Posts tonen met het label games. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label games. Alle posts tonen
maandag 12 maart 2012
woensdag 9 november 2011
Violent films, video games and TV shows DO make boys aggressive, study finds
Watching violent video games, films and TV shows really can make children more aggressive, scientists believe.
And the more violent the scenes and the longer they last, the more normal the behaviour seems.
In the most comprehensive study to date looking at the link between on screen and real life violence, scientists got a group of boys aged 14 to 17 to watch a series of video clips while using scans to study their brain activity.
Violent computer game
The results were striking. The longer the youths watched the brutality, which included football hooliganism and street brawls, the less their brains lit up. 'Sweat tests' showed that they also became less excited by the action over time.
More...
Men PERMITTED to beat their wives and young children (as long as they don't leave any marks), rules Gulf state
Facebook games privacy breach: user IDs passed on to advertising firms
Is film Inception a reality? How we're learning to dictate our dreams
However, videos with little or no violence held the boys' attention - suggesting the lack of interest in the violent films was not due to boredom but to their minds becoming desensitised, or numb, to the action.
The US government researchers said this could lead to them becoming more likely to turn a blind eye to violence - and to commit offences themselves.
Study leader Dr Jordan Grafman, of the National Institutes of Health at Bethesda, Maryland, said: 'It is especially important to understand this because adolescence is a time when the brain is changing and developing, particularly in the parts of the brain that control emotions, emotional behaviour and responses to external events.
'Most people can distinguish between playing a video game and real live behaviour, but given the right circumstances where the rules are a bit more ambiguous (what if a bully provokes me) and provocative (someone is trying to take my lunch money), would an adolescent tend to be more aggressive and accept that aggression as normal behaviour given prior exposure to video games?
'I think so. Particularly if they are a heavy user of games and, in our device-driven world, that will be more and more likely in the future.'
Violent computer game
Behavioural problems: The games could lead children to committing offences
Dr Grafman said: 'The implications of this are many and include the idea that continued exposure to violent videos will make an adolescent less sensitive to violence, more accepting of violence and more likely to commit aggressive acts since the emotional component associated with aggression is reduced and normally acts as a brake on aggressive behaviour.
'No prior study has examined this from the complete perspective we had.'
The study also found boys who had the most exposure to violent media in their daily lives, as measured by screening tests and questions in their initial meeting with the researchers, showed the greatest desensitisation.
Although the study only looked a boys, the researchers suspect girls might not react in the same way, as they tend to be less violent in general.
Writing in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, they concluded: 'We propose that exposure to aggressive media results in a blunting of emotional responses, which in turn may prevent the connection of consequences of aggression with an appropriate emotional response, and therefore may increase the likelihood that aggression is seen as acceptable behaviour.'
Previous research has shown that even cartoon violence can affect children's behaviour and last year, the father of murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor called on the Government to impose high taxes on violent video games that can inspire street attacks.
Richard Taylor said he was 'saddened' when he saw youngsters buying games that had a 'negative impact' on their behaviour.
The sale of video games with 'gross violence' is regulated by the British Board of Film Classification. But from next year, the industry will decide which age groups they are suitable for.
Source
Fiona Macrae
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1321627/Violent-films-video-games-TV-shows-DO-make-boys-aggressive.html
And the more violent the scenes and the longer they last, the more normal the behaviour seems.
In the most comprehensive study to date looking at the link between on screen and real life violence, scientists got a group of boys aged 14 to 17 to watch a series of video clips while using scans to study their brain activity.
Violent computer game
Threat: Violent computer games and TV programmes could make boys turn a blind eye to real violence
The results were striking. The longer the youths watched the brutality, which included football hooliganism and street brawls, the less their brains lit up. 'Sweat tests' showed that they also became less excited by the action over time.
More...
Men PERMITTED to beat their wives and young children (as long as they don't leave any marks), rules Gulf state
Facebook games privacy breach: user IDs passed on to advertising firms
Is film Inception a reality? How we're learning to dictate our dreams
However, videos with little or no violence held the boys' attention - suggesting the lack of interest in the violent films was not due to boredom but to their minds becoming desensitised, or numb, to the action.
The US government researchers said this could lead to them becoming more likely to turn a blind eye to violence - and to commit offences themselves.
Study leader Dr Jordan Grafman, of the National Institutes of Health at Bethesda, Maryland, said: 'It is especially important to understand this because adolescence is a time when the brain is changing and developing, particularly in the parts of the brain that control emotions, emotional behaviour and responses to external events.
