In need of a 250 word response/discussion to each of the following forum posts. Agreement/disagreement/and/or continuing the discussion.
Original forum discussion/topic post is as follows:
Topic: Bandura
Albert Bandura was one of the early pioneers of research studying the effects of media on violent behavior in children. Please link to and read the following empirical article regarding violence and exposure to video games:
http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-136-2-151.pdf
Based upon the conclusions made by these authors and what you now know about both Learning and Social Learning Theory, what recommendations would you make to parents about video games? What recommendations would you make to video game developers?
forum response #1:
Video games initially emerged in the late 1970’s, in the 1990’s violent video games began surfacing. The first major first person shooter game was Wolfenstein 3D, released in 1992. Over 85% of video games contain some violence and over half of video games include serious violent actions (Carnagey, Anderson, & Bushman, 2007).
So what recommendations would I make to parents about violent video games? First I would tell them that they are going to find them with or without your consent. So do not keep them from you child. The more you keep it away the more likely they are to want it. Second I would tell them about the 2004 study by Douglas Gentile involving 600 eighth/ninth grade students. These students were required to complete a survey that asked questions about the types of video games they preferred and how violent they were. An important part of this study was the fact that the term violent was up to interpretation of the young students and a definition was not provided. The term violent is going to mean different things to each parents therefore it is quite difficult to analyze violent behavior. One parent may see a temper tantrum as violent behavior while another may feel it is normal for a toddler. This study provided a connection between video game violence and “aggressive/physical behavior” but provides zero feedback on the neurological or psychological harm allegedly associated. The real debate at hand is if children and adolescents are more hostile and aggressive because they were exposed to media violence, or if previously hostile adolescents are already drawn to violent media (Gnatt & Slife, 2015).
The last thing I would tell parents is that the effect of violent video games on aggression has been substantially overestimated because of publication basis. Wolfenstein 3Dcame out in 1992 and I was born the year after. I grew up with violent video games, my father would let me skip school and we would go to midnight releases at GameStop for video games. Did I become a more violent child because of it or was I already drawn to these types of games because I grew up with it? Who’s to say? I was not a perfect child nor was I violent. I was pretty normal just a little sassy. Either way I am currently in the United States Air Force and working towards my Master’s degree. I am not a violent, crazy, aggressive person that wants to kill people. Violent video games will not be the single thing that make your children violent. They will not single-handily turn your children into murders. Nurture and nature play a big part in their development. It is important to ensure you are moderating your child’s exposure to violence and you understand your child’s threshold for violence.
For video game developers I would tell them to ensure their games are accurately rated for an appropriate age group. Something that I believe is done properly.
Forum response #2:
In this article, the researchers found that exposure to violent video games was positively associated with aggressive behaviors, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive affect (Anderson et al., 2010). This means that kids who play violent video games more often also display these aggressive traits more often. These findings are consistent with what Bandura’s Social Learning Theory would likely suggest. Bandura believed that children could learn new behaviors simply by observing others (Crain, 2011). This suggests that children who observe violent and aggressive behaviors through playing video games can easily learn these behaviors. One recommendation that I would make to parents about video games is to be aware of the ratings of the video games that your children are playing to make sure that they are age appropriate. I would make a similar recommendation to video game developers to develop a rigorous, standardized method for evaluating and rating video game content to ensure that consumers are aware of the types of scenarios and behaviors a particular game includes. This information provides parents with information they need to decide whether or not a particular video game is appropriate for their child.
In their study, the researchers also found that playing violent video games is indeed a risk factor for long-term harmful outcomes such as aggressive behavior and aggressive thoughts (Anderson et al., 2010). This suggests that kids who play these violent video games are at risk of not only experiencing more violent and aggressive tendencies now, but they are also at risk for displaying future violent and aggressive tendencies. I would recommend that parents watch their children playing video games and to have a discussion about any troubling violent or aggressive behaviors exhibited in the game. Having a discussion about these behaviors and the difference between the consequences of these behaviors in the video game versus their real life consequences is important so that kids understand the real world impacts of the behaviors they are observing. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory suggests that direct reinforcement plays a pivot role in whether or not an observed behavior is repeated (Crain, 2011). If parents have a discussion with their children about the consequences of the behaviors observed in violent video games and the children are appropriately punished for any of these behaviors they act upon, it is likely that they will not go on to repeat these behaviors. Bandura also suggested that vicarious reinforcements can also impact whether or not an observed behavior is repeated (Crain, 2011). If children see others being rewarded for the violent behaviors portrayed in video games, they may be more likely to imitate these behaviors. My final recommendation for parents is to make sure that children have plenty of positive role models in their daily life from whom they can observe and learn positive behaviors.
Forum post #3:
This is a controversial topic, that in my opinion requires much more study. The social learning theory combines the cognitive learning theory and the behavioral learning theory. According to Bandura people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. Several studies have been conducted on the effects of violent media on children and nonetheless, several meta-analytic reviews have reported significant harmful effects of exposure to violent video games, both in short-term experimental studies and in cross-sectional correlational studies (Anderson et al., 2010). A few recent studies, have suggested that the effects of violent video games on aggression have been substantially overestimated because of publication bias and that therefore there is little to no evidence of a violent video game effect on aggression. Although there is little evidence I would argue that this is due to the lack of proper analysis and studies.
Aggression rates differ greatly across countries and cultures; cross-national comparisons have implicated various cultural variables as possible contributors to these differences. Children are increasingly becoming heavy media consumers. Research indicates that much of the media directed at children contains violent content. While media violence exposure may have short-term effects on adults, its negative impact on children is enduring. As this study suggests, early exposure to TV violence places both male and female children at risk for the development of aggressive and violent behavior in adulthood. Our text expresses that the power of observational learning is well documented (Crain, 2016). As a parent I do not allow my child to watch, nor to play violent media. In addition I would not recommend parents to allow their children to play violent games. Children observe and act, allowing them partake in violent media at a young age may lead them to believe that there is nothing wrong with such behavior. This can lead to aggressive behaviors and they may even believe that there is nothing wrong with the behavior as it is an observed behavior. As far as developers are concerned I would encourage them to refrain from violence in any type of games created for kids. They should focus on educational and developmental media.
The issue that I see with this is that no one can control what happens in someone else’s home. I know five year olds that play call of duty and the child’s parent sees nothing wrong with it. If a parent allows this in there home they have to deal with any consequences that arise from it. In a sense I believe that we are a product of our environment. If a parent is raised and taught that there is nothing wrong with early exposure to violence they will see nothing wrong with exposing there offspring. Again, this is a subject that can be widely debated and individual beliefs may play a part in what is considered to be harmful or not.
