Playing violent video games causes the development of aggressive behavioral scripts. A behavioral script is developed from the repetition of actions and affects the subconscious mind. An example of a common behavioral script is a driving script that tells drivers to get in a vehicle, put on a seat belt, and turn on the ignition. Similarly, violent video games can lead to scripts that tell youth to respond aggressively in certain situations. Violence in video games may lead to real world violence when scripts are automatically triggered in daily life. (Procon.org)
It is important to recognize that behavioral scripts do not function in isolation. With repetition, networks of related scripts are formed. Memories and experiences with similar meanings, and those that are often activated together develop the strongest associations. The entire network of scripts can then be activated by a variety of different stimuli. If activation occurs frequently over time, then certain scripts or script networks may become easily and chronically accessible, easily triggered, and resistant to change. Repeated exposure to violent video games may lead to the development of scripts in which aggression and violence are normative behavior, indicating desensitization to violence. The desensitized individual whose behavioral scripts are primarily aggressive may not be capable of inhibiting an aggressive response once these scripts are automatically activated. For example, an innocent nudge in a crowded school hallway may trigger scripts for aggression, and aggressive behavior may result. It is worth noting that related research demonstrates that aggressive scripts are especially resistant to change. (Funk)
A causal link between violent video games and violent behavior has not been proven. Many studies suffer from design flaws and use unreliable measures of violence and aggression such as noise blast tests. Thoughts about aggression have been confused with aggressive behavior, and there is a lack of studies that follow children over long periods of time. (Procon.org) Several recent reviews and meta-analyses of the game research make contrasting claims about the certainty and scope of game effects. This suggests that we have limited knowledge of what games do to or for people, and that we have even less understanding about the range of content. (Skoric) Research that tries to prove that video games cause violence lacks the use of longitudinal methods to prove their facts.
There are two potentially major gaps that have yet to be bridged. One is the basic question of method, and the other is a question of the generalizability of the stimuli chosen for study. There hasn't been studies employing longitudinal panel or experimental designs that would provide them with a better understanding of the long-term effects of games. Research suggests that the length of game play may be a vital factor even in the studies investigating short-term effects. The initial effects of many short-term laboratory studies might simply have been arousal that wears off to be replaced by boredom or fatigue, neither of which is thought to increase aggression. These laboratory-based experiments on games and aggression have also been assailed as unduly artificial, too short, and not representing the social context of game play. More importantly, for the field to establish a true long-term causal relationship between games and aggression, a longitudinal method must also be employed to help triangulate the findings. In other words longitudinal research is badly needed. (Skoric)
Generalizability of games has received little attention in the research to date, but it is equally, if not more, important. Generalizability in games varies both in content and the social context of play. The online database www.allgame.com lists descriptions of more than 38,000 different games across 100 platforms. To collapse this wide variety of content into a variable labeled "game play" is the equivalent of assuming that all television, radio, or motion picture use is the same. Moreover, even if we could agree about the presence or absence of violent content in a movie or video game, that would hardly improve their ability to predict its effects, given the powerful contextual moderators that have been identified in the literature. (Skoric)
The level of control granted to video game players, especially in terms of pace and directing the actions of their character, allows youth to regulate their emotional state during play. Research shows that a perception of being in control reduces emotional and stressful responses to events. (Procon.org) People that play violent video games exert control over what takes place on the screen. They are participants in a quasi-interactive system that allows them to regulate the pace and character of the game. This, in turn, gives them increased control over their own emotional states during play. A substantial body of research demonstrates that perceived control over events reduces the emotional or stressful responses to those events. (Goldstein) Violent video games act as a release of pent-up aggression and frustration. By allowing the child to channel his or her anger in a constructive way, video games are able to reduce the child's stress and act as a positive outlet. Children no longer throw tantrums or fight with siblings but passively act out their frustrations in a virtual world. (Kooijimaus) Video games help children minds escape from reality and focus on a fantasy world that doesn't take much thinking. It actually helps children to play video games when they are stressed so they don't go into crash mode.
In conclusion, there hasn't been enough absolute research that has proved that playing violent video games cause violence. The controversy is there, but researchers can't provide flawless evidence to back it up. Violent video games is the easy way out to blame children's violence. This controversy will always stir up arguments among Americans and the effects it has on real life encounters.
Works Cited
Dietz, Tracy. "An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games." 1998. video games. <http://videogames.procon.org/#Background>.
Funk, Jeanne B. "Exposure to Violent Video Games and Desensitization to Violence in Children and Adolescents." 2006. Video Games. <http://videogames.procon.org/#Background>.
Goldstein, Jeffrey. "Immortal Kombat: War Toys and Violent Video Games." Video Games. <http://videogames.procon.org/#Background>.
Kooijimaus, Thomas A. Effects of Video Games on Aggressive Thoughts and Behaviors During Development. December 2004. <http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/kooijmans.html>.
Moyer, Paula. Link Seen Between exposure to violent video games and aggressive behavior. 22 August 2005. <http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/511230>.
Procon.org. Video Games. 14 02 2011. <http://videogames.procon.org/#Background>.
Skoric, Dmitri Williams/Marko. "Internet Fantasy Violence: A Test of Aggression in an Online Game." 2 June 2005. video games. <http://videogames.procon.org/#Background>.