'Most people can distinguish between playing a video game and real live behaviour, but given the right circumstances where the rules are a bit more ambiguous (what if a bully provokes me) and provocative (someone is trying to take my lunch money), would an adolescent tend to be more aggressive and accept that aggression as normal behaviour given prior exposure to video games?
'I think so. Particularly if they are a heavy user of games and, in our device-driven world, that will be more and more likely in the future.'
Violent computer game
Behavioural problems: The games could lead children to committing offences
Dr Grafman said: 'The implications of this are many and include the idea that continued exposure to violent videos will make an adolescent less sensitive to violence, more accepting of violence and more likely to commit aggressive acts since the emotional component associated with aggression is reduced and normally acts as a brake on aggressive behaviour.
'No prior study has examined this from the complete perspective we had.'
The study also found boys who had the most exposure to violent media in their daily lives, as measured by screening tests and questions in their initial meeting with the researchers, showed the greatest desensitisation.
Although the study only looked a boys, the researchers suspect girls might not react in the same way, as they tend to be less violent in general.
Writing in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, they concluded: 'We propose that exposure to aggressive media results in a blunting of emotional responses, which in turn may prevent the connection of consequences of aggression with an appropriate emotional response, and therefore may increase the likelihood that aggression is seen as acceptable behaviour.'
Previous research has shown that even cartoon violence can affect children's behaviour and last year, the father of murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor called on the Government to impose high taxes on violent video games that can inspire street attacks.
Richard Taylor said he was 'saddened' when he saw youngsters buying games that had a 'negative impact' on their behaviour.
The sale of video games with 'gross violence' is regulated by the British Board of Film Classification. But from next year, the industry will decide which age groups they are suitable for.
Source
Fiona Macrae
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1321627/Violent-films-video-games-TV-shows-DO-make-boys-aggressive.html
zaterdag 24 september 2011
The Arkanoid ship still floats in space
After a sudden alien assault, the Arkanoid spaceship has been destroyed and the only survivor, the small 'Vaus' space vessel, has been mysteriously trapped in another dimension by an unknown enemy. The player is charged with helping the 'Vaus' overcome the security systems, as well as the many enemies that guard them, before finally finding and destroying 'DOH', the alien responsible for the attack.
Arkanoid is an update of the early ball and paddle video games - and specifically of Atari's 1978 classic, "Super Breakout" - in which the player takes control of a paddle at the bottom of the screen and must use it to deflect a ball inthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo rows of bricks at the top of the screen, thus destroying them and, eventually, clearing the screen to progress to the next level.
As well as impressive and colorful graphics, Arkanoid introduced a number of new elements to the classic bat 'n' ball game play. Certain bricks, when destroyed, would release a power-up - in the form of a falling capsule. the player had to catch the capsule to retrieve the power-up. Among the many enhancements the power-ups provided were an increased 'bat' size, multiple balls, 'sticky' ball (which would stick to the bat and could be released when the player chose) and even a laser, which allowed the player to shoot the bricks.
Arkanoid has remained a popular game and is commonly cloned by aspiring game developers in freeware and shareware titles. Many companies have also regularly cloned the game in arcades.
Arkanoid's popularity led to it being featured in "Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2", which has a whole level (4 stages in all) dedicated to the game, including DOH as the level boss.
Nick Mollison holds the official record for this game on extremely hard settings with 1,156,930 points on September 7, 2008.
Zack Hample holds the official record for this game on normal settings with 1,658,110 points on March 13, 2000.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Nowadays all kinds of Arkanoid games can be played online.
Sources:
http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=arkanoid&page=detail&id=106
Arkanoid is an update of the early ball and paddle video games - and specifically of Atari's 1978 classic, "Super Breakout" - in which the player takes control of a paddle at the bottom of the screen and must use it to deflect a ball inthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo rows of bricks at the top of the screen, thus destroying them and, eventually, clearing the screen to progress to the next level.
As well as impressive and colorful graphics, Arkanoid introduced a number of new elements to the classic bat 'n' ball game play. Certain bricks, when destroyed, would release a power-up - in the form of a falling capsule. the player had to catch the capsule to retrieve the power-up. Among the many enhancements the power-ups provided were an increased 'bat' size, multiple balls, 'sticky' ball (which would stick to the bat and could be released when the player chose) and even a laser, which allowed the player to shoot the bricks.
