The
study of the effects of violent video games is still in its infancy,
despite years of research. The studies conducted can only really
detect immediate effects of violent video games. I will not dispute
whether or not video games affect children. We already know it does.
However, is the effect all it's cracked up to be? Or are we just
scaring ourselves?
Christopher
J. Ferguson comments on the work done by Craig Anderson. The
correlations that Anderson reports to be “positive
and statistically significant” (Anderson, Effects of violent video
games....) are not significant enough. The positive 0.15 correlation
found by Anderson is, by definition, a small correlation, in contrast
to a large correlation (+/-0.5) or a medium correlation (+/-0.3).
Additionally,
studies such as this test for immediate aggression following the play
of violent video games. It doesn't test whether or not this child
will commit serious violence to those around him. If this aggression
spike isn't residual, there is little risk of children committing
spontaneous acts of violence.
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