They compared to sets of people: Gamers and 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 Holly Bowen.
Violent games were said to lead to anger and such, but it was also discovered racing games cause more of that then shooters do.
"Much of the research on video games and violence, however, has tested gamers soon after they played a game, and might not reflect long-term effects", Holly added.
They gathered 122 people, 96 were women. 77 hadn't played games in the last 6 months, while the remaining played often.
Men Reported Playing:
1.) Call of Duty
2.) Tekken
3.) GTA
4.) Final Fantasy
5.) NHL
Women Reported Playing:
1.) Final Fantasy
2.) GTA
3.) NHL
4.) Guitar Hero
5.) Rock Band
6.) Mario Kart
Holly showed them 150 images: Some neutral, postive or negative. "Some were violent or disturbing." says Holly. An hour later, he showed them again, but with more pictures in the mix. They couldn't recall the violence very well. There was no difference with this whether they were gamers or not.
"The premise here is that we think people who are exposed to violent video games might be desensitized to violence, and if they are, they should not remember disturbing, violent pictures as much," explained Tracy Dennis.
"And, while this is an important study, what they're asking people to remember isn't necessarily linked to video game memories, so I think it's important to draw only moderate conclusions," Tracy added.
Link: http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/650097.html
