source:psychologytodaybyBrianH。BornsteinandMonicaK。Miller 欲翻译的小伙伴,可评论领稿,并把已完成的译文贴在评论处或发在自己的心理圈内。请领稿的小伙伴,尽量在一个星期内完成翻译,谢谢!! Debateaboutwhetherviolentvideogamesencouragereallifeviolencecontinuesunabated,withtheBBCreporting(linkisexternal)thatmorethan200academicsrecentlysignedanopenletter(linkisexternal)criticizingcontroversialnewresearchsupportingsuchalink。 Theresearchwasconductedbyataskforce(linkisexternal)setupbytheAmericanPsychologicalAssociationtoreviewhundredsofstudiesonthetopic。Itfoundaconsistentrelationbetweenviolentvideogameuseandincreasesinaggressivebehaviour,aggressivecognitionsandaggressiveaffect,anddecreasesinprosocialbehaviour,empathyandsensitivitytoaggression。 Thesignatoriestotheletterarguethatmanyofthestudiesthereportciteswerenotpeerreviewed,andthatthetaskforcefailedtodistinguishbetweenshortandlongertermeffects。IfyouplaythreehoursofCallofDutyyoumightfeelalittlebitpumped,butyouarenotgoingtogooutandmugsomeone,oneoftheletterscoauthors,DrMarkCoulson,associateprofessorofpsychologyatMiddlesexUniversity,toldtheBBC。 Theletter,whichwassignedby230academicsfromuniversitiesaroundtheworld,notesthatyouthviolenceintheUSandaroundtheworldisata40yearlow。Thisdeclineinsocietalviolenceisinconflictwithclaimsthatviolentvideogamesandinteractivemediaareimportantpublichealthconcerns,theywrite。 SPSSIanditsmembershavelongbeenconcernedaboutthepossiblerealworldeffectsofmediaviolence。SPSSIsApril2014statementonthetopicisavailablehere(linkisexternal)。ButSPSSImembersweregrapplingwiththeissuelongbeforethen。InthisMay2006issueofJudicialNotebook(linkisexternal),BrianBornsteinandMonicaMillerdiscusshowpsychologistscanhelpreducethenegativeimpactofvideogamesandtheirpotentialroleassessingandassigningresponsibilityforspecificincidentsofviolenceincriminaltrials。 WhenteenagerDevinMoorewastakentojailonsuspicionofcartheft,heseizedanofficersgun,fatallyshotthreeofficersandstoleapatrolcartomakehisgetaway。Moore,whofrequentlyplayedthegameGrandTheftAuto,laterstated,Lifeislikeavideogame。Youhavetodiesometime。ThisincidentinFayette,Ala。,fueledconcernsovertheeffectsofviolentgames。Concernsalsoexistovergamescontainingsexualcontent,druguse,prostitutionandbullyingbehavior。 Violencesimpact Negativeeffectsofgamescouldhaveawidespreadimpact,as70percentofchildrenowngames,withboysaveraging13hoursofgameplayaweekandgirlsaveragingfive,accordingtoa2002studybyD。A。Gentileamp;amp;D。A。WalshintheJournalofAppliedDevelopmentalPsychology(Vol。23,No。2,pages157178)anda1999KaiserFamilyFoundationreport,KidsandMediaattheNewMillennium。Thus,itisnosurprisethatpsychologistshaveexploredthenegativeeffectsofplayingvideogames。Recently,APAreviewedrelevantliteratureandadoptedaresolutioncallingforthereductionofallviolenceinvideogamesandinteractivemediamarketedtochildrenandyouth。Amongtheassociationsconcernsisthatviolenceingamesteacheschildrenthatviolencecansuccessfullyresolveconflicts。Additionally,APAstatedaconcernthatvideogamesmaybemoreharmfulthanothermediabecauseoftheirinteractivenature(www。psychologymatters。orgvideogames。html(linkisexternal))。Mediaincludingvideogamesarealsoassociatedwithpoorschoolperformance,gambling,substanceabuseandlowphysicalactivity(see,e。g。,a1995studybyS。E。FisherintheJournalofGamblingStudies〔Vol。11,No。3,pages239247〕a2004JournalofAdolescencestudy〔Vol。