As growing numbers of youth in the United States play video games, potential effects of game playing are being considered. We focused on gender-related aspects of gaming in a study of 206 college students. Men were significantly more likely than women to play video games two or more hours a week and to indicate that video game playing interfered with sleeping and with class preparation. A greater proportion of women than men complained about the amount of time their significant other played video games. Participants rated female video game characters as significantly more helpless and sexually provocative than male characters and as less likely to be strong and aggressive. Gender differences in participation and character portrayals potentially impact the lives of youth in a variety of ways. Read more...

Background: Video games have become extensively integrated into popular culture. Anecdotal observations of young surgeons suggest that video game play contributes to performance excellence in laparoscopic surgery. Training benefits for surgeons who play video games should be quantifiable. Hypothesis: There is a potential link between video game play and laparoscopic surgical skill and suturing. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of the performance of surgical residents and attending physicians participating in the Rosser Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills and Suturing Program (Top Gun). Three different video game exercises were performed, and surveys were completed to assess past experience with video games and current level of play, and each subject's level of surgical training, number of laparoscopic cases performed, and number of years in medical practice. Setting: Academic medical center and surgical training program. Participants: Thirty-three residents and attending physicians participating in Top Gun from May 10 to August 24, 2002. Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome measures were compared between participants' laparoscopic skills and suturing capability, video game scores, and video game experience. Results: Past video game play in excess of 3 h/wk correlated with 37% fewer errors (P < .02) and 27% faster completion (P < .03). Overall Top Gun score (time and errors) was 33% better (P < .005) for video game players and 42% better (P <. 0 1) if they played more than 3 h/wk. Current video game players made 32% fewer errors (P = .04), performed 24% faster (P < .04), and scored 26% better overall (time and errors) (P < .005) than their non-playing colleagues. When comparing demonstrated video gaming skills, those in the top tertile made 47% fewer errors, performed 39% faster, and scored 41% better (P < .001 for all) on the overall Top Gun score. Regression analysis also indicated that video game skill and past video game experience are significant predictors of demonstrated laparoscopic skills. Conclusions: Video game skill correlates with laparoscopic surgical skills. Training curricula that include video games may help thin the technical interface between surgeons and screen-mediated applications, such as laparoscopic surgery. Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons. Read more...

While the positive uses for video games in an educational setting have also been established, the educational aim is usually made explicit. The goal of this research was to develop a video game wherein the educational aspect was implicitly embedded in the video game, such that the gameing activity remained interesting and relevant. Following a pilot study to confirm the usability of an in-house developed game, two studies were conducted with 11-17 year old hockey players (N-1 = 130). Read more...

Three experiments examined the effects of rewarding and punishing violent actions in video games on later aggression-related variables. Participants played one of three versions of the same race-car video game: (a) a version in which all violence was rewarded, (b) a version in which all violence was punished, and (c) a nonviolent version. Participants were then measured for aggressive affect (Experiment 1), aggressive cognition (Experiment 2), and aggressive behavior (Experiment 3). Rewarding violent game actions increased hostile emotion, aggressive thinking, and aggressive behavior. Punishing violent actions increased hostile emotion, but did not increase aggressive thinking or aggressive behavior. Results suggest that games that reward violent actions can increase aggressive behavior by increasing aggressive thinking. Read more...