cognitive tempo, violent video games, and aggressive behavior in young boys

Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 10, No. 3, 1995

Cognitive Tempo, Violent Video Games, and Aggressive Behavior in Young Boys

A, Roland Irwin 1 and Alan M. Gross I

In a factorial design, impulsive and reflective children played video games with aggressive or nonaggressive themes. Interpersonal aggression and aggression toward inanimate objects were assessed in a free-play setting and interpersonal aggression was assessed during a frustrating situation. Results indicated that subjects who played the video game with aggressive content exhibited significantly more object aggression during free-play and more interpersonal aggression during the frustrating situation than youngsters who played nonaggressive video games. Aggressive behavior was unaffected by cognitive tempo.

KEY WORDS: aggression; boys; cognitive tempo; video games.

INTRODUCTION

Researchers in the social sciences have published a plethora of studies examining the effects of televised violence on the behavior of children. The convergence of evidence clearly indicates that television may effect children by increasing their aggressive behavior and desensitizing their emotional responses to viewing aggressive acts (Eron, 1982; National Institute of Men- tal Health, 1982; Paik and Comstock, 1994; Turner et al., 1986).

Recently, concerns have been raised regarding the impact of video games on children's behavior. Many video games feature some form of aggression as an underlying theme. Acts of aggression depicted are in many instances similar to televised aggressive acts which have been empirically demonstrated to lead to aggression in children. For example, many video games depict cartoon-like characters engaging in interpersonal aggression such as punching and kicking. And televised cartoons high in aggressive

1University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677.

337

0885-748.7J95/0900-0337507.50/0 �9 1995 Plenum Publishing Corporation

338 Irwin and Gross

content have been shown to be associated with increased levels of aggression in young viewers (Paik and Comstock, 1994). Television and video games both: (1) employ special sound and visual effects to accompany aggressive acts, (2) both use color and animation, and (3) both make use of an actor or character that may serve as a model for aggressive behavior. Unlike television, however, video games require virtually constant attention and active involvement, two events that may serve to enhance the impact of video aggression on a child's behavior.

To date, few studies have examined the effects of violent video games on children. Graybill et al. (1985) exposed 2nd, 4th, and 6th grade youths to either a nonviolent or violent video game and then administered a pro- jective measure to assess modes of reaction to frustration. The youngsters who played the violent video game exhibited fewer defensive fantasies and more assertive fantasies than the youngsters who played the nonviolent game.

Winkel et al. (1987) used a modified Buss (1961) aggression machine procedure to assess the impact of violent video games on children. After exposure to the video game condition, the children were told that they were serving as a teacher, and their job was to deliver ostensible punishers (money loss) to a fictitious learner. It was reported that video game condition did not affect the amount of monetary deduction. Using similar procedures, Cooper and Mackie (1986) and Graybill et aL (1987) reported similar findings.

Although the above mentioned studies failed to demonstrate a relationship between playing aggressive video games and postgame behavior, methodological issues may limit the validity of the findings. Modeling influences have been cited as an explanation for the relationship between televised aggression and subsequent aggressive behavior. However, the aggressive behaviors displayed under the video conditions and those assessed were quite dissimilar. Modeling theory would not predict, for example, that participating in the exploding of computerized human figures would result in the deduction of monetary payments in a teacher-learner paradigm.

Silvern and Williamson (1987) exposed children to either a violent video game or violent cartoon and then monitored physical, verbal, and object aggression in a free-play situation. Compared to baseline, exposure to the violent game and/or cartoon resulted in increased aggressive responding. While these data appear to support the hypothesis that violence leads to increased aggressiveness, failure to monitor physical arousal precludes such a conclusion. A number of studies have noted that increased arousal may lead to aggressive behavior (Tannenbaum, 1980; Zillman, 1971).

