Transcript Killology - Brian Martin

Lisa Santos
Project report
MACS390, “Media, war and peace,” autumn session, 2010
Media and Cultural Studies, University of Wollongong
The project report had two components. For details of the assignment see
http://www.bmartin.cc/classes/MACS390_10outline.pdf
1. An information pack for an organisation. Lisa Santos’ information pack starts on the next slide.
2. A fictional dialogue on carrying out the project. Lisa Santos’ dialogue is a separate file.
This document is located at http://www.bmartin.cc/classes/MACS390_10tops/.
KILLOLOGY
(1)
Aggression
Aggression is behaviour
intended to harm described
as being a hostile or violent
behavior or attitudes toward
another; readiness to attack
or confront.
The action of attacking
without provocation.
The forceful and sometimes
overly assertive pursuit of
one's aims and interests.(1)
The Psychology
of Aggression
“In psychology, aggression refers
to any behaviour that
demonstrates malicious intent to
cause harm. Aggression is
measure in three stages along a
mild to violent scale of severity
an continuum of Physical,
Verbal and Relational violence.
Violence on the other hand
refers to the physical aggression
of which the victim is likely to
suffer serious physical injury.”(1)
Aggression in terms of
gaming!
 Aggression within videogames falls under two categories,
proactive and reactive aggression.(1)
 Proactive aggression is goal oriented. It relies on rewards
to stimulate aggressive acts. (2)
 Reactive aggression is the automatic response to perceived
threats. (3)
 These terms reflect the top tier of the general aggression
model. These often trigger other issues. These are detailed
on the next slide.
How does aggression
portrayed in videogames
versus television differ?
 And the answer is:
Interactivity and the pursuit of an individualistic goal! (1)
What does this mean for
your child’s brain?
 “There is a causal link between playing the first-person
shooting game in our experiment and brain-activity
pattern that are considered as characteristic for
aggressive cognitions and affects,” (1)
 “Adolescents who play violent video games may
exhibit lingering effects on brain function, including
increased activity in the region of the brain that
governs emotional arousal and decreased activity in the
brain's executive function, which is associated with
control, focus and concentration.”(2)
This areas shown is the
region where aggressive
behaviour is reacting to
violent videogame stimulus!
This reactivity within
brain function affects the
Occipital, Parietal and
Temporal sections within
the brain. (1)
This highlights the action
of videogame technology
teaching kids to kill.(2)
What does the evidence
say?
 “ Adolescents who expose themselves to greater
amounts of video game violence were more hostile,
reported getting into arguments with teachers more
frequently, were more likely to be involved in physical
fights, and performed poorly in school.” (1)
 This can lead to greater long term affects as student
become anti-social and risk slipping grades or missing
school to play violent videogames on different
mediums impacts employability and later on chances
of further education and graduation.
Reality vs. Fiction
 For adolescents who begin gaming at a young age. It is
becoming more and more difficult for them to
distinguish reality from fiction.
 WHY? Because game aesthetics are improving with
greater pixalisation to appear as true to life as possible.
(1)
 What comes into question here is can you then tell the
difference. The case of Devin Moore leads me to think
not! You be the judge…
Killing for the Fun of it!
 Killer Profile:
 Name: Devin Moore
 Age: 18
 Preferred Video game:
Grand Theft Auto III
and G.T.A: Vice City
'Life is a video game. You've got to
die sometime.'
 On June 7th 2003 in
Fayette, Alabama.
 Devin Moore shot three
police officers James
Crump (40), Arnold
Strickland (55) and
Leslie Mealer (38 a
police dispatcher)
 He committed the crime
acting out a game
sequence from GTA.
’(1)
The facts of the case
 Moore was to be arrested on a alleged stolen car charge.
 He grabbed one officer's .45 caliber pistol and killed all
three before fleeing the station in a police cruiser he stole
from the station. (1)
 This was a popular game sequence within G.T.A and
known to all players to reward handsomely.
 He was eventually caught and sentenced to death by lethal
injection.
 The case was lodges in court under Strickland v. Sony. (2)
Grand Theft Auto
 Grand Theft Auto relates to
numerous formats of
games, which over time has
changed identity from
G.T.A to G.T.A: Vice city
and most recently to G.T.A:
San Andreas.
 Vice City has elements
from driving games and
third-person shooters, and
features “open-world”
game play that gives the
player more control over
their playing experience.(1)
G.T.A: Vice City Facts.
 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is an action/adventure
computer and video game.(1)
 Vice City draws much of its inspiration from 1980s
American culture.
 It is set in 1986 in Vice City.(2)
 Story line: Mafia member Tommy Vercetti has recently
released from prison after being involved in a drug deal gone
wrong. Tommy then has to seek out those responsible while
building a criminal empire and seizing power from other
criminal organizations in the city.(3)
In defense: What does
Thompson say about this?
