Re:NEW STUDY! (Score 1)

As an experimental psychologist, I can agree that for the most part this study doesn't say much. Correlational measures are correlational, and do not demonstrate causation (nobody knows if tofu increases memory retention, because another variable could be responsible for both tofu eating and memory increases, if that is even a true research study). Hence, all of the ratings, scales, and cognitive measures can be dismissed, as people have noted. Unfortunately, there is one aspect of this study that may deserve more careful attention, namely "aggressive behavior is operationally defined as the intensity and duration of noise blasts the participant chooses to deliver to the opponent." There are some interesting analyses, but the following is really the most important result: "Most importantly, participants who had played Wolfenstein 3D delivered significantly longer noise blasts after lose trials than those who had played the nonviolent game Myst (M s = 6.81 and 6.65), F(1, 187) = 4.82, p .05, MSE = .27." What you see here is a difference in the means of 6.81 second duration noise blast for the Wolfenstein group and 6.65 seconds for the Myst group. Probability is less than five percent (p .05) of finding those results. But, the real difference between these groups is 6.81 - 6.65 = .16 seconds on average. An increased duration of noise blast for .16 seconds really doesn't strike me as "increased aggression" in any practical sense. The only reason that result is significant is because of the huge number of people in the study (187). Unfortunately, the results really don't provide the kind of evidence that would suggest violent video games increase aggression at any practical level.