Level Up

Video games have become increasingly bought in todays’ society, with the most popular for adolescent boys being violent. Games such as “Call of Duty”, “Grand Theft Auto”, and “Assassins Creed”, involve first-person visuals of mass amounts of violence and are some of the most popular games. The actions of fighting, stealing, and shooting involved in these games has been accused of causing aggression leading to public violence in the world. On the other hand, some might view violent war games as propaganda that can help prepare future soldiers for the traumatic events they will encounter.

The website, http://videogames.procon.org/#Background, provides valid evidence for both sides of the argument on video game violence. Below are the two sides of the argument listed on the website:

Pro-games:

Game sales have increased while juvenile crime rate has decreased
Studies claiming a causal link between video game violence and real life violence are flawed
The US Supreme Court ruled that violent video games do not cause aggressive actions
Players are able to release stress and anger in games
Gamers can distinguish between violence within a game and appropriate behavior in the real world
The population that plays violent games is too large to show a causal relationship with people who commit violent crimes
Many risk factors are associated with youth violence, but video games are not among them.
Violent video games provide opportunities for children to explore virtually the consequences of violent actions and to develop their moral compasses.
Statistically, gun violence is less prevalent in countries with high video game use.
The competitive nature of a video game is what arouses aggression, not the level of violent content.

Anti-games:

Playing violent video games causes more aggression, bullying, and fighting
There is broad consensus among medical associations, pediatricians, parents, and researchers that violent video games increase aggressive behavior
Many perpetrators of mass shootings played violent video games
Violent video games desensitize players to real-life violence
By inhabiting violent characters in video games, children are more likely to imitate the behaviors of those characters and have difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy
Exposure to violent video games is linked to lower empathy and decreased kindness
Video games that portray violence against women lead to more harmful attitudes and sexually violent actions towards women
The American Psychological Association (APA) lists violent video games as a risk factor for aggressive behavior
Video games encourage and reward violent behavior
The US military uses violent video games to train soldiers to kill

The website provides a strong argument for both sides that is backed up with observed evidence. I personally am not a fan of violent video games because I find it unnecessarily aggressive, but I do not believe they have a connection to violent acts in the community.

Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game

I chose to review The American Psychological Association’s Review and the U.S. News’ article.

The APA’s segment does provide sufficient evidence that there is a correlation between increased aggression and playing violent video games. There isn’t enough conclusive data to say that there is a link between criminal violence and playing violent video games. This is mainly because there are too many other circumstances surrounding the people who play these video games to absolutely connect the two.

The U.S. News article focuses more on the subject of free speech and artistic expression than on scientific data backing the claim of video games don’t produce violence. The author points out that there is a rating system for video games that consumers can review before purchasing a game, and that there is no difference between game development and other artistic endeavors such as painting or film animation. The author uses FBI statistics of youth violence and consumer reports to prove that the increase of purchasing violent video games doesn’t increase actual violence (the FBI reports it has decreased over the years).

I tend to believe the APA’s review is more trustworthy than the U.S. News’ piece. First, the U.S. News article was written by the man who is the president/CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, or ESA, the company that represents video and computer games in trade. Some members of the ESA include Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft, and Sega. Why would he want to write about something that could hurt his prospers? The article also provides no true or cited numerical data over the issue. Here is the APA’s full report over their review. On the other hand, critics have claimed the APA report doesn’t define aggression well at all, and that many people conducting the research are adamantly against video games, creating a bias.

Personally, I could care less about what happens with the future of video games. If one replaced video games with books or movies, however, then I would have a different opinion over the matter. I don’t believe video games are on the same playing field as movies, books, or art (specifically paintings). These three things have characters that exist of themselves; you are not those characters. A person can see aspects or representation of themselves in the character, but the consumer does not control the character at all. I can cry and throw my book against the wall, but it doesn’t change the fate or plot of my favorite characters.

Video games exist as an entirely different media. You can change the entire outcome of the game whenever you choose. You are controlling a meta-representation of a multitude of your own characteristics through an avatar of some sorts. Maybe these characteristics suggest you’re just really competitive, you really like how the game makes a ding noise every time you level up, or maybe you do like to be violent and act through those impulses in a virtual environment. Whatever the case, the controlling part of the violent video game makes it so much different than a violent book or movie. This is mainly my defense for why violent art, books, or movies should not be banned at all as compared to video games. Actually, a question I’d like answered would be why people are okay with banning certain books and movies, but when it comes to video games, it’s suddenly hurting a work of art or an abomination of free thought and expression.