Video Games and Aggressive Behavior in Young Boys 339

Subject characteristics may also be an important factor influencing the impact of violent video games on children's behavior. A number of investigators have demonstrated a relationship between impulsivity and aggression (Lahey et al., 1987). It has been suggested that impulsive youngsters fail to process information adequately before responding (Kendall and Braswell, 1985). Further, impulsive children tend to respond with the first behavior cued to memory, without adequately examining the consequences. Having recently observed aggressive behaviors during video game play, it is possible that these or similar behaviors would be the first responses cued to memory when confronted with a frustrating situation.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of violent video games on the behavior of impulsive and reflective children. Video game content was selected to maximize modeling cues. It was predicted that exposure to violent video games would result in increased aggression from the children in free-play and frustrating situations. It was also expected that the impulsive youngsters would exhibit more aggressive responding than reflective children.

METHODS

Subjects

Subjects were 60 2nd-grade boys (14 African-American and 46 Cau- casian) between the ages of 7 and 8 years (mean of 7.7 years). Subjects were recruited from two local elementary schools. Letters describing the project were sent to the parents of 150 boys. Signed forms expressing in- terest in the study were returned by 70 children (46%). The parents of these youngsters were contacted via telephone and appointments sched- uled. Logistical problems (e.g., lack of transportation) prevented 10 families from participating.

Measures

The Matching Familiar Figures Test

The MFFT (Kagan et al., 1964) is a 12-item match-to-sample task in which the child is shown a single picture of a familiar object and is instructed to select from six variants the one picture that is identical to the stimulus figure. This test has been shown to assess children along a reflective/impulsive dimension (Kagan, 1966).

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Aggressive Behavior

Aggressive behaviors during free-play and a competitive/frustrating situation were observed and coded. Aggressive behavior during free-play was rated according to four categories: physical aggression toward the confederate during free-play (PACFP), physical aggression toward inanimate objects during free-play (PAOFP), verbal aggression toward confederate during free-play (VACFP), and verbal aggression toward inanimate objects during free-play (VAOFP). Aggression during the competitive/frustrating situation was rated according to two categories: physical aggression toward confederate during frustration (PAF), and verbal aggression toward confederate during frustration (VAF). Acts of physical aggression included hitting, shoving, pinching, pulling at clothes, kicking, pulling hair, and throwing or smashing objects. Verbal aggression included any threat or stated intent to carry out a physically aggressive act, or the verbal description of a physically aggressive act being carried out.

Toy Preference

During free-play, subjects were allowed to play with any of a number of toys which were available in the playroom. Each toy was classified prior to the experiment as either an aggressive toy or a nonaggressive toy. Ag- gressive toys were those which were designed to elicit acts of physical aggression in the child. These toys included an inflatable punching doll, two foam rubber swords, and a set of "Ninja Turtle" action figures. Nonag- gressive toys were those which were not specifically designed to elicit acts of physical aggression, and included a chalkboard, yo yo's, jump ropes, two magnetic wheels, and a foam rubber basketball. The number of observation intervals during which subjects played with each of the toys was determined.

Heart Rate

In order to assure there were no differential arousal effects induced by the two video game conditions, heart rate during video game play was measured for both groups via a battery-operated, digital display photo- plethysmograph produced by Schwinn Instruments. This device consisted of a hand-held digital display unit connected by a 36-inch wire to a transducer. The transducer was in the form of a small spring-operated clip which was attached to the subject's right earlobe.


Heart rate was measured every 30 seconds during a 5-min baseline, which followed a 10-min period of adaptation to the heart rate monitor. The subject then began playing the assigned video game and heart rate was again measured every 30 seconds for a 5-min period.

Stimulus Setting and Apparatus

A video game system produced by Nintendo of America, Inc. (Redmond, WA, 1985) was used during the experimental manipulation. The Nintendo system consisted of a small video cassette player connected to a 19-inch color television. Connected to the video cassette player were two hand-held remote control boxes. A four-directional button on the box allowed the player to move a computerized figure about the screen. Another button on the remote control box allowed the player to manipulate the computerized figure to punch with fists, kick with feet, fire bullets, jump obstacles, etc., depending on the nature of the game being played.

