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Violent Video Games as Exemplary Teachers: A Conceptual Analysis

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Abstract

This article presents conceptual and empirical analyses of several of the “best practices” of learning and instruction, and demonstrates how violent video games use them effectively to motivate learners to persevere in acquiring and mastering a number of skills, to navigate through complex problems and changing environments, and to experiment with different identities until success is achieved. These educational principles allow for the generation of several testable hypotheses, two of which are tested with samples of 430 elementary school children (mean age 10 years), 607 young adolescents (mean age 14 years), and 1,441 older adolescents (mean age 19 years). Participants were surveyed about their video game habits and their aggressive cognitions and behaviors. The first hypothesis is based on the principle that curricula that teach the same underlying concepts across contexts should have the highest transfer. Therefore, students who play multiple violent video games should be more likely to learn aggressive cognitions and behaviors than those who play fewer. The second hypothesis is based on the principle that long-term learning is improved the more practice is distributed across time. Therefore, students who play violent video games more frequently across time should be more likely to learn aggressive cognitions and behaviors than those who play the same types of games for equivalent amounts of time but less frequently. Both hypotheses were supported. We conclude by describing what educators can learn from the successful instructional and curriculum design features of video games.

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Notes

  1. A “first-person-shooter” game is one in which the action is seen from the point of view of the main character. Usually the player sees as if he/she was “in” the game, so when you hold a gun in front of you, you see the barrel of the weapon and sometimes the hand holding it. The “shooter” part of the definition is self-evident. This type of game can be distinguished from other violent games in which the action is seen from a distance (a third-person perspective). First-person-shooters have become so popular, they are now known by that title as a distinct genre of game.

  2. Because coding minority status in a dichotomous manner is not ideal, the analyses were also run without controlling for race. The overall pattern of results does not change if one does not control for race, and sometimes becomes stronger.

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Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank Julia Maier and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, W112 Lagomarcino Hall, Ames, IA, 50011-3180, USA

    Douglas A. Gentile

  2. National Institute on Media and the Family, 606 24th Ave. S., Suite 606, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    Douglas A. Gentile

  3. Department of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA

    J. Ronald Gentile

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  1. Douglas A. Gentile
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Correspondence to Douglas A. Gentile.

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An early version of this manuscript was presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA.

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Gentile, D.A., Gentile, J.R. Violent Video Games as Exemplary Teachers: A Conceptual Analysis. J Youth Adolescence 37, 127–141 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9206-2

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