Anyways, I am suggesting violent video games should probably be banned to a certain age demographic. Kids are more likely to be modeling to a certain degree the media they consume, especially when they are the ones controlling the character. This is no reason to have kids completely stop playing them at all. Even though I have a distinct lack of knowledge about the gaming world, I know there are plenty of video games interesting and engaging enough for young kids without the violence aspect. A ban would open the doors for those games to flourish, hopefully keep parents more aware of what their child is being exposed to, and create ways for more aggressive video games to exclusively cater to older consumers without having to worry about younger children being involved or exposed.

Week 7 Blog Prompts – Learning

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Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the Tag “Learning” on your post.

Option 1:

Skinner passionately believed in the power of operant conditioning. He thought it was such a powerful influence that it proved free will is an illusion. See Skinner make this claim here. You can read more about “radical behaviorism” at this link. After reading these sources, find another source that either defends or contradicts Skinner’s claim, then respond to Skinner’s assertion that there is no such thing as free will. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Make sure to discuss the strength of the arguments for an against and the credibility of the sources.

Option 2:

Violence in the media has been controversial for decades, but over the last 20 years there has been increasing attention to the amount of violence in video games. The rise of first-person shooters and games with graphic displays of blood and gore has led to criticisms of the video game industry and claims that children are becoming more violent as a result. For this blog post, find a source on each side of the debate and summarize their arguments. Also critique how trustworthy you find each source and decide whether or not you think violent video games should be allowed or permanently banned.

I look forward to seeing what you write!

Header image: CC by Flickr user Caitlinator

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Autism and Magic

I was really intrigued by the first video I watched. I’ve always been curious about magic and how exactly magicians are able to pull off the tricks they do. I’m definitely one of those people that try extremely hard to figure out how the tricks are done, but usually to no avail. It seems like no matter how hard I pay attention, I still can’t figure them out. So it was interesting to me to learn that our brains can be tricked by something seemingly as simple as curving your hand upwards and that even a person’s face can be distracting enough for a trick to be pulled on you. While I was watching the video, I literally had to fight every instinct in me to watch the magician’s other hand in order to see through the trick. The second video made perfect sense. After watching the first one and seeing how they deceive us, I used what little knowledge I had about autism to sort of guess why they are able to see through the illusions. I found the article interesting as well. It seemed to follow along with the second video in the way that it talks about impaired prediction leading to anxiety. If you are unable follow social cues like the video mentions, then it could be hard to predict when something is about to happen which can create anxiety. For example, when you’re talking to someone and they look behind you at another person walking up, you can turn and see that they are coming but if the person you are speaking to does nothing, the person walking up could give you a scare. This obviously doesn’t cover all of the issues people with autism deal with, but it could definitely be a small portion of it. In my opinion though, I think it would be difficult to use magic to help people with autism. Just like I was going against my nature to look at the magicians other hand, I think you would have to ask people with autism to go against themselves in a way to pay close attention to the cues of the magician. So while I do think it would be hard, I wouldn’t say that it is necessarily impossible and if it could help people with autism, it’s definitely worth a try.

Week 6 Blog Prompts: Sensation & Perception

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Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the Tag “Sensation & Perception” on your post.

Option 1:

Synesthesia is a condition in which people’s perceptions of one sense activates another (for example hearing colors or seeing sounds). Watch Daniel Tammet explain his experience of synesthesia in a TED Talk entitled “Different Ways of Knowing.” Share your reactions to this video and discuss how you think this condition would affect someone’s day-to-day life. You also need to find an internet source which provides more information on the condition. Make sure to critique the credibility of the internet source and provide a link to the source in your post.

Option 2:

Can we use magic to help people on the autism spectrum? This is actually a serious question. There is some evidence that people on the autism spectrum are less likely to be fooled by the slight of hand on which magicians rely. For this post, watch this video from the PBS show NOVA where neuroscientists work with magicians to understand how the way the brain processes visual information plays into magic. Then watch this brief clip also from NOVA about the potential for magic to give insight into or potential serve as treatment for autism and read this article from the LA Times about a new theory of autism as a “magical world” (the journal article upon which this story is about is available here). Share your reactions to these materials and discuss whether or not magic could be used to help those with autism.

I look forward to seeing what you write!

Header image: CC by Flickr user Caitlinator

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Implications of Altering Memory

Memories, from a philosophical view they can be seen as the key strands that tie a person together. It is what connects someone all the way through their lives, if their memories were to be lost some philosophers believe that they are not even the same person anymore. It seems outrageous that something so important in determining how people think and act can be fabricated so easily. The idea that some of the moments that define you could just have been planted or altered by someone else is frightening, and its implications are almost endless.

