The effect of playing video games on the social development of children and adolescents is certainly the greatest cause of concern to the public, and is a commonly researched area. Studies have investigated aspects ranging from the addictive potential of these games - and their similarity to fruit machines in this respect - (Griffiths, 1991) to their incorporation into the psychotic phenomenology of brain-damaged patients (Spence, 1993). Addiction, aggression, the social role of video games, and cognitive and physiological effects seem to be the main areas of investigation.
Addiction
Video games have been dubbed "the marriage of television and the computer" (H. Gardner, cited in Greenfield, 1984). Greenfield (1984) has suggested that visual action "is an important factor in attracting the attention of young children to the screen", and that the potential for "active control" (controlling what happens onscreen) is the fundamental reason children prefer playing interactive video games to passively watching television. As video games combine many of the elements of traditional children’s pastimes (i.e. watching television, playing board games, role playing) it is not surprising they feel so compelled to play them.
Griffiths (1993) proposes that there are two types of video game addict - the first type ("primary addiction") is addicted to the machine itself, and plays "to test their skills, to get social rewards and most of all for [arousing properties]". Players with "secondary addiction" play as a form of escapism, treating games as "electronic friends". These individuals fit the media stereotype of the socially isolated video game ‘addict’ (although in this case the player is only using the machine to avoid other problems, such as domestic difficulties or physical disability). Griffiths adds that this classification would establish the incidence of "clinically significant problems" with video game addiction. Much of the research into video games suffers from the lack of anything resembling specific clinical terminology; a clear lexicon would benefit the area significantly.
Attempts to identify video game addiction in children and adolescents have had varying results. In many samples, "heavy users" have been found who "sacrifice the buying of food, clothes and cinema visits, as well as sporting activities, in order to play video machines" (Fisher, 1994). Griffiths (1991) has suggested "playing a video game could be considered a non-financial form of gambling" and, taken to excess, could be seen as a "non-substance form of addiction". Fisher continued investigation along this chain of thought, presenting 493 secondary school children with a modified version of the DSM-IV questionnaire (used to determine pathological gambling in adults), altered to detect pathological video game playing (see Appendix). 6% of the children questioned were defined as "pathological players", scoring four or more items on the index.
Griffiths (1993) has stated that excessive video game playing can have "potentially damaging effects upon a minority of individuals who display compulsive and addictive behaviour, and who will do anything possible to ‘feed their addiction’." Monitoring these individuals would enable the identification of the root causes of their pathological play, and the impact of such behaviour on social life. One such study was carried out by Keepers (1990), who observed pathological preoccupation with video games in M.E., a 12-year old boy. The child had been playing video games at local arcades for 4 to 5 hours a day for the past 6 months. A single day’s play would cost between $30 and $50; the child had obviously been stealing to play. M.E. had also been avoiding school and ignoring old friendships, preferring to associate with other boys whose activities also centred on video games.
After the failure of traditional behavioural therapy methods M.E. was asked to design his own game, and from that gradually talked about his feelings of helplessness and fear of his father. M.E.’s pathological playing was, in fact, a partially successful adaptive response (time spent at the video arcade also meant he could physically avoid his father, and the tense situation at home). Marital and family therapy followed, resulting in parental separation, and 6 months later M.E. no longer exhibited this adverse behaviour (Keepers, 1990). This detailed examination of a single case study provides more insight into ‘addiction’ to video games than can be determined in even the most detailed questionnaires, lending support to Griffiths’ suggestion that much can be learned from studying the definite ‘addicts’ (although most research concludes that only a small minority of video game players develop addictive behaviour patterns).
Aggression
In recent years, the issue of violence in video games has increasingly overshadowed the potential dangers of addiction. Although the combative nature of game software has always been a cause of concern, the increasing level of realism in video graphics and sound has intensified the debate over game-related violence. The argument (often put forth by politicians and the media) is that violent video games result in increased levels of aggression in those that play them. Both Griffiths (1997b) and Scott (1995) have pointed out inconsistencies and a lack of concrete empirical data in research backing up claims that playing aggressive games does, in fact, make players more aggressive.
Social learning theory hypothesises that violent video games will promote aggressive behaviour in children, who would imitate what they see onscreen. Conversely, catharsis theory suggests that aggressive games will channel latent aggression and thus have a positive, soothing effect on a child’s behaviour. These dual theories have been used to address concerns about violence in films and television, but the interactive role of individuals playing video games suggests that effects there (if any) will be greater. This argument has been countered by those who argue video game graphics are not as realistic as film and television, and comparisons to cartoon violence are more appropriate. However, in recent years computer graphics have become remarkably realistic (Scott, 1995) with many games using the now-common CD-ROM format to show video footage of real actors, or depicting highly detailed three-dimensional characters. Indeed, most games are now developed in 3D, and market tastes have indicated that the more realistic a game is, the better it sells. As movie-quality images and virtual reality technology enhance realism, game content must be evaluated from the participants’ perspective (Funk & Buchman, 1996).
