Empathy Experiment

Studies have shown that repeated exposure to violent video games over time does affect the structure and functioning of the adolescent brain. The brain is a malleable and ‘plastic’ structure that can change and evolve with every stimulus we give it. Whether this stimulus comes from studying Spanish, training in basketball or playing a video game, every single input can affect the structure and functions of the brain if the conditions are right. While some video games enhance multitasking, visual perception and the brain’s ability to process information, research has suggested that violent video games can influence aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition and physiological arousal. A study conducted by Doctor Vincent Matthews and his colleagues at Indiana University School of Medicine have found that there were sustained changes in the regions of the brain associated with cognitive function and emotional control after a group of young adult men were playing violent video games for a week. Similarly, in laboratory studies, some researchers have found an increase of about four percent in gamers’ levels of aggression after playing violent video games. However, other research groups have concluded that factors such as family background, mental health and

Another set of randomized experiments also examined the effects of violent video games on psychology. In these experiments, after two groups of participants played violent or nonviolent video games, they were required to list their thoughts on paper to assess their aggressive cognition. Unfortunately, the results tell us that violent video games appear to make people generate more aggressive thoughts than those who played nonviolent video games

In the article, Empathy: A Clinician’s Perspective, mentions how scientist research the different outcomes when

Video games have become very influential on children and adults (Stafford, 1999). With violent video games humans are more prone to act aggressively, to have aggressive thoughts and become numb towards violence (Harding, 2009). Apart from these they are

Video games and violence have been a big issue that has been the start of many arguments in today’s society. There have been many studies that have tried to support either side and no one can seem to come to a conclusion. The documentary that I watched, “Are Video Games Really That Bad” by BBC Horizon, was a document showing the benefits of video games and how they do not cause violence in people. Video games can be helpful to many people and can improve concentration, improve awareness, and can stop the brain from deteriorating as fast. These are just a few points that they make in the documentary. These stakeholders are trying to show their viewers that video games do not hinder gamers but instead they help them by increasing brain activity,

Carnagey, N. L., Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2007). The effect of video game violence on physiological. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 489-496. Retrieved from www.sciencediet.com

The paper discusses how violent video games affect a person's behavior and if they manifest violence and show aggression in the real world after playing such video games. I learned that not all people who are exposed to video game or media violence turn violent. I think it depends on the person if he wants to get influenced from the game, to mimic what the game shows. This is just like the next source, discussing about what kind of behavioural problems violent gaming brings about.

Playing violent video games causes aggression desensitization (Gentile, Swing, Anderson, Rinker, & Thomas, 2016). Gentile et al. (2016) provided neurological evidence that revealed that violent video game play was significantly associated with aggression desensitization, physiological arousal, aggressive cognition, and aggressive behavior. They conducted a study that examined neural recruitment during violent videogame play among 13 late adolescent gamers, half of the gamers played violent games and half of the gamers played nonviolent games. The participants played a video game in violent and nonviolent modes while undergoing functional MRI scanning. The functional MRI scans of the nonviolent gamers showed an increase in emotional response regions when playing the violent game. In contrast, the functional MRI scans of the violent gamers demonstrated an active suppression of these same regions. In addition, nonviolent gamers showed increases in spatial attention, navigation, and cognitive

In Leslie Jamison’s The Empathy Exams, the author uses a conversational style to express her main focuses about the idea of empathy, how we feel other people’s pain, and how we identify with it. The author uses her own personal experiences of going through two different surgeries to describe her pain and the responses of the people around her. Her experiences support her argument that voiced empathy isn’t enough but we need to have compassion and understanding. She also argues empathy isn’t as simple as asking a checklist of questions. For example, she states, “Empathy isn’t just something that happens to us…it’s a choice we make: to pay attention, to extend ourselves” (Jamison 28). There is a process to acknowledge the

In this essay I will be discussing how the reporter used fMRI imaging techniques to measure the brain activity while playing violent M- rated video games. Their theory was that violent video games can produce violent tendencies in people that play M-rated games. In contrast, I feel as if the reporters didn’t go into detail about the control groups and how they were detected whether they were desensitized to emotions. I personally believe that violent video games cause violent tendencies because you are what you do repeatedly. These men spend at least two hours daily playing these violent games like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and other extreme games. What is that really teaching them?

The experiment starts inside a playroom, participants are boys and girls around 5 years old.

Human beings are always faced with challenges. It is worth noting that people go through many hard moments. Overcoming life’s hardships calls for tremendous virtues and values and one of the most important components that help people get through hard times is empathy. Empathy refers to the ability to see the world from other people’s perspectives and to comprehend and share the feelings, concerns, emotions and feelings of others. In fact, empathy is a selfless act that enables individuals to learn and understand more about others in society and to comprehend the relationship with people. In critical analysis, empathy is a desirable ability that is beneficial to society, individuals, and others, especially during hard times. Empathy is used in different

I have been playing violent video games for all my life but I’m the niece’s you could ever meat, and there are some people that don’t even play any video games and are still violent to everyone. This shows that it’s only in some people not one everyone that have that rice of aggression when they play videogames. Another example that shows, if video games do cause bad behavior then why are we all not violent is, children are given drawings of everyday situations, some more likely to have aggressive actions following the depiction, while others an empathetic action. Results show that there were no significant effects of video game playing in the short term, with violent video games and non-violent video games having no significant differences, indicating that children do not have decreased empathy from playing violent video

According to the article “Shooting in the Dark” author, Benedict Carey, states that studies today on violent video games show no concrete evidence on actually long term negative effects on gamers. Mr. Carey is not a researcher or scientist but is a veteran writer of neuroscience, neurology, and psychology. Throughout this article he gives factual evidence and quotes from scholarly sources such as doctors and researchers in the fields of behavior and psychology. The author gives ample explanation on evidence used from his sources to give the optimal understanding to the reader of the results and/or findings given by the sources. The article connects to the modern age of gamers with examples from big name video

Risky behavior by children and young adults can include violence against others or lack of remorse for consequences. The type of faulty thinking creates stressors in children which can lead to the onset of many symptoms. Children who partake in video game violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence, and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation. A new study employing state-of-the-art brain-scanning technology says that violent video games can cause an individual to become violent. Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine say that brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition, and attention. In short, when playing a violent game, an individual’s brain processes the game playing as “fictional”, but later can project some of the unknown effects as violence or aggression.