Tv and computer games

in a typical house, how many hours is a TV switched on in a day?

7 hours

the average child watches how much Tv per week?

24 hours

In NZ what are the statistics of how long people watch Tv for?

• primary and secondary

primary = 17 hours

secondary 22 hours

there are 4 concerns with Tv what are they?

1. advertisement

2. wasted time

3. understanding TV

4. violence

describe the concern with advertisements

• < age 8 - children dont understand intent of ad

• < 4-5 - children cant discriminate between ad and progra

• ads reinforce stereotypes

• minortiy of children in ads are supporting casts and not leads

describe the concern with wasted time

• children who watch tv are low achievers - as it competes with homework

• less social communciation

• less creative play

• obesity

describe the concern with understanding TV

• young children find it hard to judge reality of TV

• < age 4 - dont udnerstand that humans are real and cartoon charcetrs are not

• by age 7 they udnerstand that fictional characters do not retain that identity in real life

• have difficulty understanding flashbacks

describe the concern with violence

• cartoons show violence 25 times an hour

• prime tv shows violence 5-6 times an hour

• may become desensitisied to effects

• violence is increasing

describe an example of violcence from vidoe games affecting someone in real life

Nia glassie - 3 yr old

died due to smack down vs raw game

describe aggression on TV

• most violence on TV goes unpunished

• victims rarely shown experiencing any serious harm

• violent scenes are often portrayed as humourous

• cartoons are msot violent

what is the cycle of media?

aggressive children have a greater apetite for violent TV

when they watch violent TV - it validates them to act aggressively

there are 4 types of effects of media violence on children, what are they?

1. imitation

2. desensitisation

3. increase in hostile feelings

4. seeing the world as a violent place

describe imitation

• aggression is learned by imitating observed models

• preschool and young children are msot likely to imitate - have difficulty distinguishing fiction from reality

• children more likely to imitate if there is no punishment on TV

who looked at a study of imitation? what did they do and find?

Lemish (1997)

• childrens modelling of WWF

• looked at increase in playground injuries

found

• over ½ principals reported WWF had created problems

• children were recreating specific matches

• broken bones, unconsciousness and concussions

describe desensitisation

• the more we see vioelnce, the more we are used to it

• = decrease arousal and emotional disturbance

who looked at a study of desensitisation? what did they do and find?

Molitor and Hirsch (1994)

• viewing violence would lead to a greater tolerance of violence

• 42 (9-10 yr old)

• children wither watched karate kid or olympics

• then watched a video of 2 kids fighting and measured how long it would take them to get the experimenter for help

found

• children who were exposed to karate kid took longer to seek help than those exposed to olympics

• may have become desensitised and mroe hesistant to get help

describe who looked at the study of increase in hostile feelings, what did they do and find?

Black and Beran (1992)

• watching media vioelnce leads to increase in hostility

• 129 people completed hostiltiy measure before or after entering a violent/non-violent movie

found

• prior to movie = people attending violent movie score higher on hostility than non violent

• after movie = people leaving violent movie had even higher levels of hostility thna prior to movie

• people viewing non violent movie = low hostility

describe seeing the world as a violent place

children exposed to violent media:

• see world as mroe frightening

• less trusting

• interpret others actions as hostile

• carry weapon to reduce being the victim

• behave aggressively in retaliation

In Otagos longitudinal research study, what did they find?

tv watching was associated with obesity, high cholesterol, poor fitness, smoking, short attention span, poor concentration

can Tv be beneficial? why?

yes - high quality programs aid learning

when parents watch tv with child and interact with content

reduce fights with sibling

bedtime earlier

kids play more

describe why computer and video games may be bad?

places the played in the role of the aggressor and reward them for successful behaviour

describe Kirsh (1998) study

• looked at influence of playing violent games on childrens attitudes and behaviours

• played mortal kombat or NBA jam

• after the game children read 5 stories about same sex conflcit

found

• children who played violent video game = more likely to attribute -ve feelings to perpetrator than non violent games

• children who played violent game said they would do the same if in that position.

Ballard and lineberger (1999) also conducted a study NBA jam and mortal kombat, what did they do and find?

they took part in a ateacher-learner paradigm with either male or female confederate

found

• increase in video game vioelnce made males punish females more

• male participants rewarded male confederates less

• females were rewarded similarly

Calvert and Tan (1994) conducted a study showing what? what did they find?

participating in violent video games is more harmful than just watching

found

• those who played - increased HR, more aggressive though

• no change in HR for control

• men reported greater increase in hostile feelings than women playing

what are the beneifts of playing video games?

• increased HR, BP, O2 consumption

• faster RT and wellbeing

• can slow brain down and promote efficient thinking

how can video games benefit peopel with autism?

• language

• social interaction

• math and reasoning skills