Arkanoid has remained a popular game and is commonly cloned by aspiring game developers in freeware and shareware titles. Many companies have also regularly cloned the game in arcades.
Arkanoid's popularity led to it being featured in "Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2", which has a whole level (4 stages in all) dedicated to the game, including DOH as the level boss.
Nick Mollison holds the official record for this game on extremely hard settings with 1,156,930 points on September 7, 2008.
Zack Hample holds the official record for this game on normal settings with 1,658,110 points on March 13, 2000.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Nowadays all kinds of Arkanoid games can be played online.
Sources:
http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=arkanoid&page=detail&id=106
Games for kids
A child's playtime can be used to help that child develop his or her cognitive skills. One of the earliest cognitive skills that all children acquire concerns the ability to sort items. Certain games for small kids can speed a child's acquisition of the ability to sort different objects.
A toddler loves to play with magnets. He or she can be expected to stand at a refrigerator and try to remove any magnets on its surface. A good game would encourage the pursuit of that activity. It might allow a child to discover how hard it can be to remove an object that is part of a very strong magnet.
A toddler could be taught to move that strong magnet to the side of the board, or whatever surface happens to be holding it. That movement would eventually diminish the magnet's strength and let the child's small hands remove the thing that had been "grabbing" the surface. Performance of that simple activity would make for some great playtime.
Still, a magnetic surface offers no more fun than one that demonstrates an adhesive quality. That should not be seen as encouragement for use of glue. Even without glue, a surface's stickiness can facilitate development of some great games for small kids.
Imagine giving a kid a group of numbers and letters. Suppose, too, that some of the numbers and letters have been cut out of flannel, while others have a Velcro backing. Finally, picture the placement of two boards in front of the same kid, one board covered in flannel and one covered in Velcro. The kid's young mind would need to sort the various objects in his or her possession. Only by completing that sorting process could the youngster get each letter or number to the proper board.
Toddlers love to play with water. That love can be used to develop another of the great games for small kids. That water based game involves the sorting of objects according to which ones sink and which ones float. This game calls for placement of a water filled container on the ground. That container should be surrounded by various items, some that will float, and others that will not. The youngster who sees the water and the loose items will automatically start throwing things into the water.
The last of the games in this article, which offers help to child care givers, concerns the rate at which a ball rolls over an inclined surface. A heavy ball rolls faster than a lightweight ball. That simple fact can be used to create yet another playtime activity. Like all the others, it helps the child to see the difference between two items.
Are you looking for some fun online games to play? Be sure to visit my site for basketball games and kids games.
Sources:
http://EzineArticles.com/5674418
A toddler loves to play with magnets. He or she can be expected to stand at a refrigerator and try to remove any magnets on its surface. A good game would encourage the pursuit of that activity. It might allow a child to discover how hard it can be to remove an object that is part of a very strong magnet.
A toddler could be taught to move that strong magnet to the side of the board, or whatever surface happens to be holding it. That movement would eventually diminish the magnet's strength and let the child's small hands remove the thing that had been "grabbing" the surface. Performance of that simple activity would make for some great playtime.
Still, a magnetic surface offers no more fun than one that demonstrates an adhesive quality. That should not be seen as encouragement for use of glue. Even without glue, a surface's stickiness can facilitate development of some great games for small kids.
Imagine giving a kid a group of numbers and letters. Suppose, too, that some of the numbers and letters have been cut out of flannel, while others have a Velcro backing. Finally, picture the placement of two boards in front of the same kid, one board covered in flannel and one covered in Velcro. The kid's young mind would need to sort the various objects in his or her possession. Only by completing that sorting process could the youngster get each letter or number to the proper board.
Toddlers love to play with water. That love can be used to develop another of the great games for small kids. That water based game involves the sorting of objects according to which ones sink and which ones float. This game calls for placement of a water filled container on the ground. That container should be surrounded by various items, some that will float, and others that will not. The youngster who sees the water and the loose items will automatically start throwing things into the water.
The last of the games in this article, which offers help to child care givers, concerns the rate at which a ball rolls over an inclined surface. A heavy ball rolls faster than a lightweight ball. That simple fact can be used to create yet another playtime activity. Like all the others, it helps the child to see the difference between two items.
Are you looking for some fun online games to play? Be sure to visit my site for basketball games and kids games.
Sources:
http://EzineArticles.com/5674418
Brain-training games don’t work
Brain-training games are big business. Self-improvement desires render us vulnerable to marketing claims that products will make us thinner, healthier, or in the case of brain-training software, smarter.
