video games affecting the brain?

Grossman has reviewed the research on the effects of video violence and concluded that we are programming our youth to violence through TV, movies, and video games. The exposure to violence desensitizes one to violence, and reduces inhibitions to commit and accept violence.

References:

Grossman, D., and DeGaetano, G. (1999). Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence, Crown Books (Random House),.

http://www.killology.com/new_media_vio.htm

The first article states that there is evidence to believe that TV watching increases perceptions of being rejected by others, which could be considered to be a potential precursor to violence. The second indicates that there is a link between violent TV, movies, and electronic games and violent acts.

“To conclude, the results of the present study suggest that not only the amount of an individual’s own television viewing is related to the perception that classmates are rather unfriendly, awkward, and unsupportive, but also the amount of television viewing of others living in the same country. This points to a possible extension of theories that assume that individuals’ media use changes their perception and interpretation of real-life events (e.g., Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gerbner & Gross, 1976; Shanahan & Morgan, 1999): Others’ television viewing can also contribute to changes in one’s perceptions and interpretations. The confirmation of such an extension constitutes a future research task. Finally, the finding that television viewing at both the individual and cultural level is associated with the perception that one’s own classmates are unfriendly, awkward, and unsupportive adds to concerns about excessive media use being a significant risk to children and adolescent health (e.g., American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001).”

Emmanuel Kuntsche, Mary Overpeck and Lorenza Dallago. Television Viewing, Computer Use, and a Hostile Perception of Classmates Among Adolescents From 34 Countries. Swiss Journal of Psychology 67 (2), 2008, 97–106.

“Based on theoretical considerations, we expected that aggressive emotions and aggressive knowledge structures are learned, trained, automatized, and reinforced by long-term exposure to media violence in three types of media (TV, H/V films, and electronic games). The causal sequence of exposure to media violence → aggression begins in elementary school. Our study confirms that this learning process leads to an increase in violence beliefs, students’ violence, delinquency, and, therefore, to a more aggressive personality and antisocial behavior.” (p. 93)

Werner H. Hopf, Günter L. Huber, and Rudolf H. Weib. Media Violence and Youth Violence A 2-Year Longitudinal Study. Journal of Media Psychology 2008; Vol. 20(3):79–96