How to Do Things With Words

Erik Eriksen is a remarkable individual. He has no college degrees yet is Professor of Human Development at Harvard University. He came to psychology via art, which explains why the reader will find him painting contexts and backgrounds rather than stating dull facts and concepts. He has been a training psychoanalyst for many years as well as a perceptive observer of cultural and social settings and their effect on growing up. This is not just a book on childhood. It is a panorama of our society. Anxiety in young children, apathy in American Indians, confusion in veterans of war, and arrogance in young Nazis are scrutinized under the psychoanalytic magnifying glass. The material is well written and devoid of technical jargon. The theme of the volume is that it is human to have a long childhood which will leave a lifelong residue of emotional immaturity in man. Primitive groups and

Childhood and Society.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/5/110/206.full.pdf

The american psychological association.

What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy

This paper examines the literature on computer games and serious games in regard to the potential positive impacts of gaming on users aged 14 years or above, especially with respect to learning, skill enhancement and engagement. Search terms identified 129 papers reporting empirical evidence about the impacts and outcomes of computer games and serious games with respect to learning and engagement and a multidimensional approach to categorizing games was developed. The findings revealed that playing computer games is linked to a range of perceptual, cognitive, behavioural, affective and motivational impacts and outcomes. The most frequently occurring outcomes and impacts were knowledge acquisition/content understanding and affective and motivational outcomes. The range of indicators and measures used in the included papers are discussed, together with methodological limitations and recommendations for further work in this area.

A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games

In this study, we examined gender differences in video game use by focusing on interpersonal needs for inclusion, affection, and control, as well as socially constructed perceptions of gendered game play. Results of a large-scale survey (n = 534) of young adults’ reasons for video game use, preferred game genres, and amount of game play are reported. Female respondents report less frequent play, less motivation to play in social situations, and less orientation to game genres featuring competition and three-dimensional rotation. Implications for game design are discussed.

/pdf/sex-differences-in-video-game-play-a-communication-based-1m620e5vzm.pdf

Sex Differences in Video Game Play: A Communication-Based Explanation

Media enjoyment is theorized by synthesizing empirical literature from uses and gratifications with Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory. This article argues that enjoyment of media results from a flow experience realized when media message content balances with individual ability to interpret that message. Further, it theorizes that media experience, along with individual differences in cognitive abilities, facilitates or prevents flow state in media users. Therefore, it is a balance between individual differences in cognitive abilities and media message challenges that explains enjoyment of media use. The authors offer the case of video game usage as an exemplar, and examples of cognitive tasks are provided and linked to game genre content.

Flow and Media Enjoyment

Video Game Uses and Gratifications as Predicators of Use and Game Preference.

Violent content video games such as Mortal Kombat and Doom have become very popular among children and adolescents, causing great concern for parents, teachers, and policy makers. This study cumulates findings across existing empirical research on the effects of violent video games to estimate overall effect size and discern important trends and moderating variables, Results suggest there is a smaller effect of violent video games on aggression than has been found with television violence on aggression. This effect is positively associated with type of game violence and negatively related to time spent playing the games, Directions for future programmatic research on video games are outlined. Language: en

The effects of violent video games on aggression a meta-analysis

Violent content video games such as Mortal Kombat and Doom have become very popular among children and adolescents, causing great concern for parents, teachers, and policy makers. This study cumulates findings across existing empirical research on the effects of violent video games to estimate overall effect size and discern important trends and moderating variables. Results suggest there is a smaller effect of violent video games on aggression than has been found with television violence on aggression. This effect is positively associated with type of game violence and negatively related to time spent playing the games. Directions for future programmatic research on video games are outlined. T he arrival of each new communication technology has brought public concern about the influence of the medium on children (Wartella & Reeves, 1985). In the wake of high school tragedies at Paduchah, Kentucky, and Littleton, Colorado, keen public interest has been focused on the effects of violent video games. As has been the case with violent television programs, commentators have lined up to denounce the violence found in video games while the video game industry circles the wagons in defense of its product. Unlike the television controversy, the existing social science research on the impact of video games is not nearly as compelling. Despite over 30 studies, researchers cannot agree if violent-content video games have an effect on aggression. The literature on video game effects is littered with mixed findings from studies that use a wide range of games, treatment exposure times, and subject pools, obscuring clear conclusions. Some researchers claim that playing violent

/pdf/the-effects-of-violent-video-games-on-aggression-2s2ysbjcp0.pdf

John L. Sherry

Papers

Sex Differences in Video Game Play: A Communication-Based Explanation

Flow and Media Enjoyment

Video Game Uses and Gratifications as Predicators of Use and Game Preference.

The effects of violent video games on aggression a meta-analysis

The effects of violent video games on aggression.