Enter science, "the blabber-mouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends", as Ned Flanders once described it. Until now, there had been scant empirical data on whether or not brain training actually improves your cognitive ability.
Alas, research published in Nature indicates that the possibility of improving your general cognitive abilities by playing brain-training games is an empty promise. More than 11,000 volunteers were split into three groups: one who played brain-training-type exercises; a second practiced more general cognitive tests; http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifand a control group who just pooled around the internet answering random questions. They did this for six weeks, bookended by benchmarking tests of memory, reasoning and other standard tests of cognitive function.
All three groups displayed improvement in the tasks they were performing. But all three groups also showed only small and similar increases in the benchmarking tests, possibly simply the effect of repeating the test. Conclusion? Practicing brain-training games will improve your performance on brain-training games, but that effect will not transfer to other aspects of brain function. They will not make you brainier, so you may as well just poodle around on the internet. As lead researcher Adrian Owen says: "You're not going to get better at playing the trumpet by practicing the violin."
So, once again, science wins out over marketing. But what's equally interesting about this research is how it came to pass. It's not an easy task to get 11,000 volunteers to do what you want for six weeks. Television has that power. The BBC's Lab UK (which sets up public involvement in large experiments) teamed up with their prime-time science show Bang Goes the Theory and academic scientists to design the experiment, recruit the subjects, process the data, and publish the paper.
BGTT is the de facto equivalent of Tomorrow's World. For us of a certain age, Thursday evenings were dominated by Top of the Pops and Tomorrow's World. So when the BBC announced this new show, a few years after TW had been axed, dorky anticipation was piqued. I suspect TW is not as good as we fondly remember it, certainly in its moribund years. Bang Goes the Theory is much more fun and, crucially, much more sciencey.
It serves its title well, with a whole heap of bang (mostly delivered by eager engineer-in-chief Jem), but also good theory. It's no small task to bringhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif science to the masses, but BGTT educates, inspires and entertains. There has been some snobbish criticism of it, and comparisons with shows like Sky's mindless Brainiac, which had merely a lot of bang. There are five science degrees spread between the four presenters. It might not be to everyone's taste, but if you're reading this, you're probably not 12 years old. Building a water-powered jet pack or vacuum-powered suction climbing apparatus is indeed a stunt, but in order to get an engineering project like that to work, clear scientific thinking and testing are a prerequisite. There is enough scope and wonder in science to accommodate TV programs ranging from BGTT, through the epic Wonders of the Solar System, to the more esoteric on BBC4.
And besides, they have shown that alongside the hilarious stunts, they also show good, robust and now published scientific research. With this brain-training paper comes vindication that peer-reviewed science can have widespread appeal and public involvement. Science is for the masses and, when it's done right, can involve them, too.
References
Rutherford, A (2010 April 20). Brain-training games don’t work. http://www.guardian.co.uk
Enter science, "the blabber-mouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends", as Ned Flanders once described it. Until now, there had been scant empirical data on whether or not brain training actually improves your cognitive ability.
Alas, research published in Nature indicates that the possibility of improving your general cognitive abilities by playing brain-training games is an empty promise. More than 11,000 volunteers were split into three groups: one who played brain-training-type exercises; a second practiced more general cognitive tests; http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifand a control group who just pooled around the internet answering random questions. They did this for six weeks, bookended by benchmarking tests of memory, reasoning and other standard tests of cognitive function.
All three groups displayed improvement in the tasks they were performing. But all three groups also showed only small and similar increases in the benchmarking tests, possibly simply the effect of repeating the test. Conclusion? Practicing brain-training games will improve your performance on brain-training games, but that effect will not transfer to other aspects of brain function. They will not make you brainier, so you may as well just poodle around on the internet. As lead researcher Adrian Owen says: "You're not going to get better at playing the trumpet by practicing the violin."
So, once again, science wins out over marketing. But what's equally interesting about this research is how it came to pass. It's not an easy task to get 11,000 volunteers to do what you want for six weeks. Television has that power. The BBC's Lab UK (which sets up public involvement in large experiments) teamed up with their prime-time science show Bang Goes the Theory and academic scientists to design the experiment, recruit the subjects, process the data, and publish the paper.
