Supernanny Takes on Violent Video Games

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Thanks to Supernanny, we have undeniable proof that violent video games will turn you into a cold blooded killer…in just 20 minutes. It should also be noted that a completely separate set of test subjects, after watching the Supernanny’s show for only 10 minutes, said they wanted to kill her too. :D

Together with Dr Doug Gentile she orchestrated an experiment in which 40 boys were asked to play games for 20 minutes – half played a football sim, the other half "a first-person war game". They then had to view some violent news footage. Throughout, each participant had their heart rate monitored. At the end, the figures showed that the boys who played the violent game retained slower heart rates during the news footage. "Shockingly, just 20 minutes of violent gameplay was enough to densensitise the boys," says the sonorous voice over.
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This is a garbage study. Who is to say that the accelerated heartrate of the other boys wasn't a sign of excitement?

Anyone who has taken a basic grad-level research course knows studies like this have holes big enough to drive an 18-wheeler through... as you try to hit some defenseless grandmother because you played a lot of TF2.
 
Oh sure, prey on the minds of the weak with sensationalist claims Supernanny. Whatever a Suppernanny is. Don't rich people who don't want to be bothered with their children have nannies?

I wonder when board games/card games will get the same kind of scrutiny. I mean, you ever played spades with a dude who just got out of prison, or monopoly with the spoiled-bastard 8-year-old rich kid who you're babysitting as a favor to your friend? Purely hypothetical on the latter, but still realistic.

It's all really a waste of time.
 
Wow a study by someone who goes by the title of Supernanny. That has got to be totally and completely accurate.
 
so who wants to team up and make the supernanny deathmatch mod...similar to the jack thompson game someone made a while back
 
Supernanny has elevated heart rate from the bucket of honey BBQ wings she just swallowed without chewing. Does this mean fast food causes violence? I think so...
 
I stopped at "supernanny".


Amazing how any study a "supernanny" does gets any attention at all.
 
So their heart rate was slower when viewing violence on tv. They must be about to become murderers, thieves and rapists in real life then! :rolleyes:

This "test" has so many unknown factors to it that it's beyond a joke.
 
smart people know that there's nothing educational on TV. esp this.

who the fuck gives these people their own tv shows?
 
The public should be able to file lawsuits against groups that do these half-assed experiments for "Contributing to an individuals damaged intelligence."
 
every Supernanny show I've seen, she was never the miracle worker she makes herself out to be. The parents in every show was far below subpar, beyond pathetic. All "supernanny" does is tell them to grow some fucking backbone and be a parent.

She's just the way parents should be, that's all she really is.
 
bullshit study.
Ok - they were desensitized... but does not make them more violent.

If all they were trying to prove was desensitization, then fine - but to correlate that to violence is irresponsible.

Take for instance that lame youtube maze video where the scary face pops out.

Immerse a subject in an environment where things jump out at you sporatically for 20 minutes...
then put them in front of that youtube vid...
I would bet the subject is both desensitized AND anticipating something to jump out.

On the flip side - take a subject who's immersed in an environment that does not have things jump out at you
Then put them in front of the same youtube video.
Increased heart rate, shitting of pants etc etc...

Desensitization =/= disposed, susceptible, or willing
 
Those who played shooters didn't get their desire to kill someone worked up watching violent footage. While those who played a football sim, were the ones who became excited and possibly wanted to kill someone when they saw violent news footage. Sounds like shooters make a person calm and reasonable while sports games are turning people into excitable potential killers.
 
I think FPS and violent games do males some good. Males are naturally violent and those games help them take their aggression out.
 
Studies like this "prove" far less than they claim. On the other hand, all the people, like many posters here, who think that what people watch and play has NO effect are also fooling themselves. After all, why are there ads on TV? The truth is what we take in on a regular basis does condition us on the one hand, but on the other hand we obviously retain free will.
 
delahaya said:
Studies like this "prove" far less than they claim. On the other hand, all the people, like many posters here, who think that what people watch and play has NO effect are also fooling themselves. After all, why are there ads on TV? The truth is what we take in on a regular basis does condition us on the one hand, but on the other hand we obviously retain free will.
Click to expand...

I have to agree to a certain extent. Spend a couple of hours playing Dirt2 or something like that and then go out for a drive. I have a tendency to drive like a lunatic for a bit.

Conversely.. after watching a football game on TV, I want to fire up some Madden.

However, after 40 hours of GTA IV, I have yet to feel the need to beat up a hooker, steal a car, or go on a police fueled rampage in the city.

Meh.. nothing proved.
 
So in other words playing a football sim makes you get turned on by violence?
 
I know everyone is on the defensive here... but I have no doubt that violent video games somewhat desensitize us to violence.

I do not believe this makes us violent or any more likely to become violent, but it certainly desensitizes us.

Why is this a bad thing? No matter how much kids do it in Duke Nukem, the game is never going to teach them to kill women or execute their enemies. Now, thug life... oh wait, we can't touch that. Too bad this sensationalist Nancy-Grace-like lady doesn't have the intelligence or confidence to go after what is really making violence. You know, like poverty and an absence of education. Video games... that's not a race or social class... that sounds easy... let's villainize that instead.
 
Of course they didn't have an increase in heart rate...if they're anything like me, their heart rate already goes up when they play something like COD: MW. If it went up any higher it would probably explode.
 
why should my heartbeat increase or decrease depending on what i'm playing? Granted, there have been a few OH FUCKIN SHIT moments when playing games like Resident Evil 2 back in the PS1 days, or maybe even while playing CS Source when someone just jumps out of nowhere and tries to surprise me, that's just some fight or flight reflexes. Those situations are pretty rare though

I don't monitor my heartbeat or pulse when I play, I guess for the most part I don't feel excited or anything when I play games, I'm just sitting here doing something I've done all my life, after 27 years of living, there's very little that surprises me in a video game.
 
hey now, like I told the judge, that wasn't rape, it was surprise sex!
 
Desensitizing people only means that people wont respond naturally when they are faced with a circomstance in which the natural reaction should kick in.

If children are desensitized to violence, then it means they will be naturally more inclined to follow and not resist someone who is instigating violence. It won't cause violence in its own right, but it won't resist it either; which is still a problem.

Same goes for pornography/etc, its not a cause for rape, but its a catalyst for inaction and apathy. Which means all someone needs to be is desensitized enough and then the idea just needs to be put in their head and the problems start.
 
What I find funny is that the men doing these studies used to play war games with fake guns all the time. We're actually becoming less violent as a society. Here's a thought: playing videogames with you're friends is actually more healthy than getting drunk and starting fights at bars.
 
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