Griffiths (1997b) comprehensively reviewed a number of studies examining the relationship between video games and aggression. The majority of studies reviewed included observational, self-report and experimental methods to obtain their results. Cooper and Mackie’s (1986, cited in Griffiths) observations of ten year-old children concluded that playing or watching violent video games had a significant effect on girls’ aggressive behaviour, but not that of boys. Silvern and Williamson (1987, cited in Griffiths) found that even much younger children also became more aggressive when observed during play after experiencing an aggressive video game. Observational studies often agree that young children do experience an increase in aggressive behaviour after playing violent video games, although Griffiths (1997b) suggests that the methodology (observational analysis of free play) may contribute to the effect. In the case of older game players, Spence (1988) reported that video games averted violence by releasing tension; his work focused on youths with emotional and behavioural problems (and often violent case histories).
Self-report studies are another common method of research. Anderson and Ford (1986) measured the hostility of undergraduates after playing a video game, using the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist. They found that playing aggressive video games can have a negative effect on the emotional state: players showed increased hostility and anxiety. Similarly, Griffiths and Hunt (1993, cited in Griffiths 1997b) found that video game playing adolescents reported that violent video games made them more aggressive. This finding was highly significant when correlated with the frequency of play. However, correlational evidence is prone to criticism; positive correlations could be interpreted the other way round (i.e. violent individuals prefer playing video games). Also, correlations needn’t be directly related - a host of intermediate factors (social status, education, personality etc) probably intervene between video game violence and aggressive behaviour.
Experimental studies have come to various conclusions. Many of the measures of "aggression" in young children are gauged from their performance in role-play situations, yet this may not translate into a ‘real-life’ aggressive effect. As the children are only engaging in some form of fantasy violence in the experimental situation and not real violence, they could just be acting in line with catharsis theory: behaving aggressively in what they see as ‘play’ with the experimenter. Ethical considerations mean it is impossible to study seriously aggressive behaviour in the laboratory.
Scott (1995) investigated the effects of playing several video games (with varying amounts of violence) on university undergraduates. Aggressive affect (rather than overt aggression) was measured using the Buss-Durkee Inventory, which groups items into sub-scales of various aspects of aggression and hostility (providing a finer analysis of the concept of ‘aggression’). Scott pointed out flaws in previous experiments, claiming that many games categorised as non-aggressive (such as Pac-man) still involved themes of violence and conflict. However, veteran video games designer Chris Crawford (1982) claims that "Conflict is an intrinsic element of all games. It can be direct or indirect, violent or non-violent, but it is always present in every game". Even Scott’s choice of non-violent game (the popular puzzle game Tetris), requires players to ‘battle’ against an time limit as they manipulate geometric blocks falling down the screen; failure results in the end of the game.
Tetris does not contain scenes of violence like those in Scott’s most violent game (Fatal Fury, a ‘beat-em up’ where the goal is to pummel a human opponent into submission using an array of martial arts moves), but Scott found that only those who played Tetris (the non-aggressive game) showed any increase in aggressiveness afterwards. Scott expected a linear increase in aggressive affect after playing "non-aggressive, moderately aggressive and highly aggressive games", but no such increase was found. He concluded that his study showed "the need [to] consider the strength of individual differences when researching the effects of video games on feelings of aggression", warning against glib generalisations in the face of complex interactions between such variables as age, gender, experimental duration, personality traits, expressed hostility and exhibited aggression (Scott, 1995). Scott’s results are perhaps not as surprising as they might seem; Tetris is a game with a very simple concept but can prove extremely frustrating, particularly to novice players. As mistakes are made the tower builds up, gradually leading to the end of the game (resulting in feelings of self-criticism). With Tetris, there is no easy way to blame the computer for your own bad performance!
Griffiths (1997b) draws a connection between the various types of games available, and the likely violent content of each game. He goes so far as to propose nine categories of video games (see Appendix). In 1993, Griffiths suggested that "particular types of games have very positive effects, while others are not so positive". Researchers who struggle to define games should, he suggests, turn to the vast amount of literature available in game magazine reviews. These reviews also rate games on a number of different dimensions, including graphics, sound, playability, long and short-term ‘lastability’ as well as an overall rating. If those who play the games "work with this degree of definitional refinement, it follows that researchers should do also" (Griffiths, 1993). The adoption of global classifications for the various video game genres would be a useful step on the road to conformity for many researchers.