Paper Example on Violence Exposure & Its Impact on Child Development

Literature Review

It is widely known that a child becomes part of the environment in which they are exposed. It is a general convention that many people have held for long, and while most studies have focused on short term effects of violent games, recent studies have focused on long-term exposure. Hence, when exposed to a violent environment, participants become aggressive, and when exposed to a calm environment without violence, they become docile. Previous literature on the effects of violent video games on aggression shows that such videos increase the aggression of the person watching them. According to the General Aggression Model, the observed increase in aggressive behavior after watching violent video games is related to the violent content contained in the video. Since the non-violent video game lack violent content, the participants do not develop aggressive behavior. At times, it goes beyond violence. Shao and Wang (2019) evaluated the effects of family environment, violent video games on aggressive behavior and found that violent video games increase aggressive behavior in adolescent children. When the family environment is good, the effects of violent video games were directly related to aggressive behavior.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Long term exposure and short term exposure to violent games have different impacts. Kuhn et al. (2018) studied the long term exposure to violent behavior. Surprisingly, Kuhn et al. (2018) found no effects of violent video game exposure to aggression behavior. The study, therefore, provides evidence against he strongly held a debate about the relationship between violent video games and aggressive behavior. Although the study found that the previously held disposition is invalid, it established changes in behavioral, cognitive, and emotional changes. Besides, the study is fast to hold to test the effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior (Kuhn et al., 2018).

Previous studies have tested short term exposure to violent video games and found a positive correlation. Hence, the study is one of a kind, and there is a need to perform more studies to reproduce the results. It can, therefore, be noted the study is different from the previous studies and could be that the positive correlation occurs during short term exposure rather than long term exposure.

There are other pieces of literature that state that violent games decrease aggression rather than increasing it. According to Surmeli (2013), violent video games reduce aggressive behavior. For instance, Shao and Wang (2019) found that when the family environment is poor, violent video games have both direct and indirect effects on adolescent aggression. Other studies have found that violent games do not affect aggression (Surmeli, 2013). As a result, even after watching the violent video game, the participant does not develop aggressive behavior. This is a differing convention to what is generally known. It is also a new knowledge of previously unknown.

Different researchers have found differing results about the effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior. While these beliefs have been held for long, recent research appears to take a new direction. It is critically important to establish what makes the results differ. In this regard, Shao and Wang (2019) established that the inclination towards the conclusion that violent game videos increase aggressive behavior is as a result of publication bias. Hence, when one researcher presents a study with negative results and another with positive results, the latter is likely to be considered for publication.

Review of Research in the Journal Article

Adachi, P., & Willoughby, T. (2011). The Effect of Violent Video Games on Aggression: Is it more than just the Violence? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16(1), 55-62. doi: 10.1016/j.avb.2010.12.002

The study evaluated the hypothesis by focusing on the General Aggression Model. Using the General Aggression Model, the authors argue that violent video games have an antecedent variable of aggressive behavior. Hence, based on the model, engaging in violent video games triggers aggressive behavior, and such a person becomes violent. The degree is also a factor of consideration where the more one engages in watching the game, the more aggressive one becomes. This is in agreement with what has been established that long term exposure to violent video games increases the magnitude of aggressive behavior. Hence, the authors based their study on the General Aggression Model through which they derived their conclusions and developed a theoretical framework.

The study was based on a review of the previous literature that has been done on the same topic. Hence, the researchers evaluated the participants relied upon, and the tests that were done. The evaluation was followed by a close analysis to determine the perfect correlation between the variables. As a result, the following tests were used to unravel the limitations of previous studies.

To establish the relationship between the variables and the video game characteristics, the authors used the Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Test (TCRTT). The test was carried out in a laboratory, and the aggressive behavior measured right after the video gameplay ended. While in the laboratory, the participants were exposed to the video game and food preference then told two unrelated stories. The beat rate of their heart was measured immediately; the participants entered the laboratory. Also, the participants were made to complete a state hospitality scale and a hostility questionnaire. Another test that was involved was the Hot Sauce Paradigm, where a questionnaire was given and food preference. The participants completed several of the Hot Sauce Paradigm and results obtained for further analysis.

The hypothesis of the study conducted by Adachi and Willoughby (2011) was that cognition, affect, and arousal interacts ton influence an individual's appraisal of an aggressive act causing an impulsive action. Based on this hypothesis, and the theoretical model, the authors, developed variables as non-violent video games, violent video game, and aggressive behavior.

The authors evaluated the effects of non-violent video games and violent video games on aggressive behavior. The variables were tested against various characteristics such as competitiveness, the pace of action, difficulty and level of violence. These were the characteristics of the video game that might influence the cognition capacity of an individual and, consequently, the aggressive behavior. The authors found it useful to include them to determine their effects on the variables of the study.

Adachi and Willoughby (2011) found a strong conviction that violent video games facilitate the development of aggressive behavior. The authors argued that compared to the non-violent game, violent video games produces a greater magnitude of aggression. According to the authors, since violent video games have more violent content compared to the non-violent video games, their level of aggression is also greater. However, the authors did not rule out that nonviolent video games cannot lead to aggressive behavior because they do not have violent content. They asserted that the lack of positive correlation between non-violent video games and aggressive behavior could be because they are paced, difficult and competitive.

A non-violent video game that is paced, competitive, and difficult can as well give rise to aggressive behavior than a violent video game. The study found that the competitiveness, level of violence, pace of action and difficulty influence aggressive behavior. Studies that fail to match the non-violent or violent video games with such characteristics could have less aggression compared to the ones that matched the two. Violent video games increase levels of aggressive behavior. The study validated the knowledge that the high levels of aggression are linked to the unmatched factors that affect cognitive behavior and are the characteristics of the video game.

The authors used a widely used theoretical framework to derive its correlation and as such credible. The study provides crucial information at a time when there are divergence views about the topic. While there are studies that hold that violent video games have a positive correlation with aggressive behavior, some studies have found no correlation. There is also another group of studies that have found a slight correlation. Hence, providing further insight on the topic, the authors present a compelling study that is relevant at the current time.

However, the authors failed to state the hypothesis clearly and include a clear outline of how the study was carried out. It is not easy for one to identify the research questions, the variables, and elucidate the procedure authors followed in carrying out the research study.

References

Adachi, P., & Willoughby, T. (2011). The Effect of Violent Video Games on Aggression: Is it more than just the Violence? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16(1), 55-62. doi: 10.1016/j.avb.2010.12.002

Kuhn, S., Kugler, D., Schmalen, K., Weichenberger, M., Witt, C., & Gallinat, J. (2018). Does playing violent video games cause aggression? A longitudinal intervention study. Molecular Psychiatry, 24(8), 1220-1234. doi: 10.1038/s41380-018-0031-7

Shao, R., & Wang, Y. (2019). The Relation of Violent Video Games to Adolescent Aggression: An Examination of Moderated Mediation Effect. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00384

Surmeli, S. (2013). The effect of violent games on aggression Review. Maastricht Student Journal Of Psychology And Neuroscience, 1(2012). Retrieved from https://openjournals.maastrichtuniversity.nl/MSJPN/article/view/24