Video Game Violence and Gun Use
| Status: | Recruiting |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Psychiatric |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Psychiatry / Psychology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 8 - 12 |
| Updated: | 8/24/2018 |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | September 2018 |
| Contact: | Brad J Bushman, PhD |
| Email: | bushman.20@osu.edu |
| Phone: | 614-688-8779 |
Exposure to Gun Violence in Video Games Increases Interest in Real Guns
More American children die by accidental gun use than children in other developed countries.
One factor that can influence children's interest in guns is exposure to media containing
guns. The objective of this study is to test whether children who play a video game
containing guns will handle a real gun longer and will pull the trigger more times than
children who see the same movie without guns.
One factor that can influence children's interest in guns is exposure to media containing
guns. The objective of this study is to test whether children who play a video game
containing guns will handle a real gun longer and will pull the trigger more times than
children who see the same movie without guns.
The design will be a 2 (player vs. observer) x 3 (nonviolent, violent with sword, violent
with gun) between-subjects study. Participants will randomly be assigned to conditions.
Participants will be tested in pairs. The participant in the player condition will play a
video game while the participant in the watcher condition will watch. The participants will
be in the same room, seated next to each other.
Video games will be chosen for the three conditions which have no violent content (nonviolent
condition), violent content with a sword as a weapon for the player (violent with sword
condition), and violent content with a gun as a weapon (violent with gun condition). All
games chosen will be age appropriate (rated E) and have a consistent perspective (i.e., 1st
person or 3rd person) between conditions. Participants will be asked how familiar they are
with the video game used to control for experience with the stimulus. Gameplay will last for
20 minutes.
The measures for experiment 3 will include the media habits, aggressive behavior, attitude
toward guns, and guns in the home measures listed for experiment 1. In addition, parents will
be asked if their children have taken a gun safety course and a behavioral measure will be
whether or not children handle a real (but non-firing) gun and whether they pull the trigger.
Participants will be tested in pairs, with a sibling or friend. Participants will be placed
in a room containing toys, with a camera on the wall. Participants will be told that they can
play with any of the toys in the room for the next 20 minutes. The toys will be placed will
be placed in drawers inside a cabinet. Inside the room, two brightly colored plastic Nerf
dart guns and two handguns will be placed in separate drawers, as in previous research. The
handguns will be modified so they cannot fire. Inside the magazine, the handguns contain no
bullets. They do, however, contain a sensor that counts the number of times the trigger is
depressed with sufficient force to discharge the weapon. This allows us to distinguish
reliably the children who pull the trigger from those who only handle the gun. Parents will
be asked to predict whether their child will handle the real gun and pull the trigger. The
researcher and the parents will be able to watch the session via a monitor in a control room.
A thorough debriefing will follow (see attachment). The investigators also have received
letters of support from the Director of the School of Communication and from the Chief of
Police (see attachments). The investigators predict the highest levels of playing with guns
and firing them among participants who see a violent clip containing guns.
with gun) between-subjects study. Participants will randomly be assigned to conditions.
Participants will be tested in pairs. The participant in the player condition will play a
video game while the participant in the watcher condition will watch. The participants will
be in the same room, seated next to each other.
Video games will be chosen for the three conditions which have no violent content (nonviolent
condition), violent content with a sword as a weapon for the player (violent with sword
condition), and violent content with a gun as a weapon (violent with gun condition). All
games chosen will be age appropriate (rated E) and have a consistent perspective (i.e., 1st
person or 3rd person) between conditions. Participants will be asked how familiar they are
with the video game used to control for experience with the stimulus. Gameplay will last for
20 minutes.
The measures for experiment 3 will include the media habits, aggressive behavior, attitude
toward guns, and guns in the home measures listed for experiment 1. In addition, parents will
be asked if their children have taken a gun safety course and a behavioral measure will be
whether or not children handle a real (but non-firing) gun and whether they pull the trigger.
Participants will be tested in pairs, with a sibling or friend. Participants will be placed
in a room containing toys, with a camera on the wall. Participants will be told that they can
play with any of the toys in the room for the next 20 minutes. The toys will be placed will
be placed in drawers inside a cabinet. Inside the room, two brightly colored plastic Nerf
dart guns and two handguns will be placed in separate drawers, as in previous research. The
handguns will be modified so they cannot fire. Inside the magazine, the handguns contain no
bullets. They do, however, contain a sensor that counts the number of times the trigger is
depressed with sufficient force to discharge the weapon. This allows us to distinguish
reliably the children who pull the trigger from those who only handle the gun. Parents will
be asked to predict whether their child will handle the real gun and pull the trigger. The
researcher and the parents will be able to watch the session via a monitor in a control room.
A thorough debriefing will follow (see attachment). The investigators also have received
letters of support from the Director of the School of Communication and from the Chief of
Police (see attachments). The investigators predict the highest levels of playing with guns
and firing them among participants who see a violent clip containing guns.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age 8-12yrs, had not participated in study prior, was able to schedule participation
with a known peer (8-12yo).
Exclusion Criteria:
- Younger than 8yo, older than 12yo, had participated in study prior, could not schedule
participation with a known peer (8-12yo)
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