Video Games and Their Effects - Assignment Example

Article Critique s Affiliation Video games and their effects Introduction A video game is an electronic game that consistsof human interaction with a player interface to produce visual feedback on a video device such as a screen. The word video refers to a display device that produces visual images and has evolved to produce images in two and three dimensions. The electronic devices that link up to make it possible for video gaming is called consoles. The history of video games dates back to mid-19th century when engineers and academics began producing and designing artificial intelligence programs as part and parcel of their computer science research projects. However, video game popularity reached its peak in the 1970s and 1980s after the introduction of arcade video games and gaming consoles. This paved way for the introduction of video games to the general public. Decades later, the evolution of very complex video games has led to a lot of "addiction" especially within children and young adults. It can also be attributed to the fact that parents have opted to buy video games and install them at home as a means of entertainment for their children. This has led to a lot of concerns among these parents themselves and teachers of these children who are of the view that these video games are consuming a lot of time and if the parents and guardians do not look into the matter today, these children will not grow up to be effective scholars. As a major public health concern, anger management deserves much concern. Anger-related behaviour such as aggression and violence has been named some of the many reasons children are brought in anger-management institutions for mental health services. Previous research using experimental manipulation and co relational methods has proved that exposure to violent media such as video games talked about earlier, causes children and young adults to behave in an aggressive manner. Research on violent media has explained the term aggressive behaviour as acts meant to injure or annoy another individual. According to Anderson and Bushman (2001), the use of violent video games has been related to aggressive cognition, aggressive affect and physiological arousal. There might be bi-directional causal influences at play; already aggressive children will more likely give the violent video game priority. Months later the effect of playing these violent games is experienced. The route or pathway through which media violence transforms to the aggressive behaviour is said to be cognitive, affective and social component of being. It can incorporate short-term and long-term influences. Cognitive components are responsible for incorporating representation of occurrences that can be expected to occur in real life, and how one should respond to such. They are established over a long period through observational learning (such as in video games) and positive reinforcement of action. These video games have violent scenes that according to sources has influenced childrens behaviour and school performance. Due to these reasons, research was conducted to examine the influence and truthfulness of video games influence on children behaviour and academic outcome. The relationship among child gender, playing context and parental monitoring were explored and related with information acquired through parent reports of child’s game play, overall behaviour and school performance. Article Critique Is the educational importance of the problem discussed? The quality of education is discussed as the underpinning theme as more children seem indulged in video games as opposed to learning. Children are mandated to make proper use of the opportunities availed to them and ensure their school behaviour and performance are no less than stellar. Video games, on the other hand, are considered the sentry-post to good school performance and behaviors in children (Hastings, 2009).Investigations have been carried out vis-à-vis different perspectives and views of a child, family or parent or guardian. Education quality relative to the study conducted will feature such things like the amount of time & space taken by children while playing video games and reasons as to why they lead to behavioural and academic outcomes. Review of related Literature There is view is deemed comprehensive by researchers who do not support video games. References cited in this study are credible hence relevant to the investigated problem. For example, the author has cited Anderson (2004), a researcher, who discovered that playing video games and real-life aggression are correlated with an effect size of about 0.26. Hypothesis Are specific questions to be answered listed or specific hypotheses to be tested stated? Specific questions have been laid out in the survey mailed to parents. For example parents were asked questions regarding their children’s time spent while playing video games. Questions such as whether the parent monitors their children while playing game and while not. These questions are straight to the point and clearly stated. Instruments Validity of the instrument discussed and appropriateness of coefficients given? All correlation coefficients reported are Pearson product moment correlation coefficient. For all results, only overall correlations are however reported especially when the difference in correlations between male and females is not significant. Instrument validity is high as most of the results and findings replicate previous work done on the same subject. Design and Procedure Is the design appropriate for answering the questions or testing hypothesis of the study? Participants of the study include approximately 70 children aged between six and ten years of age. Surveys done and completed were mostly from homes where both parents were present. Information was also gathered from single parents who were separated or divorced. There, however, was an age limit of 40 years for the parents supposed to answer & fill out the questionnaires. Results Is relevant descriptive or inferential statistics presented? Descriptive analysis is the method of study that uses descriptions as metaphors or guidelines relevant to the problem being investigated. Children will derive their bad behavior from the video games they play and showcase them in school and at home. It is a classic example of a descriptive statistic presented relative to the problem being discussed. Children who play more competitive activities are more likely to have improved competitive thoughts, emotions, and actions, and reduced the prosocial helping, according to a study (Hastings, 2009).The effect of movie gaming assault in children is complicated by the games entertaining characteristics. In many activities, children are compensated for being more competitive. The act of assault is done continuously and this example of an influential statistic. The child is in control of the assault and his own eyes (killings, throwing, stabbing and shooting). This active contribution, repeating and compensating are effective tools for learning actions. Indeed, many studies seem to indicate that competitive activities may be related to competitive actions. However, the proof is not reliable and this issue is far from resolved. Many experts such as Gretchen Jenkins of Boston Institution of Technology have said that there is a reduced rate of teenager criminal activity which correlates with the popularity of activities such as Loss of life Competition, Deadly Combat, Disaster and Huge Robbery auto. He indicates that young gamers are able to leave the psychological results of the experience behind when the experience is over. Indeed there are conditions of youngsters who make competitive criminal offenses who also spend a large period gaming such as those involved in the Columbine and Cardiff conditions (Hastings, 2009). Discussion (Conclusions & Recommendation) Results discussed in terms of hypothesis concur with previous studies? Although general findings are similar with those from previous the same researchers, this study has only employed its own findings in coming up with results such as tables and graphs. Results are in agreement with those of previous studies. Major findings include parents being a more reliable source of information for the regular daily lifestyles of siblings as they cope with games. Such is relevant to the parents social, economic status, daily attendance to support siblings, organize and plan stress free vacations for parents through fun family times. I would recommend the time taken by children while playing video games be monitored. Playing video games should not be banned, but children should be allowed to play them when for example they pass an exam. Reference Hastings, E.C (2009). Young Childrens Video/Computer Game Use: Relations with School Performance and Behaviour. The University of Florida, USA. Read More