It's this kind of junk science that really gets my goat. It is highly reminiscent of Frederick Wertham's "Seduction of the Innocent" which set off a frenzy for banning comic books because they were corrupting our children. For those of you who are too young to remember this era you can find a good discussion of it here:
http://art-bin.com/art/awertham.html I have reviewed the literature that purports to show a causal link between media violence and violent behaviour in children and I remain highly unimpressed. Most of the studies are correlational and even there the correlations are weak (.20 to .30). The studies that actually attempt to manipulate exposure to violent media are all badly flawed. They merely compare children who watched a violent video (or played a violent video game) with children who watched a non-violent version. What's wrong with that? Well, for one thing the violent media were also action-packed while the non-violent comparitors were dull as dishwater. Since violence and action are confounded in these studies you need a third group (high action-no violence) to determine which component produces the effect. So far, I have been unable to find a properly controlled replicated studies that clearly establishes a causal link. Until I see one I'll remain in the skeptics corner. -Don. Christopher D. Green wrote: > > Check out this /Times/ (of London) article on British efforts to put > warning labels on video games. > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3628894.ece > > Chris Green > York U. > Toronto, Canada > >--- >To make changes to your subscription contact: > >Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > -- Don Allen Department of Psychology Langara College Vancouver, B.C., Canada V5Y 2Z6 604-323-5871 --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
