Instructor

James Morgan

Document Type

Final Class Paper

Publication Date

Spring 5-14-2020

Keywords

Gaming, Brain, Mental, Physical, Health

Abstract

Video games are a wildly popular past time in not only America, but other countries as well. Its popularity has done nothing but increase in an exponential fashion, engulfing more and more members of society in its reach; however, its gaining traction in combination with behavioral observations and frequent violent events compelled many to question its effects on those who play them. Some attribute tragedies like recent school shootings to the vast array of First Person Shooter(FPS) games, blaming it for engraining in adolescents’ and adults’ brains a sense of increased aggression and violence. Others praise educational games for stimulating the brain, teaching it essential logic and knowledge to thrive in the real world. Regardless of ones’ stance, it is a baseline fact that video games’ effects loom large in America. This paper will target this aspect of our society, focusing primarily on video games’ effects on adolescents in America. Video games encompass a vast array of mediums, including arcade machines, computers, individual consoles, and much more; however, the focus of this paper will be on computer games and consoles, as its combined reach is much larger. It is important to focus on a larger demographic so that the examples are diversified. The “effects” of video games can be specified as brain functionality, social-behavioral patterns, and physical impacts. Brain functionality include aspects of the brain such as memory, attention span, sense of logic. Social-behavioral patterns outline patterns of an individual’s behavior such as aggression, empathy, intelligence, and kindness. Lastly, physical impacts include eating patterns and diets, and overall health. Studying these three topics will allow us to define the impacts of video games on an individual’s life.

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