Gaming is Worse than Passive Smoking says Academic Quoting... Himself
And it gets worse....
Craig A. Anderson has a PhD in psychology from the prestigious Standford University. He is currently on the Executive Council of the International Society for Research on Aggression. He says that gaming is worse for you than passive smoking.
"Facts: Meta-analyses reveal that violent video game effect sizes are larger than the effect of second hand tobacco smoke on lung cancer, the effect of lead exposure to I.Q. scores in children, and calcium intake on bone mass. Furthermore, the fact that so many youths are exposed to such high levels of video game violence further increases the societal costs of this risk factor."
The thing is that Dr Anderson has been known to take the funding for his work from the decidedly anti-gaming lobby group, The National Institute on Media and Family. Also, let's look at the references quoted by Dr Anderson in his press release. A press release that also states in answer to his own 'Myth': "There are no studies linking violent video game play to serious aggression..."
"Facts: High levels of violent video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal behavior (e.g., self-reported assault, robbery)." So, no studies then.
So, references then:
Anderson, C.A. (in press). An Update on the Effects of Violent Video Games. Journal of Adolescence.
Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (1997). External validity of "trivial" experiments: The case of laboratory aggression. Review of General Psychology, 1, 19-41.
Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science, 12, 353-359.
Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2002a). The effects of media violence on society. Science, 295, 2377-2378.
Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2002b). Human Aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 27-51.
Anderson, C.A., & Carnagey, N.L. (in press). Violent evil and the general aggression model. Chapter to appear in A. Miller (Ed.) The Social Psychology of Good and Evil. New York: Guilford Publications.
Anderson, C.A., & Huesmann, L.R. (in press). Human Aggression: A Social-Cognitive View. Chapter to appear in M.A. Hogg & J. Cooper (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology. London: Sage Publications.
Bushman, B.J., & Anderson, C.A. (2001). Media violence and the American public: Scientific facts versus media misinformation. American Psychologist, 56, 477-489.
Bushman, B. J., & Huesmann, L. R. (2000). Effects of televised violence on aggression. In D. Singer & J. Singer (Eds.). Handbook of children and the media (pp. 223-254). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Rosenthal, R. (1986). Media violence, antisocial behavior, and the social consequences of small effects. Journal of Social Issues, 42, 141-154.
That's right, most of his references are... from himself or from a BJ Bushman.
Read the unbelievable 'truth' here.
Before that, you might also like to read this piece by the American Psychological Association regarding a work called "Media violence and the American public: Scientific facts versus media misinformation by Bushman, Brad J.; Anderson, Craig A."
The APA states, "Comments on an article by Bushman and Anderson (see record 2001-17729-001). We are concerned that Bushman and Anderson's article on media violence contains data that are incorrect or irreproducible."
We're not saying that Dr Anderson's claims are deeply, deeply flawed and derived from a skewed agenda of the sort promoted by the National Institute on Media and Family (which, for the record, closed its doors in 2009). We are saying that some peer reviewing might show a few anomalies.
"Facts: Meta-analyses reveal that violent video game effect sizes are larger than the effect of second hand tobacco smoke on lung cancer, the effect of lead exposure to I.Q. scores in children, and calcium intake on bone mass. Furthermore, the fact that so many youths are exposed to such high levels of video game violence further increases the societal costs of this risk factor."
The thing is that Dr Anderson has been known to take the funding for his work from the decidedly anti-gaming lobby group, The National Institute on Media and Family. Also, let's look at the references quoted by Dr Anderson in his press release. A press release that also states in answer to his own 'Myth': "There are no studies linking violent video game play to serious aggression..."
"Facts: High levels of violent video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal behavior (e.g., self-reported assault, robbery)." So, no studies then.
So, references then:
Anderson, C.A. (in press). An Update on the Effects of Violent Video Games. Journal of Adolescence.
Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (1997). External validity of "trivial" experiments: The case of laboratory aggression. Review of General Psychology, 1, 19-41.
Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science, 12, 353-359.
Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2002a). The effects of media violence on society. Science, 295, 2377-2378.
Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2002b). Human Aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 27-51.
Anderson, C.A., & Carnagey, N.L. (in press). Violent evil and the general aggression model. Chapter to appear in A. Miller (Ed.) The Social Psychology of Good and Evil. New York: Guilford Publications.
Anderson, C.A., & Huesmann, L.R. (in press). Human Aggression: A Social-Cognitive View. Chapter to appear in M.A. Hogg & J. Cooper (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology. London: Sage Publications.
Bushman, B.J., & Anderson, C.A. (2001). Media violence and the American public: Scientific facts versus media misinformation. American Psychologist, 56, 477-489.
Bushman, B. J., & Huesmann, L. R. (2000). Effects of televised violence on aggression. In D. Singer & J. Singer (Eds.). Handbook of children and the media (pp. 223-254). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Rosenthal, R. (1986). Media violence, antisocial behavior, and the social consequences of small effects. Journal of Social Issues, 42, 141-154.
That's right, most of his references are... from himself or from a BJ Bushman.
Read the unbelievable 'truth' here.
Before that, you might also like to read this piece by the American Psychological Association regarding a work called "Media violence and the American public: Scientific facts versus media misinformation by Bushman, Brad J.; Anderson, Craig A."
The APA states, "Comments on an article by Bushman and Anderson (see record 2001-17729-001). We are concerned that Bushman and Anderson's article on media violence contains data that are incorrect or irreproducible."
We're not saying that Dr Anderson's claims are deeply, deeply flawed and derived from a skewed agenda of the sort promoted by the National Institute on Media and Family (which, for the record, closed its doors in 2009). We are saying that some peer reviewing might show a few anomalies.