Good news! A long-standing concern among parents and researchers has been that young people who are exposed to violent video games may become desensitized to violent acts and images, but a new study suggests that may not be the case.
Canadian researchers comparing gamers to non-gamers found that in the long run, gamers were just as likely to recall negative images in memory tests and to report the same levels of emotion in reaction to the pictures as the non-gamers.
“People who play video games didn’t differ in memory, and physical arousal wasn’t different between gamers and non-gamers. And there was no difference in how each group felt after seeing negative or violent pictures,” said study author Holly Bowen, a doctoral candidate in the department of psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto.
The findings were published in the January issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Tags: effect of violence on kids emotional development, emotions and video games, onslow memorial hospital, video games and tweens
