Joel Kim

Professor Jessi Morton

2 April 2016
Annotated Bibliography: Video Game Violence
APA Review Confirms Link Between Playing Violent Video Games and Aggression.
American Psychological Association. 13 Aug. 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Violent video game performance is associated to violence in players but there are lacking
evidence that exists about whether it connects to criminal violence. A study proves a dependable
relation between violent video game uses and rises in violent behavior, aggressive cognitions and
aggressive affect, and decreases in prosocial behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression. The
task groups evaluation is the very first in this field to inspect the extensiveness of studies
included and to assume numerous approaches to reviewing the works of it. Scientists have
investigated the use of violent video games for more than two decades but to date, there is very
limited research addressing whether violent video games cause people to commit acts of criminal
violence, said Mark Appelbaum, PhD. However, the link between violence in video games and
increased aggression in players is one of the most studied and best established in the field. In
light of the working partys conclusions, APA has called on the manufacturing to design video
games that comprise increased parent control over the quantity of ferocity the games contained.
APAs Council of Representatives adopted a resolution at a meeting on Aug. 7 in Toronto
encouraging the Entertainment Software Rating Board to improve its video game rating system
to reflect the levels and characteristics of violence in games, in addition to the current global

ratings. In addition, the resolution urges developers to design games that are appropriate to
users age and psychological development.
HealthDay, WebMD News from. "Violent Video Games Don't Influence Kids'
Behavior: Study: WebMD." WebMD. WebMD, 3 Apr. 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
There is an opinion on whether violent video games make kids more violent. Researchers
said they exposed that kids who played video games for less than an hour a day were likely to be
less violent and rated as well behaved by their teachers. And even if spending a lot of time
playing video games every day may change the way kids act in ordinary life, "all observed
behaviors were very small in magnitude, suggesting only a minor relationship at best and that
games do not have as large an impact as some parents and practitioners worry," said study author
Andrew Przybylski. In the study, scientists observed 217 teens, 110 males and 107 females, and
surveyed both their video game playing and their traits were judged by their teachers. A half of
the girls had never played video games, compared to just 13 percent of the boys. Sixteen percent
of the boys played video games more than three hours a day, compared to 3 percent of the girls.
The researchers found that the 22 kids who played video games the most each day were the
likeliest to have behavioral difficulties, display hyperactivity and have anxiety, although the
effects were "quite small in magnitude," Przybylski said. He added that there's no way to know
whether kids are drained to video games because of their behaviors, or whether video games
change their personalities. The kinds of video games that the kids played seemed to have no
outcome after the researchers adjusted their statistics so issues such as gender wouldn't have a
conclusion.

Harvard Health Publications. "Violent Video Games and Young People. Harvard
Health." 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Blood. Slaughter. Intense violence. They are just a few of the intense languages that the
Entertainment Software Rating Board uses to define the content of several games in the Grand
Theft Auto series, one of the most popular video game series amongst teenagers. In 2008, The
Pew Research Center reported that 97% of youths ages 12 to 17 played some type of video game,
and that two-thirds of them played action and adventure games that tend to contain violent
content. A distinctive study found that more than half of all video games rated by
the ESRB contained violence. Other researchers have dared the implications between violent
video game use and school shootings, noting that most of the young criminals had behavior
traits, such as fury, insanity, and violence that were deceptive before the shootings and inclined
them to ferocity. These issues make it more problematic to receive the playing of violent games
as an independent risk factor. A complete report of targeted school violence commissioned by
the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Education concluded that more than half of attackers
established attention in violent broadcasting could be used to produce a profile of a
likely deadly shooter. Two psychologists, Dr. Patrick Markey of Villanova University and Dr.
Charlotte Markey of Rutgers University have accessible proof that some children may develop
aggressiveness as a result of watching and playing violent video games, but that most are not
pretentious. After reviewing the research, they determined that the mixture of three personality
traits might be most likely to make an individual act and think aggressively after playing a
violent video game. The three traits they identified were high neuroticism, unpleasantness, and
low levels of conscientiousness.

Keim, Brandon. "What Science Knows About Video Games and Violence? PBS. 28
Feb. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Given that first person shooters signify a $5 billion market, played by millions of people
every day and one pushed into the national debate soon after it was reported that Adam Lanza,
who killed 26 people in Newtown, Connecticut, was an enthusiastic Call of Duty player. Also
alarming is the possibility that first person shooters dont impact practical violence and are less a
genuine suspect than a suitable victim. After all, its relaxed to talk about fake blood than real
actions. Not surprisingly, people have turned to science for replies on the inquiry of violence and
video games. For now, though, there are no answers, at least not of the quantitative, directly
valuable diversity. Researchers argue that video games like first person shooters indeed effect
violent behavior, not causing it in some modest, direct way, but making it more likely to happen.
Other researchers say this connection doesnt exist. Still others say it might, but its unbearable to
say right now. Missing such a study, scientists have studied video game violence in limited
ways. Typically this includes asking small numbers of students to play games for a few minutes,
then seeing whether their behavior changes according to laboratory measures of aggression:
Whether they react less negatively to violent videos, respond more forcefully to irritation, or are
in a generally more aggressive frame of mind, tending to complete.
Sifferlin, Alexandra. "Violent Video Games Are Linked to Aggression, Study Says."
Time, 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Violent video games are linked to more aggressive behaviors among players, according to
a new research. The discussion over whether violent video games are linked to violent behavior
has long been argumentative. Some claim there is little evidence linking the two, while others
say that lots of exposure over time causes young people to respond aggressively compared to

kids who do not play video games. Now the American Psychological Association has joined the
argument, quarreling in a research review that playing violent games is connected to aggression,
but that theres inadequate indication to link the games to real violence. Scientists have examined
the custom of violent video games for more than two decades but to date, there is incomplete
research addressing whether violent video games cause people to commit acts of criminal
violence, said task force chair Mark Appelbaum in a statement. However, the link between
violence in video games and increased aggression in players is one of the most studied and best
established in the field. The APA says that theres no single factor that can initiate someone near
violence or aggression, but that violent video games could be classified as one factor. We need to
call upon the video game industries to increase parental controls over violence exposure in the
modern games.