June 12th, 2009 by Katrin Becker
Here’s a well-written explanation for why most of the media-effects studies really don’t tell us anything:
WHY VIDEO GAME RESEARCH IS FLAWED
By CHRIS LAVIGNE
Studies that spread the idea that video games are harmful to children are conducted by researchers whose knowledge about video games is embarrassingly poor.
May 25, 2009
What do 23 martial-arts fighters have in common with a talking Australian marsupial? According to one team of video game researchers, they’re identical.
Last year, the journal Aggressive Behavior published a study by a group of Dutch psychologists examining gaming and violence in children. As in most video game research, a lack of fundamental video game knowledge led to a study no gamer would consider credible.
Read the whole article here
Posted in Academia, Anti-Games, Game Studies, General, Trouble in River City, Violence | No Comments »
May 17th, 2008 by Katrin Becker
Some years ago I was at a conference where Dmitri Williams was talking about the social history of videogames. He made reference to this song as a way of illustrating how the societal reaction to videogames isn’t really new. Since then I’ve thought about re-working (OK maybe perverting a little) the lyrics to match the current denunciation of our newest medium (with apologies and all due respect for the original composer Meredith Willson (1902-1984). For a dictionary of the original terminology, see: http://www.sewickley.org/~kcerny/LowerSchool/divisionmusical/TheMusicManDictionary.htm
Ya Got Trouble (original lyrics found here)
Read on to see my updated lyrics….
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Anti-Games, Educational Technology, Game Studies, Games in Society, Silliness, Trouble in River City, Violence, Virtual Learning Environments | No Comments »
March 10th, 2008 by Katrin Becker
does NOT necessarily cause violence, according to a new study: Grand Theft Childhood, by Lawrence Kutner & Cheryl B. Olson (more here: http://www.gamecouch.com/2008/02/interview-dr-cheryl-olson-co-author-of-grand-theft-childhood/)
In 2007, results from a breakthrough Harvard video game study found that children used video games to manage their feelings, the stereotype of the socially stunted gamer was a myth, and there was no obvious connection between violent games and youth crime.
Well, cool.
It’s so nice to see real evidence for something many of us who are researching games already thought was true.
OpenEducation.net did an in depth review of the topic of violent video games that included an interview with one of the authors of the book. They broke the topic out into three posts:
- http://www.openeducation.net/2008/03/16/shoot-em-up-video-games-the-cause-of-greater-anti-social-behaviors-in-teens/
- http://www.openeducation.net/2008/03/17/author-reveals-the-surprising-truth-about-violent-video-games/
- http://www.openeducation.net/2008/03/18/experts-state-do-not-banish-instead-manage-violent-video-game-play/
Posted in Books, Game Studies, Games, Games in Society, Violence | 1 Comment »
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