T h e two N i n t e n d o games used were " D o u b l e D r a g o n " and "Excitebike." "Double Dragon" is a game which features frequent acts of physical aggression displayed by computerized human characters. The theme of the game involves a duo of martial arts heros who face ruthless street gangs as they fight their way through alleyways, underwater hideouts, and construction sites to save a friend. The goal of this game requires success in aggressively overcoming street gangs. The player assumes the role of one of the martial arts heros, and controls the movements of this video character. He or she can cause the video character to throw punches, kick, push, jump, and use a rope or chain to whip opponents in martial arts fights. "Exci tebike" is a game in which the player controls the movements and speed of a motorcycle in a race against the clock. The player can adjust the difficulty of the track by adding or removing obstacles such as hills and mud puddles. Since the player races his motorcycle alone on the track, there is no opportunity for collision with other motorcycles. This game depicts no interpersonal aggression.

A 12 ft x 22 ft playroom was used to observe subjects during the free- play and competitive/frustrating situation portions of the experiment. This room contained a couch, a small children's table and two small children's chairs. One wall in the room contained a mirror which served as an observation window, through which the subjects were videotaped. The room contained eight different kinds of toys, three of which were classified as aggressive toys, and five of which were classified as nonaggressive toys.

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Procedure

The hypotheses were evaluated using a between subjects 2 • 2 (aggressive video game versus nonaggressive video game • impulsive versus reflective) factorial design. Fifteen subjects were assigned to each cell.

Upon arriving at the research office, the parent (usually the mother) was given a thorough description of the activities of the experiment, while the subject waited briefly in an adjoining room. The subject and his mother were assured the child could withdraw from the experiment at any time by notifying the experimenter. Parents were also informed that some children in the study might experience a short-term increase in aggressive behavior. Suggestions were offered to parents concerning how to react should this occur. Parents and children were debriefed following the experimental session and parents were given information concerning the availability of counseling services for aggressive behavior problems in children.

After the mother signed the consent form, the subject was escorted to a testing room. He was told he had been selected to participate in an experiment to determine if taking a short test and playing video games affect children's heartbeat. Upon completion of the test, his heart rate would be measured, and then he would be allowed to play a video game for 20 min. After playing the video game, the subject was told, he and perhaps another boy in the experiment (actually the confederate), would wait in a playroom until their parents returned for them.

The subject was then administered the Matching Familiar Figures Test. After completion of the MFF-F, heart rate was assessed. The photoplethys- mograph was placed on the subject's right earlobe, thus beginning a 10-min period of adaptation to this apparatus. The subject was asked to sit quietly for a short time while the experimenter scored the test. The test was scored and the subject was classified as impulsive or reflective via a median split based on normative data. Subjects scoring above the normative sample median on latency to first response were classified as reflective. Subjects scoring below the median were classified as impulsive. After classification as either impulsive or reflective, the subject was randomly assigned to play either the aggressive video game or the nonaggressive video game. After the 10-min adaptation period the experimenter recorded the subject's heart rate twice per minute for 5 min. These measures comprised the baseline heart rate.

Following baseline measures, the subject was instructed in playing the video game to which he had been assigned. When the subject expressed an understanding of how to play the game he was allowed to begin play, and the experimenter again recorded the subject's heart rate twice per minute for 5 min. Each subject was allowed a total of 20 min of individual play with the video game.


Immediately following video game play, the subject was escorted to the playroom and introduced to the confederate, an 8-year-old boy who the subject was told was another participant in the experiment. The same confederate was used throughout the experiment. The two boys were told to play in the playroom for a few minutes until their parents returned. They were given permission to play with any toy in the room they wished. However, the confederate had previously been instructed to join the subject in playing with whatever toy the subject chose. If, after playing a while with a specific toy, the subject decided to play with a different toy, the confederate was instructed to do likewise. The purpose here was to prevent the confederate's choice of toys from influencing the toys with which the subject chose to play. The experimenter left the room and the boys were allowed to play uninterrupted for 10 min while being videotaped through an observation mirror. Video taping was carried out continuously for 15 min.