BGTT is the de facto equivalent of Tomorrow's World. For us of a certain age, Thursday evenings were dominated by Top of the Pops and Tomorrow's World. So when the BBC announced this new show, a few years after TW had been axed, dorky anticipation was piqued. I suspect TW is not as good as we fondly remember it, certainly in its moribund years. Bang Goes the Theory is much more fun and, crucially, much more sciencey.
It serves its title well, with a whole heap of bang (mostly delivered by eager engineer-in-chief Jem), but also good theory. It's no small task to bringhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif science to the masses, but BGTT educates, inspires and entertains. There has been some snobbish criticism of it, and comparisons with shows like Sky's mindless Brainiac, which had merely a lot of bang. There are five science degrees spread between the four presenters. It might not be to everyone's taste, but if you're reading this, you're probably not 12 years old. Building a water-powered jet pack or vacuum-powered suction climbing apparatus is indeed a stunt, but in order to get an engineering project like that to work, clear scientific thinking and testing are a prerequisite. There is enough scope and wonder in science to accommodate TV programs ranging from BGTT, through the epic Wonders of the Solar System, to the more esoteric on BBC4.
And besides, they have shown that alongside the hilarious stunts, they also show good, robust and now published scientific research. With this brain-training paper comes vindication that peer-reviewed science can have widespread appeal and public involvement. Science is for the masses and, when it's done right, can involve them, too.
References
Rutherford, A (2010 April 20). Brain-training games don’t work. http://www.guardian.co.uk
Swords and Sandals
The Peplum (or pepla plural), also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western". The pepla attempted to emulate, or compete with, the big budget Hollywood Historical Epics of the time, such as "Spartacus", "Samson and Delilah" and "The Ten Commandments", just as the Spaghetti westerns were low-budget imitations of the Hollywood Western. The terms "peplum" (referring to the togas or robes which the ancient Romans wore) and "sword-and-sandal" were used in a condescending way by film critics. The peplum genre does not include Hollywood or British films such as "Clash of the Titans" or "King of Kings" (just as the "Spaghetti Western" genre obviously does not include Hollywood westerns such as "High Noon" or "The Outlaw Josey Wales").
While Hollywood filmmakers, such as D. W. Griffith with his 1916 "Intolerance", peopled their historical epics with dramatic conflicts and realistic protagonists, the Peplum merely took a real historical or Biblical event and used it as a backdrop for a simplistic (albeit engrossing), comic book-like heroic adventure. The pepla are a specific class of Italian adventure or fantasy films that have subjects set in biblical, medieval or classical antiquity, often with contrived plots based very loosely on mythology, legendary Greco-Roman history, or the contemporary cultures of the time, (Egyptians, Assyrians, Etruscans, Minoans, etc.).
Most of the pepla featured a supernaturally strong muscleman type as the protagonist, such as Hercules, Samson, Goliath, or Italy's own popular folk hero Maciste. These supermen often rescued captive princesses from tyrannical despots and fought mythological creatures. Not all of the films were fantasy-based however. Many of these films featured actual historical personalities (such as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Hannibal, etc.), although great liberties were taken with the storylines. Gladiators, pirates, Vikings, and slaves rebelling against tyrannical kinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs were also popular subjects.
Nowadays it's possible to experience the 'swords and sandals feeling' online. Just check the Swords and Sandals game page to play games online for free.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword-and-sandal
While Hollywood filmmakers, such as D. W. Griffith with his 1916 "Intolerance", peopled their historical epics with dramatic conflicts and realistic protagonists, the Peplum merely took a real historical or Biblical event and used it as a backdrop for a simplistic (albeit engrossing), comic book-like heroic adventure. The pepla are a specific class of Italian adventure or fantasy films that have subjects set in biblical, medieval or classical antiquity, often with contrived plots based very loosely on mythology, legendary Greco-Roman history, or the contemporary cultures of the time, (Egyptians, Assyrians, Etruscans, Minoans, etc.).
Most of the pepla featured a supernaturally strong muscleman type as the protagonist, such as Hercules, Samson, Goliath, or Italy's own popular folk hero Maciste. These supermen often rescued captive princesses from tyrannical despots and fought mythological creatures. Not all of the films were fantasy-based however. Many of these films featured actual historical personalities (such as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Hannibal, etc.), although great liberties were taken with the storylines. Gladiators, pirates, Vikings, and slaves rebelling against tyrannical kinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs were also popular subjects.
Nowadays it's possible to experience the 'swords and sandals feeling' online. Just check the Swords and Sandals game page to play games online for free.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword-and-sandal
Abonneren op:
Posts (Atom)