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Luke Smith
Annotated Bibliography
English 2010
Kilpatrick

The issue I chose to research is the effects of violent video games and media on
children and teens. I will be examining at the link between video games and aggressive
behavior specifically. This topic is important because of the increasing amount of school
shootings, and violence committed by troubled young people. There has been an
overwhelming amount of school violence in recent years including many shootings in
2014, and even some this early in 2015, but the incident that really brought the issue back
into the public eye was the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting that occurred in 2012.
Many people believe that consistently playing violent video games and being exposed to
media is a large contributing factor in these attacks and mass murders. This is a widely
discussed and debated issue today and there is still a lot of research to be done in order to
help mitigate the problem. This issue is of great interest to me because I grew up playing
violent video games and watching graphic films and television shows, but I have recently
been exposed to many negative opinions and studies on the effects of that kind of media.
Those negative opinions peaked my interest because they were both logical and
compelling. I hope to become more informed on the subject by looking at the issue from
multiple angles

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Ferguson, Christopher. The Good the Bad the Ugly: A Meta-Analytic Review of Positive
and Negative Effects of Violent Video Games. Psychiatric Quarterly. Dec 2007.
Vol. 78 issue 4, p. 309-316. Web. Jan 2015

In his Article, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, author Christopher Ferguson tries to
provide an argument that will help balance the debate about the causal link between
violent video games and aggressive behavior. He does this by showing how difficult it is
to prove that an almost universal behavior (playing video games) can be the cause of such
an unusual behavior (school shootings). Ferguson examines several studies conducted
that seem to demonstrate that violent video games cause aggressive behavior, and he also
assesses studies that show how violent video games improve hand-eye coordination.
Based on his research, the author finds that the causal link between violent video games
and aggressive behavior is tenuous at best. He goes on to show that the link between
violent video games and increased visuospatial cognition is more convincing and should
be studied in more depth.

I find that this is a credible source because the author, Christopher Ferguson is a wellknown and respected researcher and professor with a Ph.D in clinical psychology, and his
work is published in numerous credible sources. This particular article comes from a peer
review journal that was established in 1915. Fergusons target audience seems to be his
academic peers and researchers, but he does not limit his argument to that group alone.
The author relies heavily on logos as he presents his argument. He gives his opinion step
by step using facts and figures from studies conducted on the subject. At no point in his
writing, that I could find, did the author make appeals to the emotions of his audience. It

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is important to note that this article was published in 2007 thus making it somewhat out
of date, but the results of those studies conducted have not changed, which means that the
article still has value for my purposes.

This article provides an excellent opinion that does not completely agree with the stance I
will be taking in my paper. Although it is not absolutely opposite to my argument, it does
question it and add to the discussion, which will help show that I am able to look at the
issue from multiple angles. I find the authors opinion and the findings of the studies he
examined to be very interesting, and I think that he has some valid points to make, which
I will include in my presentation of this issue.

Fleming Nic. Why Video Games May Be Good For You. BBC. bbc.com. Aug 2013.
Web. Jan 2015.

Why Video Games May Be Good For You, by Nic Fleming presents an alternative
view on the argument of the link between violent video games and aggressive behavior,
and claims that the evidence demonstrating how the positive effects of video games
outweigh the negative. The author presents studies that show how playing action or
violent video games, especially shooter games, increases reaction time, and spatial
awareness, and improves the players ability to multi task and problem solve quickly.
Fleming also expresses that video games are neither good nor bad, but depending on
content they can have positive or negative effects.

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BBC news is a valid news source, and is often considered to be more credible than many
of the recognized news sources we often turn to such as CBS, FOX, and CNN. Nic
Fleming is a well-known journalist and often writes for BBC, The Economist, New
Scientist, and the Guardian. The article contains results from studies, and quotes by
prominent researchers on the subject. Nic Fleming is a journalist for the BBC and is
therefore targeting the masses. His argument is mostly an attempt to appeal to his
audiences logical side as he references results from a recent study. The author also makes
appeals to the pathos or emotions of his audience by listing and emphasizing the good
that can come from playing video games such as increased ability to problem solve and
multi task. This is an up to date article from a credible source, and makes logical claims
using research and anecdotal evidence.

I believe that this article is crucial for my project, because it provides an opposite view to
the stance I am taking. Although I believe that the findings of the study are true, I think
that the negative aspects of violent video games still outweigh the positive. Including
information from this source will give weight and credibility to my argument, because it
will show that I am not too set in my ways, and that I am willing to examine issues from
several different angles. I found this article both informative and interesting, and I would
be interested in studying the positive effects of video games more extensively.

Gentile, Douglas; Andersen, Craig; Plot, Sarah. Life lessons: Children learn aggressive
ways of thinking and behaving from violent video games. Iowa State University.
iastate.edu. 24 Mar 2014. Web. 27 Jan 2015.

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Iowa State University researchers found that children who continually play violent video
games are learning to think and act more aggressively. The authors of this article look at a
study conducted by JAMA Pediatrics that followed over 3,000 children for three years.
The study found that children who spent more time playing violent video games had
more aggressive tendencies regardless of gender, age, or whether they already had
aggressive personalities. The authors assert that violent video games contributed to nonaggressive children becoming aggressive, and already aggressive children becoming
more so. One of the leading researchers explains how learning violence or aggression is
just like learning any other skill or attribute, and once it is learned it is something that you
always have in your head, like riding a bike or playing an instrument.