Frustration Manipulation

Following 10 min of free-play, the experimenter returned and asked the subject and confederate to be seated at a small table. The experimenter invited the boys to participate in a coloring contest during the time re- maining before their parents returned. This competition was designed to frustrate the subject, thus presenting a stimulus situation likely to elicit some form of aggression from the subject. The experimenter removed a dollar bill from his pocket, and explained that the contest was one of speed as well as coloring skill, and that the first to finish the picture while staying in the lines would win the dollar. The experimenter then placed a picture on the table in front of each child. He then reached into his pocket and retrieved one felt-tipped coloring pencil, which he placed onto the table between the two boys. The confederate, having been previously coached, quickly grabbed the pencil as the experimenter pretended to look for a second pencil, which he had ostensibly lost. The experimenter then left the room, explaining that he must go get another pencil. As he left the room, the experimenter instructed the confederate not to begin coloring until after the subject was given his pencil. As soon as the experimenter was out of sight, the confederate (again, having previously been coached to do so) began coloring his picture as quickly as possible, bragging all the while about winning that dollar. After 90 sec, the experimenter returned to the playroom and, feigning surprise that the confederate had already begun coloring, told the confederate it was unfair for him to have done so. He then gave the subject a coloring pencil and encouraged him to try to win

344 Irwin and Gross

anyway. The experimenter immediately left the room, stating he would re- turn shortly. He returned to the room when the boys were finished coloring, and explained that since the contest had been an unfair one, both boys would receive a dollar. The experimenter gave each boy a dollar and escorted the subject to his mother.

Training the experimental confederate involved modeling, coaching, and behavioral rehearsal. Prior to meeting with subjects, the confederate role played the experimental manipulation and was provided feedback and reinforcement for his performance. Throughout data collection, feedback was delivered when necessary. However, the confederate virtually never de- viated from his role.

Rating of Video Tapes

Video tapes were rated by two independent observers who were blind to experimental conditions. An interval recording procedure was employed, whereby 10-sec observation periods were followed by 5-sec recording periods. Thus, a total of 40 observation periods comprised the 10-min free-play period. The 5-min competitive/frustrating scenario contained a total of 20 observation periods. Targeted behaviors were rated as either occurring or not occurring during each observation period.

RESULTS

Inter-Rater Reliability

Session reliability, as opposed to trial reliability, was calculated by the product-moment correlation. Session reliability is the computational method of choice when session totals are to be used in statistical analyses (Kent and Foster, 1977). Session totals for each subject were calculated for each category of aggression by determining the number of observation intervals during which the aggression took place. Session totals for the number of observation intervals during which subjects played with each of the toys were also calculated. These totals were subjected to correlational analyses across the two raters. Correlations ranged from .69 to .99 with a mean of .95.

Video Games and Aggressive Behavior in Young Boys

Table I. Cell Means and Standard Deviations by Dependent Variable s

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Aggressive Video Game Nonaggressive Video Game

Variable Impulsive Reflective Impulsive Reflective

PAF .3, .8 .7, 1.0 .0, .0 .0, .0 VAF .7, .3 .1, .5 .0, .0 .1, .2 PAOFP 9.8, 8.3 10.1, 7.4 6.0, 7.2 2.8, 3.8 PACFP 1.2, 2.5 1.4, 1.8 1.1, 1.7 .6, 1.1 VAOFP .5, .9 1.1, 1.3 .1, .3 .3, .8 VACFP .2, .5 .2, .4 .0, .0 .0, .0

a Note: Table entries are means, standard deviations.

Heart Rate

For each subject, mean heart rate was calculated for measures taken during baseline and during video game play. The heart rate means were subjected to a one-way analysis of covariance. Video game condition (aggressive versus non-aggressive) was the independent variable, mean heart rate during video game play was the dependent variable, and mean heart rate during baseline served as the covariate. Analysis failed to show a significant difference in heart rate for the two video game conditions.

