Bad Science Distorts "Video Games Cause Violence" 'Study'

University of Missouri Study makes non-connection

Posted by Staff
Bruce D. Bartholow - Associate Professor
Bruce D. Bartholow - Associate Professor
When a University releases information that begins: 'Scientists have known for years that playing violent video games causes players to become more aggressive', you know you're entering the dark world of 'Bad Science' + Funding.

The main reason for this is that 'Scientists' here are being deliberately confused with 'psychologists', and 'have known' is being confused with 'have conjectured'.

So, why would the University of Missouri announce this?

Aside from getting publicity for its faculty based on a current cultural demon, the 'facts' derive from a study of 70 people over a 25 minute period.

Let's let UM describe Bruce Bartholow, associate professor of psychology in the MU College of Arts and Science's experiment:

"70 young adult participants were randomly assigned to play either a nonviolent or a violent video game for 25 minutes. Immediately afterwards, the researchers measured brain responses as participants viewed a series of neutral photos, such as a man on a bike, and violent photos, such as a man holding a gun in another man’s mouth.

"Finally, participants competed against an opponent in a task that allowed them to give their opponent a controllable blast of loud noise. The level of noise blast the participants set for their opponent was the measure of aggression."

That's right, the universally accepted measurement of aggression - or the 'Make Some Noise' gauge - was used.

"The researchers found that participants who played one of several popular violent games, such as Call of Duty, Hitman, Killzone and Grand Theft Auto, set louder noise blasts for their opponents during the competitive task – that is, they were more aggressive – than participants who played a nonviolent game."

Dr Bartholow concludes (in the press release), "More than any other media, these video games encourage active participation in violence."

Strangely, however, he and the University appear to have excluded a control group and also any participants in the 25 minute study of fewer than 100 people who had: watched a violent movie, played a violent piece of music, watched a violent play, played a game of British Bulldog or American Football... in fact any other comparable activity.

We did an experiment earlier that proves that drinking coffee is the sole cause of making all humanity want to urinate. We gave two people coffee and then waited.



Source: UM

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