobuko Ihori, and Shintaro Yukawa. "The effects of the presence and contexts of video game violence on children: A longitudinal study in Japan." Simulation & Gaming. 39.4 (2008): 528-539. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

Sanchez 11 This article focuses on a study that was conducted where 591 children in the fifth grade were studied for a period of one year and they were seeing if the presence of violent video games can affect the childs aggression. This particular study is more accurate in its methodology because not only it is measuring a childs aggressive behavior, but it also considers one of the biggest variables in this kind of experimentation, the subjects perception of violence. They recognize that every child is brought up with different backgrounds as well as having different perspectives of the world around them. This would lead to different exposures to violence or aggressive behaviors. They formed different statistics relating to the living area, any previous violence exposure, and their aggression levels. They concluded that although aggression can be seen more through boys over girls after exposure to violent video games, they go on to state that quality and contexts of video game violence can be more important than the presence and quantity of violence in the long term (Shibuya et. al 537). Thompson, Kimberly, and Kevin Haninger. "Violence in E-Rated Video Games." Journal of the American Medical Association. 286.8 (2001): 591-598. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. This article pertains to a study done that shows that violence that can occur even in Erated video games and that can cause possible affects to the child. Kimberly Thompson and Kevin Haninger discussed a study that they conducted where they explored 55 Erated video games for any violent content that it contains. They also compared it to statistics from 672 other E-rated games to analyze and came to the conclusion that violence can even be seen in many E-rated video games. They suggest that the ESRB must take a deeper look to accurately rated the video games or give more detailed information pertaining to the rating towards the parent audience. This relates to the issue

Sanchez 12 at hand because it displays that even E-rated video games, which should be marketed as suitable to any age group, contain levels of violence and aggression and this may lead towards having a negative effect on children or young teens. Tocci, Jason. "Seeking Truth in Video Game Ratings: Content Considerations for Media Regulation."International Journal of Communication. (2008): 561-586. Web. 15 Oct. 2013. In his article, Seeking Truth in Video Game Ratings: Content Considerations for Media Regulation, Jason Tocci, writer for the International Journal of Communication, explains a bill that was introduced in Congress as the Truth in Video Game Rating Act. It would require that members of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the organization that rates the content on all video games in the Canada and United States as of 1994, to play a video game in its entirety before assigning it a rating. Within the article, he explains how formal government regulation is being called on to regulate the content in video games and how the ESRB conducts certain practices in order to assign ratings to those games. He states that the ESRB assigns ratings based on content viewed from videos given to them by developers and/or publishers. The overall goal of these regulations is to regulate the content on a federal government level as well as restrict the sale of violent content towards minors with a federal standard rather than being selfregulated by different companies. This relates to my topic by having restrictions on the sale of violent video games to minors, so as to avoid any negative influence on those children via the games.