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Guadalupe Ramos

Ms. Saravia

English 11-Period 6

2 December 2016

Changing Our Minds Without Us Knowing

Does videogames violence affect the mentality of the player? Much of the population

plays video games whether the be educational or just for fun. However, while playing we can

lose track of time, and cant be bothered to do anything else but play. Since the early 1980, the

dispute of whether violent video game would be affecting the people who play these game. The

split down the middle is the borderline between the emotional dispute and the scientific dispute.

The emotional argument comes from concerned citizens, usually parents and family, thinking

that videogames are harming their children in their opinion. However scientific facts and data

collected by research, though some outdated, must be useful with scientific dispute. Video

Games violence needs to be reduced significantly to protect the players and the public from

those influenced by the violence.

There are those that believe that violent video games dont lead to the player becoming

more violent. On the contrary they believe that playing these types of video games allow the

player to vent out their pent-up frustration and anger. Thus, relieving any violent acts the player

could have shown to another. As research was done on this growing topic, one person a Whitney

DeCamp did his own study. He discovered that playing violent video games, no matter how
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bloody, did not predict violent behavior. In fact, he goes as far as to suggest that violent video

games may help reduce societal violence than increase it. Tracking both sales and crime rates,

the authors discovered that general societal violence decreased in the weeks after the appearance

of a new edition of a popular title. Still, they make a bid for the games offering "cathartic"

effects, allowing players to safely release their aggression. (Scutti Susan). A. Scott

Cunningham of Baylor University, Benjamin Engelsttter of the Center for European Economic

Research in Mannheim, Germany, and Michael R. Ward of the University of Texas at Arlington

found that higher rates of violent game sales coincided with a drop-in crime, especially violent

crimes. They concluded that any negative behavioral effects playing violent games might have

are more than offset because violent people are drawn to such games, and the more they play, the

less time they have for crime. (Toppo Greg)

Some cant see video games a source that make player lose their sense of reality.

However, this is very possible with violent video games. As the gamers play these violent video

games for little to extended hours a day, their mind begins to alter. Researchers found that those

who played the violent video games showed less activity in areas that involved emotions,

attention and inhibition of our impulses. Behavioral studies have shown an increase in

aggressive behavior after violent video games, and what we show is the physiological

explanation for what the behavioral studies are showing, says Matthews. Were showing that

there are changes in brain function that are likely related to that behavior. (Park Alice) After

not being exposed to such games after a period of time, the brain returned to more normal

function, however the brains function werent the exactly the same as before playing the violent

video games. (Park Alice) Those who played a violent video game then participated in task

where they were to respond to violent and nonviolent words each assigned different colors. This
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was to test the Stroop effect where normally, there is a delay in identifying the color, since we

tend to process the meaning of the word we read first, before noting the color of the letters, all

while being scanned by a MRI machine. Those who played the violent video games showed

less activation in the emotional centers of the brain than those who didnt. (Park Alice)

These violent video games also influence the gamers that play them. Most of the popular

game titles focus on the negative themes. Studies of children exposed to violent media shown

that they may numb to violence, imitate the violence and show more aggressive behavior. (Video

Games and Children: Playing with Violence) Instead of punishing for killing the player is

rewarded in army and sniper games with level up, with this it can skew the young person's

perception of violence and its consequence. (Violence and Video Games) In these games

instead of watching the violence like on television, the player is committing them, which alters

the players thought patterns (in short term). (Violence and Video Games) Younger players and

those with emotional, learning and even behavioral problems are more likely to be influenced by

the violent images. (Video Games and Children: Playing with Violence) The brain changes

dont appear to be permanent, but documenting that the brain does change in response to playing

a violent game is a significant advance in understanding how young players may be affected by

these games. (Park Alice)

To protect all from further actions of those who are influenced by videogame violence,

the violence needs to be reduced significantly. Now is the time to stop the menace from

brainwashing to the player, now is the time save the rest.

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Work Cited

Park, Alice. "How Playing Violent Video Games May Change the Brain?" Green Pastures

Counselling Services. Time, Dec. 2011. Accessed 03 Nov. 2016.

Scutti, Susan. "Do Video Games Lead to Violence?" CNN. Cable News Network, 26 July 2016.

Accessed 03 Nov. 2016.

Toppo, Greg. Do Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior? Scientific American, 1 July 2015,

"Video Game Addiction." Violence and Video Games. Accessed 03 Nov. 2016.

"Video Games and Children: Playing with Violence." Video Games and Children: Playing with

Violence. June 2016. Accessed 03 Nov. 2016.

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"Violence in the Media Psychologists Study TV and Video Game Violence for Potential

Harmful Effects." Apa.org. Accessed 03 Nov. 2016.