Video Games: Their Nature and Use

The excellent article by David Epstein, “Joystick Nation” and the excellent comment by Larry Gainor, “Games in Higher Ed.” present some important issues regarding the use of video games in education. I think this issue will be aided by an overall perspective on video games, which I attempt to provide here. If we are going to consider using video games in education we need to understand the nature of video games and their usage.

This paper contains a discussion of video games, and how video games, over time, have become both more complex and more violent. Then, I present some data from four Introduction to Psychology classes that I taught, where I got some perceptions from Hispanic college students about video games.

In a recent article, I noted that video games have, over time, become more complex and more violent (Eisenman, 2004). Data that support these conclusions comes from Electronic Arts (also known as EA). Below, bit refers to the complexity of the game. EA data from 1989-2001 shows increasing complexity with time, and observation of video games shows that they have become, on average, increasingly violent. The findings from EA are:

Sega, Genesis, 1989, cartridge, 16-bit Nintendo, Super NES, 1991, cartridge, 16-bit Matsushita, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, 1993, compact disk, 32-bit Sega, Saturn, 1995, compact disk, 32-bit Sony, PlayStation, 1995, compact disk, 32-bit Nintendo, Nintendo 64, 1996, cartridge, 64-bit Sony, PlayStation2, 2000, digital versatile disk, 128-bit Nintendo, Nintendo GameCube, 2001, proprietary optical format, 128-bitMicrosoft, Xbox, 2001, digital versatile disk, 128-bit

The increased complexity probably is a natural result of earlier things becoming more complex with time, as people become more used to them, more able to deal with greater complexity, and game inventors learn more about their craft and can thus create more detailed, imaginative, complex games.

The increased violence is probably the result of increased interest in violence—which is all around us, in life and in the news—and increased need for extreme stimulation to capture interest. Thus, earlier research found that video games did not lead to violence, but the video games used were relatively nonviolent. Today, a video game is much more likely to be violent and to lead at least some players to increase in violence, as research by Anderson shows (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Anderson & Morrow, 1995). Anderson’s research suggests that people become more violent in both the short run and the long run as a result of playing violent video games. While I am skeptical that everyone is so affected, it could well be that there are differences on the average, with players of violent video games having their violent tendencies increased over that of people who do not play violent video games. And, violence-proned people would seek out a game that involved violence, as it would appeal to them. From working in a prison, I learned that violent people love violence. They love doing it, seeing it, reading about it, etc.

Thus, in our society a technology has evolved, namely video games, that includes many violent video games. They are, on the average, more violent and more complex than they used to be, and this may actually increase violence in some. For others, it could lead to a coarsening of society, so that violence is not seen as that big a deal. A video game such as Grand Theft Auto seems to have people identify with gang members and their violence, thus glorifying anti-social values and behavior.

Perceptions of Hispanic College Students

Students at the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA), a Hispanic-serving university in Deep South Texas, near the Mexican border, participated in classroom discussions, regarding their playing and perceptions of video games. There were 200 students overall in this sample, with about an equal number of males and females. UTPA has the largest number of Mexican-American college students of any university in the United States, and the second largest number of Hispanics, second only to Florida International University in Miami, Florida, which has many Cuban students, as well as many nonCuban Hispanics. While some commute from Mexico to attend UTPA, most come from the Rio Grande Valley section of Texas, which is about 88% Hispanic, the same percentage that UTPA has of Hispanic students. I tried not to count, for this study, any statements made by students who seemed to be clearly nonHispanic. While there may have been some nonHispanics students included, the overwhelming Hispanic nature of the classrooms, and my attempt not to include nonHispanic student comments makes it likely that most of the 200 students polled were Hispanic. The students were from five Introduction to Psychology classes, and participated in the discussions with their teacher, as part of the regular class activity. Introduction to Psychology contains a large cross-section of students at UTPA, since it is required for many different majors. As at most universities in the USA, most students in Introduction to Psychology are not psychology majors.

The teacher discussed video games with his class, and got a show of hands to obtain the percentages reported below. I was the teacher for all the classes. While this could induce a bias into the research, it also meant that I could make sure that the teacher, me, was doing the same thing in all five classes.

First, it was found that 50% of the students (100 students) initially admitted to playing video games. But when it was suggested that perhaps others had played although perhaps not on a regular basis, the percentage went up to 75%. Thus, 150 of the 200 students said they had played video games, with about 50% of all students playing on a fairly regular basis, according to discussions and show of hands.

Second, when asked if video games were often violent, initially only 40% (80 of the 200 students) initially said that they were often violent. They claimed that video games are nonviolent. But, after discussion, which included mention by several of violent games, the figure rose to 75% who felt that video games are often violent. This would seem to indicate rational thinking after others corrected the misperception about violence in video games, but since a public show of hands was used, it could also be interpreted as conformity to the majority vote. One way or the other, many thought of video games as nonviolent, but soon changed their minds after information was presented about violence in video games. Perhaps the initial denial of violence was at attempt to be socially acceptable. Or, perhaps the students truly failed to see the violence in some of the games they were playing.

Third, only 20% of the students, 40 students in all, thought that playing violent video games could lead to violence. Even after discussion, this increased only to 25%, or 50 students overall who said violent video games might lead to violence.

Future studies might employ different methodologies, such as having students answer anonymous questionnaires, or interviewing students individually, about video games. Also, it might be valuable to see if having the person in charge not be the students’ teacher changes the results.

The present results suggest that Hispanic college students initially underestimate the violence in video games, but, when challenged, will recognize that video games are often violent. The present results also showed that 50% of Hispanic college students in this sample said they play video games on a regular basis (with regular not defined) while another 25% also play video games, although not as regularly. Thus, video games are an important part of the life of Hispanic college students. And, most do not perceive video games as leading to violence: only 20% did before discussion and 25% after discussion. Other ethnic and racial groups could be studied, to see what their perceptions are about video games, and if video games have different levels of appeal to them. One could also look for sex differences, since certain kinds of games may appeal more to men than women, and vice versa. Also, can video game playing become so extensive that the person is said, in some sense, to be addicted or dependent on video games? This interesting idea could be explored by studying people who play video games very frequently, possibly using self-ratings of dependency/addiction, as Eisenman, Dantzker, and Ellis (2004) did regarding drugs, sex, love and food.

References

Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior in laboratory and life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 772-790.

Anderson, C. A., & Morrow, M. (1995). Competitive aggression without interaction: Effects of competitive versus cooperative instructions on aggressive behavior in video games. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 1020-1030.

Eisenman, R. (2004). Video games: Technology and social issues. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 25, 170-174.

Eisenman, R., Dantzker, M. L, & Ellis, L. (2004). Self ratings of dependency/addiction regarding drugs, sex, love, and food: Male and female college students. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 11, 115-127.

Russell Eisenman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Texas-Pan American, at 5:22 pm EDT on October 26, 2005