 Moore's lawyers claimed
that Moore had been
programmed by
frequently playing the
game GTA
 “He bought it as a minor.
He played it [For]
hundreds of hours… [it]
is primarily a cop-killing
game. (2)
 Thompson claims
“Devin Moore was, in
effect, trained to do what
he did. He was given a
murder simulator," (1 )
 Defense: but for the
video-game training,
[Moore] would not have
done what he did.” (3)
Impact of violent
videogames on Moore!
 When looking at all the facts of this case, how does
someone who has never shown this behaviour before,
who acts out of character and who has shot on target
but never held a gun become a killing machine? The
answer is simple. (1)
Violent video games (2)
You decide?
 Can you see then the correlation between aggression in
videogames, repetitive conditioning and the inability to
distinguish reality from fiction due to photorealism?
 Critics however state differently.
 They state that violence in video games are not always
causally linked with aggressive tendencies.
 A study conducted in the U.S. Established this.
It stated "We clearly associate media violence to
aggressive behavior. But the impact was very small
compared to other things. Some may not be happy with
that, but that’s where the science is.” (1)
“Only 12% of those involved in school shootings were
attracted to violent video games, while 24% read violent
books and 27% were attracted to violent films.”(2)
From this data conclusions were drawn then that
children who were predisposed to acts of violence
before their gaming began, are more likely to take on
aggressive actions as a result, thus more susceptible to
violent videogames.
Trigger happy
Why is it that teens are so ready to engage in violent
videogames?
A) Because the game is always there, it is a distraction of
everyday life- a nirvana. It has the ability to promote a
reliable existence as it is ruled by absolute order in
terms of a game sequence which is not found in
everyday life. (1)
B) Because of reinforcements: Think of the rat and the
cheese analogy- behaviour that is repeated for
reward.(2)
Teaching Kids to Kill
 Because of the idea that violence in videogames leads to
aggressive behaviour, there has been a call to action to halt the
flooding of the market of violent videogames available to the
public.
 Some however point out that videogames are an integral part
of social development as it can be deemed “cathartic…[as
videogames] provide a sage and beneficial outlet for
aggressive feelings in a non-destructive context…they
contribute positively to a child's cognitive development.”(1)
They do however as a result pose addictive elements to
continue this cathartic expression (2)
Teaching the art of killing
 As game technology has improved over a the years, and
simulations seem less fake, there is an emphasis on the reality
of games to assert violent aggressive action. This is seen as
cathartic as it provides a secure outlet for the aggressive
action of gamers yet all evidence within this slide show
shows that violent videogames do assist in creating an
atmoshephere where aggression is taught. Therefore violent
videogames are negative teaching tools. This can be argued
with the case of Devin Moore.
 A case that further highlights this is the use of Americas
Army 3 in training American Soldiers in combat. (1)
Media Guidelines
 As a result, there has been a push to restrict videogame
sales nationally. Australia however is an interesting
case as restriction laws are quite lax.
 Did you know that there are no R18+ rating systems
within Australia for videogames as it only applies to
movies.
 This means that games are allowed if they are edited to
conform to an MA15+ standard or they are refused
classification [RC] (1)
What does this mean for
you?
 That you need to take action!
 You need to monitor what your child sees and how
they play.
 Although you might not have these games at your
disposal. Your children's friends might so talk to them
about the dangers of aggression and violent
videogames.
What can you do?
 Reduce the exposure your children have to violent
videogames.
 Be informed only buy age appropriate games - check with
the game manufacturers for actual content.
 Check www.moviereports.org for videogame reviews.
 Petition for R ratings in Australia through
http://www.r18games.com.au/
 And finally do your own research and be a responsible
parent. (1)
Bibliography
 Apple online dictionary- Aggression
 Anderson, C,A. “Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings and
Behaviour in the laboratory and in life,” Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology.
 Anderson, C., “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, Vol. 12, No. 5, September 2001
 Brown, H.J. (2008) Video Games and Education, M.E Sharpe,
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 Blundell, K. (14/2/2010) War Games and Aggression, Accessed 1/6/10,
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
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http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/classification.nsf/Page/ClassificationMarki
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
Gentile, D., Saleem, M., & Anderson, C. (2007). Public Policy and the Effects of Media
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
Graham, I. (20/3/2010) Studies and Research on Media Effects Portrayal of Violence Accessed
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
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
Michigan State University (2005, October 12). Violent Video Games Lead To Brain
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
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
Poole, S. (2000) Trigger Happy: The Inner Life of Video Games, Fourth Estate,
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
Radiological Society of North America (2006, November 29). Violent Video Games
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
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
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
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11/5/10
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
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strickland_v._Sony

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
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
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
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