contemporary study: Bastian et al (2011)

Question 1

aim of study one?

Answer 1

investigated link between violent video games and dehumanised attitudes

Question 2

aim of study two?

Answer 2

aimed to eliminate confounding variables - like individual differences in mood)

Question 3

experimental design of both studies?

Answer 3

independent groups

Question 4

number of ppts in study one?

Answer 4

106 ppts ages 17 to 34

Question 5

two video games played in study one ?

Answer 5

• mortal kombat

- topspin tennis

Question 6

independent variable ?

Answer 6

whether the game was violent or not

Question 7

dependent variable ?

Answer 7

humaness

Question 8

how was humaness assessed ?

Answer 8

• by means of an 8-item scale and ratings of enjoyment, excitement and frustration

Question 9

number of ppts in study two ?

Answer 9

38

Question 10

what two video games were played in study two?

Answer 10

• call of duty

- topspin tennis

Question 11

why was call of duty used in the second study and not mortal kombat ?

Answer 11

call of duty is played in pairs and so eliminates the possibility that dehumanisation is due to the fact that the other avatar is computer generated

Question 12

what were the findings?

Answer 12

• no consistent differences between the violent and non-violent video games
• mortal kombat=most enjoyable
• call of duty=most frustrating
• self and humaness rating higher in the topspin tennis controls for both studies
• in study two, the avatars were rated less human, but the players not

Question 13

what are the conclusions of Bastian’s study?

Answer 13

playing violent video games leads to a tendency to see both the self and opponents as less human. However, co-aggressors were not seen this way.

Question 14

internal validity of study ?

Answer 14

• lab experiment = good internal validity
• both studies conducted under controlled conditions this meant that extraneous variables such as temperature and lighting could be kept constant (if some ppts were hotter than others they may have felt more aggressive than the others)

Question 15

competing argument to the internal validity ?

Answer 15

• independent measures design means that ppt variables may become confounding factors
• the fact that ppts were randomly allocated supposedly controlled for this but there may have been important differences

Question 16

ecological validity ?

Answer 16

• weakness of study = the measure of humaness may not predict real-life dehumanisation
• answers given to 8-item scale may not reflect their response to real-life situations
• humaness measured right after playing the video games, and therefore only reflects very short-term attitude changes
• therefore, the apparent effects of the video games may not generalise to how people think and feel in real-life settings

Question 17

applications of the study ?

Answer 17

• it has application to parenting
• findings of the study suggest that playing violent video games leads to dehumanisation
• parents may want to bear this in mind in when regulating the time children spend gaming and the nature of the games they allow their children to play
• also has a therapeutic application in advising parents of children with antisocial problems (such as bullies) of the affects of gaming
• therefore, applications of Bastian et al.’s research demonstrates its significance in shaping parenting and therapeutic practice