With Loftus’ experiments and research it appears that a great deal of people are easily susceptible to alterations in memory. It ranges from simple changes such as a different color or additional object in a memory, but reaches the possibility of adding new memories from nothing simply by leading the subject. Just a few minutes, some substantial back story, a few believable lies, and suddenly you could remember laying back on the beach two years ago having the time of your life with your significant other. When in reality you hadn’t met them yet, you were working during that time, and you don’t even like the beach. The capabilities of this study truly scare me. I hold my memories very highly, because I do believe that my past experiences make me who I am today. What if some of those memories though, the ones that I cherish, or the ones that torment me weren’t even real? Would that mean that who I am now, was just a lie, a fraud that was created from a fake memory.

This is why even though I could see the beneficial outcomes that implanting memories could have for children, addicts, people who wish to better themselves, and others I cannot put them over the cons. The horrifying idea that we could be built and altered not by our choices and the paths we take, but by someone who can cut into our memories and insert their own concepts, histories, memories, or even their own desires. In our lives we are influenced by so many outside sources some can be good, others can be bad, but this, this takes the chance out of everything. This is continuing with the intent of molding someone or at least an experience that someone had based off of personal opinions that may not even be right.

I Should Be Studying

As I’ve mentioned before, I had Ian for my CI class last semester. He taught us many of the studying and memorizing tips we are going over now, and our CLs reiterated what he said and threw in some tips of their own. The tips and tricks worked as my test grades steadily rose in the class, and I was a moderately happy camper in the end.

Unfortunately, I have no self-discipline, and I’m a giant idiot. I didn’t study like I did at the end of CI class at the beginning of this semester; I studied like the beginning of last semester. I didn’t study on a weekly basis or in increments. I studied everything four days before the test, and I just read over my notes. I copied them over three times and skimmed some of the practice questions in the books. I knew the test was going to be very specific, but I was content in pretending it wasn’t going to be for the time being until I got actually saw the questions on the test and started internally screaming.

If I could go back in time and change my study habits for the last test, I would first punch my past self in the face. Then I would make sure I was reviewing and going over the material well before the test, so it’s processed better in my memory, and I’m not trying to cram so much information in my mind at the last second. I would go to this handy website and make my own exams to simulate the testing environment. I’d still rewrite my notes again because frankly my notes are a mess, and it still engrains some of the basic information in my mind too. If I had long texts like books or plays for English classes, I would create mind maps of the chapters, and for German, I would do practice questions and practice tests. When I actually did these things last semester, it was less stressful and kind of fun to read over and learn everything.

A website I’ve used to find study hints and inspiration is the other blogging platform Tumblr. Tumblr also uses tags in the posts, and the tags “studyblr” and “studyspo” are used to give people tricks and motivation for studying. One of the bigger blogs with this theme is called Elk Studies. Elk Studies is ran by an eighteen year-old Irish girl who is very determined to become a zoologist one day, and she posts about her studying habits and the materials she uses to study. Her studying tips line up pretty nicely with what we have discussed in class. Cramming is frowned upon, aesthetic note-taking is appreciated, the Pomodoro Technique is loved, and printables are the latest craze. She uses color-coding and reiterates the importance of talking to professors and attending office hours. Good sleeping habits and what makes a good studying environment are also repeated on her blog. Overall, it’s a great place to find what works best for you in terms of studying without feeling pressured to have to try anything. I highly recommend it even if you’re not on Tumblr.

Week 5 Blog Prompt – Memory

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Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the Tag “Memory” on your post:

Option 1:

Elizabeth Loftus is one of the preeminent researchers in false memories. Her research has shed light on the fallibility of eyewitness testimony, the over-reporting of satanic ritual abuse, and the ease of implanting false memories. Her TED talk outlines much of her research and illuminates the fragility of our memory. Watch the TED talk and discuss your reactions. Make sure to specifically address Loftus’s implication that we could manipulate memory for positive outcomes (like enjoying vegetables) by discussing potential pros and cons and stating whether or not you believe we should consider tampering with memory.

Option 2:

Now that we have discussed memory, evaluate your study habits. Describe how you studied for the first exam in this class and explain what you could do differently for the second exam to improve your preparation. Also explain why these differences would be better than what you did before. You also need to find a website that provides advice about studying and critique the recommendations based on what we discussed in class and what you read in your textbook.

Option 3:

You’ve probably heard our expectations have a powerful effect on our experiences, but just what kinds of effects are we talking about? What if our stereotypes of aging influenced how our memories decline as we get older? This research study makes that very claim, based on comparisons of groups with different attitudes toward the elderly. Read the article, summarize it’s main points for your readers, discuss the implications of this research, and comment on how trustworthy you find the research.

I look forward to seeing what you write!