A between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance was used to ana- lyze the aggression data in a 2 x 2 factorial design. Independent variables were type of video game (aggressive versus nonaggressive) and response style (impulsive versus reflective). Six dependent variables were analyzed: PAOFP, PACFP, VAOFP, VACFP, PAF, VAF. Cell means and standard deviations for each dependent variable are reported in Table I.

With the use of the Wilk's Lambda criterion, the combined dependent va r i ab l e s we r e s ign i f i can t ly a f f e c t e d by v ideo game c o n d i t i o n , (F(6,56) = 2.67, p < .025), but not by response style or the interaction of these two variables.

In order to further examine the effects of the independent variables, a 2 x 2 univariate analysis of variance was conducted for each measure of aggression. Consistent with the MANOVA results, type of video game was the only independent variable to significantly affect any dependent measure. There were no significant interactive effects on any measure of aggression. PAOFP showed the greatest effect of video game condition, (F(1,56) = 9.63, p = .003). Subjects who played the aggressive video game showed significantly more physical aggression toward objects during free- play than those who played the nonaggressive game.

346 Irwin and Gross

Video game condition also significantly affected VAOFP, (F(1,56) = 6.23, p = .016), demonstrating that subjects who played the aggressive video game displayed more verbal aggression toward objects during free- play than subjects who played the nonaggressive video game.

The effect on VACFP was significant as well (F(1,56) = 4.94, p = .03), indicating that compared to nonaggressive video game subjects, those in the aggressive video game condition displayed more verbal aggression toward the confederate during free-play.

Finally, video game condition significantly affected PAF (F(1,56) = 4.96, p = .03). Subjects who played the aggressive video game showed significantly more physical aggression during the competitive/frustrating situation than subjects who played the nonaggressive video game.

In order to investigate the effects of the independent variables on the type of toys with which subjects preferred to play, the toys were divided into two classes: aggressive and nonaggressive toys. For each subject, a toy preference ratio (TPR) was calculated by dividing the total number of intervals the subject played with aggressive toys by the total number of intervals he played with nonaggressive toys. This ratio, indicative of the degree of preference for aggressive toys over nonaggressive toys, was then subjected to a 2 x 2 between-subjects analysis of variance. TPR was not significantly affected by video game condition, response style, or the interaction of these two variables.

DISCUSSION

The present study investigated the effects of aggressive versus nonaggressive video games and impulsive versus reflective response style on toy preference and several measures of aggression. Video game condition significantly affected four measures of aggression, but not toy preference. Response style failed to significantly affect any dependent variable, and there were no significant interactive effects.

Perhaps the most robust effect of video game condition was that of increased physical aggression toward objects displayed by subjects who had played the aggressive video game. These results differ from previous findings. Bandura (1965, 1977) and Lefkowitz et al. (1977) assert modeling to be the major mechanism leading to aggression in children who have viewed violent television. Children are believed to imitate the behaviors they have recently observed. These imitations are due either to observational learning of new behaviors or facilitation of responses already in the viewer's reper- toire. In contrast to the present study, forms of aggression displayed in video games used by most previous investigators (e.g., Cooper and Mackie,


1986; Winkel et al., 1987) are not easily imitated, and thus are not condu- cive to modeling. It is not likely, for example, that a child will be able to imitate the lazerbeam destruction of cities. On the other hand, aggressive acts displayed by the human-like video game characters of the present study, because they are actual behaviors which most children can easily approximate, should be more readily imitated.

Although specific forms of physical aggression were not measured, review of the video tapes suggested that many of these physically aggressive acts were direct imitations of the behavior modeled by the video game characters. Subjects often engaged in fantasy play, assuming the role of one of the video game characters and pretending to physically harm an evil villain or formidable opponent.

It is important to note that these acts of aggression were apparently not due solely to an increased state of arousal. As measured by heart rate during video game play, the aggressive and nonaggressive video games did not exert differential effects on physical arousal. If arousal alone had accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in aggressive play, this effect would likely have been evidenced in both video game conditions.