27,No。1,pages522〕byD。A。Gentileandcolleagues;a1996ArchivesofPediatricandAdolescentMedicinestudy〔Vol。150,No。4,pages356362〕byS。L。Gortmakerandcolleagues;andR。T。Woods2004JournalofChildamp;amp;AdolescentSubstanceAbusestudy〔Vol。14,No。1,pages77100〕)。Becauseteenshavelowerimpulsecontrolthanadults,theymaybemoresusceptibletonegativeeffects。Forexample,afterplayinghoursofshootinggames,ateensuchasDevinMooremayimpulsivelyshoototherpeopleinareallifesituation。Thoughresultsofsomestudieshavebeencontroversial(e。g。,criticsarguethatnegativeeffectsareshortlived)andotherstudieshavefoundpositiveeffectsofgames(e。g。,increasinghandeyecoordination),thepopularnotionisthatgameshavelargelynegativeeffectsonchildren。 AlthoughvideogamesareratedbytheEntertainmentSoftwareRatingBoard(ESRB),thereisnolegalregulationofgamesorgamesales。Thus,eachstoredecideswhethertosellgamesratedasMaturetominors。Somelegislatures,believingthattheindustrysselfregulationisnotenough,haveactedtopreventtheirsalestominors。In2005,CaliforniaandIllinoisadoptedlawspreventingstoresfromsellingorrentingsexuallyexplicitorextremelyviolentgamestominors。However,bothlawshavemetresistancefromthejudiciary。Forinstance,theU。S。federalcourtinCaliforniarecentlydeterminedthattherewasnotacausalconnectionbetweenviolentgamesandviolentbehaviors,andthatanyrestrictionongameswouldviolatethegamemakersFirstAmendmentfreedomofspeechrights。Itconsequentlystruckdownthelaw。 Psychologistsrole Sowhat,then,canbedonetoprotectchildrenfrompossiblenegativeeffectsofgames?Psychologistscanplayanintegralpartinprotectingchildren。First,theycancontinuetoresearchtheeffectsofgames,especiallylongtermeffects。Second,theycanstudythecontentofgamestoinvestigatethecommonnotionthatgamesarebecomingmoreextreme。Third,psychologistscanstudyminorscognitivedevelopmentanddecisionmakingtodetermineifgameshavemoreimpactonminorsthanadults。Asparentscanhelplimitnegativeeffectsbymonitoringgameplay,psychologistscancontinuetostudyhowparentalinvolvementcanmoderatethenegativeeffectsofgameplaying。Theycaneducateparentsontheimportanceofmonitoringgameplayandunderstandingthegameratingsystem。Inaddition,psychologistscanplayanimportantroleinpromotingregulationofgames。Researchcanbedisseminatedtolegislators,retailersandtheESRBtodiscouragemarketingandsalestochildren。Finally,psychologistscanpromotethedevelopmentanduseofeducationalgamesthatteachpositiveproblemsolvingskills。Throughtheseactions,psychologistscanhelpreducethenegativeimpactofvideogames。 Itislikelythatthejudicialsystemwillbecallingonpsychologistsmoreinthefuturetoanswerquestionsabouteffectsofgames。Psychologistswillbeabletoinformlegislaturesandcourtsthatareconsideringlawsthatwouldregulategamesorsales。Inaddition,psychologistswillbecalledtotestifyincriminaltrials。Forinstance,DevinMooresdefenseattorneyclaimedthatheshouldbeshownleniencybecausehisexposuretoGrandTheftAutowarpedhismindandledhimtocommitmurder。Psychologistswillalsobeconsultedinciviltrials。In2005,victimsofDevinMooresshootingrampagefiledalawsuitagainstthemakersofGrandTheftAuto,claimingthatthecompanycreatedamurdersimulatorthattrainedDevintocommitmurder。Throughcontinuedstudyanddisseminationofresearch,psychologistscanhelpprotectchildrenandinformthelegalsystemastotheeffectsofvideogames。