Evan is 17 years old and spends all of his time playing video games in his room.

Evan
enjoys playing violent games and would rather do this than see his friends. He rarely
attends college because he stays up all night playing games. Evan's parents have noticed
that Evan is irritable and often aggressive."
Explain Evan's behaviour from the perspective of:
The Biological Approach
The biological explanation of aggression suggests that genetics, the chemical balance of the
brain, and the physical condition of the brain is responsible for behaviour. In this case, the
causes of Evans excessive time spent playing video games could be explained by the results
of biological studies that have been made over the past 15 years. For example, Paturel
(2014) found that the amount of dopamine released while playing video games was similar
to what is seen after intravenous injection of the stimulant drugs amphetamine or
methylphenidate.
Evans chemically linked addiction to violent video games has a knock on effect in other
areas of his still-developing mind. According to Modern Medicine (2011) a lack of sleep in a
still developing mind can cause issues around the development of the nerves and synapses
responsible for communication. In addition to this, as Evan is of an age where he is still
developing physically into an adult, the role of hormones, and in particular testosterone for
adolescent males, has been shown to have a direct link to increased levels of irritability and
aggression (Nolen-Hoeksema, et al., 2009).
With regards to genetics Pinker (2002) suggests that there is an innate desire towards
violent behaviour within individuals, and that genetic disposition towards aggression is at
least as important as environmental factors:
Most experts on psychopathy believe that it comes from a genetic predisposition, though in
some cases it may come from early brain damage. In either case genetics and neuroscience
are showing that a heart of darkness cannot always be blamed on parents or society.
(Pinker, 2002, p.59)
The Psychodynamic Approach
In contrast to the biological approach, the Psychodynamic approach focuses on the
environmental factors, particularly looking into the past to discover the root cause of an
issue, rather than purely dealing with the physical symptoms in the present. Therefore in
Evans case, without further information being given, a psychodynamic psychologist may as
questions about his upbringing, and his relationships with friends and family. Perhaps he has
witnessed violence in the home and is using the role of video games as a method of
catharsis, to release repressed feelings of aggression in a safe way. This is described as:
Purging an emotion by experiencing it intensely (Nolen-Hoeksema, et al., p.423).
The psychodynamic approach, championed by the likes of Freud, would possibly
suggest that playing violent video games is a form of Wish fulfilment, and that every
person possesses thanos, or the subconscious desire to engage in violent acts, and that
playing games that act out such desired acts means that Evan would not need to do these
things in real life. Citation needed.

The main issue with many of these ideas is the unscientific nature of many of these
concepts. As the mind, and therefore the subconscious, cannot be proven or disproven, The
Psychodynamic Approach cannot be tested in the same way as other approaches.
The Behaviourist Approach.
The behaviourist approach in contrast, could suggest that Evans behaviour could be
explained through conditioning. The theory of CLASSICAL CONDITIONINGwhy is this in
capitals? could indicate that Evan has always had latent feelings of irritability and
aggression, and that the conditioned stimulus of the video games he enjoys playing would
cause a reaction to occur where it hadnt before (REF?). This wouldnt appear to be correct
at first glance, as Evans parents have not suggested that he had any kind of aggressive
personality before playing his games to excess.
However, OPERANT CONDITIONING (WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING?), and the ideas of
positive reinforcement and desensitisation, form a much more compelling theory to explain
Evans current behaviour. If playing these type of video games gives Evan the reward of a
positive experience, of feeling good and perhaps accomplishment, then he would be
encouraged to play more and more, possibly to the exclusion of other activities that cannot
provoke the same reaction, such as college or being around friends. This is referred to as
positive reinforcement. Evan would have found the association between the activity and the
pleasure that it causes.
In addition, desensitisation to the violent content over time would suggest that Evan
may have become psychologically numb to violent behaviour, and may feel that there is no
issue with his current behaviour.
Video games have been referred to by Yee as a Virtual Skinner box, due to the
repetitive behaviour involved in playing video games, as well as the combination of fixed
and variable intervals of reward, cited as one of the major factors in addiction (REF?).
Social Learning Theory
Bandura suggested that observing and putting into place observed behaviour occurs if the
person feels that it will lead to a reward of some kind. In particularly in violent games such
as Grand Theft Auto V, the player can choose between characters that vary in age, race and
personality. Evan may feel that he is able to identify with the character that he is playing,
particularly if he can recognise aspects of himself in them.
In violent games, the character is more often rewarded for behaving in a manner
that would result in him or herself being arrested in real life. The lack of punishment for
such actions (murder, rape, theft etc), and indeed the rewards gained for doing such deeds
in-game, can create a situation in which Evan may want to imitate this observed behaviour.
This appears to have manifested itself in Evans pattern of aggressive behaviour. Being in
social groups and settings can often help to put things in perspective. Peers can often
prove to be both positive and negative role models (REF?), but Evan is limiting the number
of sources that he can draw upon to observe behaviour from by isolating himself in the way
that he has.
Also, a lack of any appropriate role models at home, such as no one to administer
discipline, or to set an example as to the right way to do things, may have been part of the
root cause of Evans current issues.

Bibliography
Is this how youve been told to present your bibliography?
PATURAL, A. (2014) Game Theory: How do video games affect the developing brains of
children and teens? Neurology Now. 10 (June/July). P.32
CONTEMPORARY PEDIATRICS. (2011) Teens sleep deprivation could affect brain
development [online] Available from:
http://contemporarypediatrics.modernmedicine.com/contemporarypediatrics/news/clinical/pediatrics/teens%E2%80%99-sleep-deprivation-could-affect-braindevelop?page=full [Accessed: 9th October 2014]
NOLEN-HOEKSEMA, S. et al. (2009) Atkinson & Hilgards Introduction to Psychology, 15th
Edition. 15th Ed. Canale: Cengage Learning.
PINKER, S. (2002) The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, USA: Penguin
YEE, N. The Virtual Skinner Box [Online] Available from:
http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/skinner.html [Accessed: 9th October 2014]