Eric Li ENC 1145: 3:35-4:50pm Mrs.

Canter

Annotated Research Bibliography

BURGESS, STEPHEN R., STEVEN PAUL STERMER, and MELINDA C. R. BURGESS. "Video Game Playing and Academic Performance in College Students." College Student Journal 46.2 (2012): 376-87. Print. Their studies found that there was a significant relation between playing video games and worsened academic performance in college, speculating that students who werent invested academically or who have bad time management would be most negatively affected academically by video games. However, their study also concluded that the relation was most likely explained by the time-displacement hypothesis. Basically, the more time spent on video games the less time there is available for academics. As a result, theres an inverse relationship between time spent playing video games and academic performance. What I drew from the study is that if you play video games too much, your grades will drop. I already knew this from my own experiences (from both being a gamer and a student first at different points in my life), so the study doesnt surprise me much. Based on the study it can be concluded that video games do not particularly affect academic performance when played in moderation (as there wont be as much time-displacement), but if they are played in excess when other things need to be done, it can have a great negative impact on a students academic performance.

Tear, Morgan J., and Mark Nielsen. "Failure to Demonstrate that Playing Violent Video Games Diminishes Prosocial Behavior." PLoS ONE 8.7 (2013): 1-7. Print. After testing subjects in 3 different experiments using both violent and pro -social video games, their study failed to find any evidence suggesting that violent video games had a detrimental effect on pro-social behavior. I think this makes sense since Ive played violent video games myself, and when I do its not as if I suddenly lose all sense of my morality. Its true that there have been reports of crazy serial killers having played violent video games, but I think the reason they killed others in real life is more because of their mental instability than because they played a video game. In one of the most popular video games ever made, Mario stomps on his enemies (ex: turtles) in Mario video games, but you dont see little children who play Mario trying to stomp on birds or dogsor turtles for that matter. Its easy to tell the difference between reality and a video game. The evidence from this study supports the idea that video games dont make people violent. Chittaro, Luca, and Riccardo Sioni. "Killing Non-Human Animals in Video Games: A Study on User Experience and Desensitization to Violence Aspects." PsychNology Journal 10.3 (2012): 215-43. Print. Their studies found that games that were more violent appeared to be more entertaining to the test subjects, considering the higher left ZM and right ZM activity during play. However, I dont think that really means anything. This statement would apply to real life and almost any other form of entertainment as well. A movie or a book about war would similarly be more stimulating than a movie or book about peace. Its only natural for someone to be more active in a violent situation than in a peaceful situation, video game or not. They also found that violence against humans and animals in video games did not necessarily lead to increased aggression levels in real life towards animals. Thats not surprising since theres a

clear difference between harming virtual beings in a game and actually harming others in real life. I think its fair to say that most people wouldnt start attacking dogs and cats just because they attacked an enemy in a video game. It can be concluded that while violent video games do seem to be more stimulating, they people not make people have aggressive tendencies in real life. Saleem, Muniba, Craig A. Anderson, and Douglas A. Gentile. "Effects of Prosocial, Neutral, and Violent Video Games on College Students' Affect." Aggressive Behavior 38.4 (2012): 263-71. Print. Their study found that pro-social video games reduced hostile, aggressive, and unkind feelings while simultaneously [increasing] positive affect compared to either neutral or violent games. Violent video games had the opposite effect, increasing hostile, aggressive, and mean feelings while decreasing positive affect compared to neutral or pro-social games. The study was done to find short-term changes in feelings as a result of playing violent, neutral, or prosocial games. Based on this, it can be concluded that games can have a short-term influence on how people act based on the content of the game. However, Im doubtful this study on the short term influence of video games on feelings can be used to predict long term changes in personality based on what games a person plays. Many things in this world can influence your personality, but you are the one that ultimately creates it. Ive personally played violent video games before, but playing them hasnt made me a violent person.

Glass, Brian D., W. T. Maddox, and Bradley C. Love. "Real-Time Strategy Game Training: Emergence of a Cognitive Flexibility Trait." PLoS ONE 8.8 (2013): 1-7. Print. Their study involved using real-time strategy games to test whether or not games could potentially increase cognitive flexibility. After experimentation, they found that playing the real-time strategy game Starcraft 2 did increase cognitive flexibility over time, stating that meaningful cognitive change occurred when playing the game, since it required a sufficient level of simultaneous information and action coordination. They explained their findings by suggesting that the more switching and maintenance of information required for success in the game, the greater the games capacity to increase cognitive flexibility. The study reveals that challenging video games that require strategy, practice, and adaptation in order to succeed can potentially increase mental capacity, challenging the notion that video games can only be simple-minded time-burners.
VAN ROOIJ, ANTONIUS,J., et al. "Video Game Addiction and Social Responsibility." Addiction Research & Theory 18.5 (2010): 489-93. Print.

Their study found that playing video games too excessively can be severely disruptive to school, work, and real life social contacts. In addition they found that mass multiplayer online video games were more often associated with video game addiction because of the increased social aspect of these types of games. I think that their claims make sense, but I also feel like other forms of entertainment that are not nearly criticized as much as video games, such as T.V. or reading would similarly be severely disruptive if done excessively. Regardless, based on the article, it can be concluded that video games should be played in moderation and that caution should be taken to ensure it doesnt disrupt any real life obligations, especially when concerning massive multiplayer online games.