Somewhat unexpected, particularly in light of the findings described above, was the lack of significant difference between the aggressive and nonaggressive video game groups on the measure of toy preference. Subjects who played the aggressive video game, although displaying more physical aggression toward objects, did not show a greater degree of preference for aggressive toys than did subjects who played the nonaggressive video game. This is probably due to the fact that some of the aggressive behavior was exhibited by subjects playing with nonaggressive toys. Anecdotally it appears that many of the subjects adapted nonaggressive toys to imitate aggressive behavior seen in the video game. The reverse was not the case. No child adapted an aggressive toy for nonaggressive play. For example, while playing with a jump rope, a supposed nonaggressive toy, some subjects used the rope as a whip, Subjects had previously witnessed characters in the aggressive video game use a whip to attack opponents. Further, subjects who played this game could manipulate a video character to pick up the whip and use it in an aggressive manner. These subjects thus gained experience, albeit vicariously, in using such a device.

Given the finding that the aggressive video game group displayed more physical aggression toward objects during free-play, it is not surprising that these subjects also displayed more verbal aggression toward inanimate objects. One would expect that, while engaging in physical aggression toward objects, subjects would often describe their behavior as they carried it out. This seemed most often to occur when subjects were involved in fantasy play and were imitating the actions of video game characters.

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Verbal aggression toward the confederate was also significantly affected by video game condition. Subjects who had played the aggressive video game displayed more verbal aggression toward the confederate during free-play than subjects who had played the nonaggressive game. There was no significant difference between these two groups on the measure of verbal aggression taken during the competitive/frustrating situation. This discrepancy is likely due to the fact that apparently much of the verbal aggression toward the confederate during free-play was related to fantasy play.

Subjects who played the aggressive video game also displayed significantly more physical aggression toward the confederate during the competitive/frustrating situation than subjects who played the nonaggressive video game. Of the 30 subjects in the aggressive video game condition, seven (23%) engaged in this behavior. No subjects who had played the nonaggressive video game displayed such aggression. Some experimental investigations (Ellis and Sekyra, 1972; Ross, 1972; Steuer et al., 1971) have reported interpersonal aggression in children who have been exposed to violent television. This finding is important in light of past criticisms sug- gesting that dependent measures used in laboratory studies are only analogues of aggression and not measures of aggression as usually defined (Freedman, 1984).

It was expected that relative to reflective subjects, children identified as impulsive would display more aggression as measured by at least one or a combination of the variables. A possible explanation for this lack of effect lies in the procedure used to differentiate impulsive from reflective subjects. In the present study, rather than classify subjects using both latency and accuracy of their first response, a median split was performed using latency scores only. This procedure was employed because of the lim- ited availability of subjects. This method of subject classification has previously been used in numerous studies investigating cognitive tempo (O'Donnell et al., 1978; Gow and Ward, 1981; Messer, 1976). However, it may not be a particularly sensitive measure of impulsive versus reflective response styles. Replication using the more formal scoring method should occur before drawing firm conclusions concerning the role of cognitive tempo to video game play and aggressive behavior.

Results of the present investigation suggest the need for additional study of the impact of violent video games on children's behavior. Although it would be premature to draw strong conclusions on the basis of the small number of studies available, it is not unreasonable for parents to consider the type of violent content found in their children's video games. That is, if compared to violence directed at objects (destroying rockets with laser beams) children are more likely to imitate person-to-person aggressive acts


p o r t r a y e d in v i d e o games , it migh t be usefu l fo r pa r en t s to be aware o f

the n a t u r e o f t he v i d e o g a m e con ten t . T h e m o v e to labe l v io l en t c o n t e n t

in v i d e o g a m e p roduc t s m a y p rove he lp fu l to pa r en t s c o n c e r n e d a b o u t aggressive chi ld behav io r .

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cognitive tempo, violent video games, and aggressive behavior in young boys

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