Thread: Sapiens' current research project as per Sly's request

Originally Posted by SapiensErus

I never explicitly said "vouch" in this thread. So there is mine.

Back to the research paper ... "Video Games and Stress: Does Playing Military-Style First Person Shooters Increase Physiological Stress Indicators Significantly Greater than Other Types of Video Games and Does Stress Caused by Violent Video Games Reduce Memory Encoding and Retrieval Efficacy." Yes, this is my line of research... Studies show prolonged stress exposure decreases both neurogenesis and neuronal density in the CA3 field of the hippocampal complex and dentate gyrus: Thus if violent video games induce significant stress they may affect memory encoding and retrieval tasks with stress as the mediating variable. There are many studies showing violent video games do increase physiological stress significantly. I reek after playing BF for an hour.

Anyway, that is why I am so busy ... hope to blast some of you all soon, and especially you Mr. Applicant.

Originally Posted by SlytherN

I don't want to hijack a thread so I hope you will post this in a new thread so we can debate this.

I am curious as to what exactly is debatable. The only claim I make is that A) Violent games increase physiological stress significantly compared to other types of games. And B) Prolonged stress has negative impacts on memory.

Because many studies coming out show video games increase certain aspects of cognition, and memory is an important component of cognition, I am aiming to do a study that simply compares memory task efficacy relative to video game type, and a no video game control. I make no claim (yet) how violent video games affect memory. After doing a study it may that there is no effect, a positive effect or a negative effect. There are studies on gaming on memory, but none as to type of gaming.

Originally Posted by SlytherN

I just think if you do a study with the answer in mind you will get the right data to support the theory. Some might say video games in general help hand eye coordination. Its completely possible that video games can stimulate brain activity helping the elderly stay mentally attached. Its also not out of the realm it plays a role in the advancement in child education. In this video game generation kids seem to get to a level of education quicker than our pre video game generation. Humans can find positives and negatives with most anything. Before there was video games, tv, and telphones some might suggest literature contributed to adding stress to ones life. I hope sometime there could be research on the positive effects of such media because I believe its out there.

Well the point of doing a study is to see if a hunch or observation pans out. And in order to do a study that is peer reviewed, the methods used negate bias as effectively as possible. That is part of how science works. And science only works if the scientist can accept findings that don't coincide with expectation. In most cases an incongruent finding opens avenues to explore other ideas. But any good science opens doors.

So for example, If I take a probability sample of people, then randomly assign them to different groups (a violent FPS group, a Turn Based Strategy group, a RPG group and finally a no-video gaming group) and they all play their selected games for some hours per week, for some weeks, and also do pre and post memory efficacy tasks, and then also do a pre and post cortisol assay, galvanic skin response tests and HR tests. How can I control what they get on their memory efficacy and stress tests? The ONLY difference between the groups is the type of game they played. And the data is the data. Further to help reduce bias the researchers who collect the data do not know what the test is for, the statisticians working the data do not know what the data is for and as the PI I try to keep my hands out of it all. The scientific method. Further, before a study begins panels of people tease out elements that may introduce bias. And usually studies have to go back to the drawing board multiple times before they get approved.

Also because I am using physiological tests, and data is data, it is very difficult to manipulate something like that. Cortisol levels are cortisol levels; the time to complete a memory task is the time to complete a memory task. In the experimental method great care is taken to control all extraneous things.

But most importantly, good science is conducted by people who are willing to be wrong. I may assume I will see decreased efficacy on memory tasks in the Violent FPS group; if the data shows otherwise, that's all there is to it.

Further, studies have shown that videogames do enhance some aspects of cognition; my study is designed to help refine that to determine what effect different video game types have (if any) on memory, using stress as a mediator model. Memory is only one part of cognition. The effect on visuospatial tasks has been studied thoroughly and videogaming does enhance visuspatial mapping and hand-eye coordination.

It is worth noting that violent games have produced significantly higher physiological stress indicators in experimental conditions repeatedly, by different studies over the last decade and a half. The link to violent games and stress is undeniable. But how significant that stress impacts memory is completely unexplored.


Science works because of rigorous bias reduction. In the simple experiment I described briefly above, there is not much room for my pre-existing opinion to shape data. And if we can get a probability sample, followed by random assignment, we eliminate extraneous variables. By pre-testing we can establish a temporal precedence, and hopefully come to a causal solution. If we turn it down a notch, we may only be able to correlate. And further, I fully accept that there may be no influence. And that in itself enhances the body of knowledge.


There are numerous studies regarding the positive effects of such media, as I stated above. My research has implications for strengthening simulators used for combat pilots for example. I am not doing this to shed a bad light on videogaming, violent videogames, or anything like that. I am just exploring an unexplored avenue because it enhances knowledge. My findings, regardless of what they are, strengthen our understanding.

being without my games for almost a year now ive become a more hateful violent person