I found that this article is aimed at an academic audience including students and
professors. It is almost entirely attempting to appeal to the logic of the audience, and the
appeals to emotion are insignificant or non-existent. The authors are all psychology
professors at Iowa State University, and recognized researchers. Gentile Douglas is one
of the foremost researchers on the effects of mass media on children, adolescents, and
adults, and the article is published by Iowa State University. All of these factors
contribute to making this a credible and useful source when researching this issue. It is
also appears that the authors are not trying to preach or push some agenda on the
audience. They are only presenting the facts as they understand them and as they found
them while conducting their study.

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I found the results of the JAMA study quite interesting, and I think it can be a valuable
addition to my research project. I think that it would be going too far to affirm that
violent video games cause young people to commit mass murders, but I believe that
studies and article like this one help show the correlation between violent media and real
world violence.

Grossman, Dave, and Loren W. Christensen. On Combat: The Psychology and

Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace. 3rd ed. Illinois: Warrior
Science Pub., 2008. Print.

In their book On Combat, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman and Loren Christiansen
include a section where they claim that violent media and video games are teaching
children to kill using operant and classical conditioning, and social learning. They assert
that these same methods are being used by militaries in order to teach soldiers how to
engage and kill their enemies. They point out that the difference between the children
playing video games and the soldiers using training simulations is the discipline included
in the soldiers training, which acts as a safeguard for the warrior. Grossman
demonstrates how point-and-shoot video games reward players that kill their enemies
thus reinforcing the behavior and pushing them to go to greater lengths to improve their
high score. The authors state their belief that violent media and video games are one of
the leading causes for the rise in violent crimes committed by juveniles, although they
recognize that it is by no means the only cause.

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This section of the book is an opinion backed by a great deal of scientific research and
anecdotal evidence. LTC. Grossman is a former Army Ranger, a psychology professor at
West Point Academy, the current director of the Warrior Science Group, and an expert in
the field of human aggression and psychology. He has published other books on the
subject of combat and killing, and his work is often referenced by other notable authors
such as Gavin de Becker, and Rory Miller. He is mainly writing for the benefit of soldiers
and peace officers, but in this section in particular he includes parents and teachers in his
audience. Grossman appeals to his audiences logic by giving numerous statistics and
facts from studies, brain scans, and police reports. The anecdotes and examples he uses
are mainly used to appeal to the emotions of the readers as well as give real world
examples to back up his claims. The authors use of apparently objective scientific
evidence, and striking examples on the issue, seem to validate and reinforce his claims.

This book is originally what got me interested in this topic. The authors arguments
against violent media are compelling, and played a role in changing my perspective on
the issue. I think that this section of On Combat will be a key part of my project and
help me to show the importance of the topic. As a soldier and someone who grew up
playing violent video games, I found that I relate a great deal to this section of LTC
Grossmans book.

Mozes Alan. Violent Video Games Tied to Combative Thinking in Study. Health Day.
cbsnews.com. Mar 2014. Web. Jan 2015.

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In his article Violent Video Games Tied to Combative Thinking in Study, Author Alan
Mozes claims that frequent exposure to violent video games will increase the likelihood
that children and teens will behave aggressively. The author backs up this claim by
examining a study that was recently conducted that scrutinized thousands of children and
teens. He also references notable researchers and recognized figures in this field. The
author points out that playing violent video games will not take a healthy, low risk kid
and turn him or her into a school shooter, but it is a habit that increases the probability
that a kid will behave aggressively. He points out that violent video games are not the
only cause of aggressive behavior, and they dont cause all kids to become murderers or
even excessively aggressive, but they do push children and teens in a negative direction.

This is a news article that was published within the last year by CBS news. CBS is a
widely trusted and credible source, and the author, Alan Mozes, has numerous articles
published by Health Day, which is a major health news source. The author presents a
compelling argument by presenting his information in a logical fashion. He uses statistics
and findings from studies, and quotes researchers from the study to show the correlation
between violent video games and aggressive behavior. The author also appeals to the
emotions of his audience by talking about parenting and raising children with less
aggressive tendencies, but one does not get the impression that the author is using scare
tactics or being overly biased.

I think this is a good article to use for my project, and it will help me to present my
argument and show that violent video games and media are problems that need to be dealt

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with. I like that the author does not rant or present a one-sided argument. The findings
from the study examined in the article will be helpful as I present my argument on the
topic.

I have learned a lot from my research and gathering my five sources. I have
looked at studies showing results that express both sides of the issue in debate, and I have
learned that violent video games can be both bad and good. Certain studies have shown
that video games can increase problem solving abilities, and multi tasking, as well as
hand eye coordination and a number of other things. I have also confirmed my suspicions
that video games can lead to increased aggressive behavior and teach young people that it
is right to respond to their problems in a violent way. I believe that there is still much to
learn and a lot of research to be done in this field before a definitive answer can be found,
but for the now I stand with those who believe that the negative outweighs the positive,
and I feel that I have enough information to make a compelling argument that violent
video games are indeed contributing to the rising rates of violence particularly among
juveniles.