The Effect of Video Games on High School Students’ Grades

CHAPTER 2LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

Video games have been growing in popularity since the 1970s and are now a dominant social pastime for many adolescents. Consequently, the ramifications of playing video games by high school students have in recent times become a source of concern for educators and parents alike. This paper examines the existing literature on the effects of video games on society in general, and on high school students in particular. Furthermore, it synthesizes behavioral conditioning theory as it pertains to how young minds of high school students are affected by video games, and the rewards that video games offer that classroom subjects do not.

One key indicator of the impact of video games on students is its overall effect on their scholastic performance. Hart et al. (2009) examined the effects of excessive video game playing on social, occupational, and other school activities. Based on the data, the conclusion was that there was no relationship. The paucity of literature on the subject stems from the lack of sufficient research to determine whether there is a link between video games and their effects on overall academic performance, as measured by the students’ GPA.

There is a general agreement that there has been a decline in the level of education in the United States. According to Castillo, Wakefield, and LeMaster, (2010), the decline over the years appears to be inversely proportional to the increase in the proliferation of video games; as the level of video games sales increase, the level of educational performance in schools declines.

People have always looked for ways to entertain themselves. While reading has been the main form of mass media-driven self entertainment for many generations, in the past decades, there has been a technological revolution that has changed that. It began with the radio; instead of reading, people could listen to music and other forms of aural entertainment. Then came television – this visual medium allowed people a wider variety of entertainment choices, like movies, news, plays, and documentaries to name a few – which dominated self entertainment, and still continues to do so. An offshoot of television was video games. Invented in the 1950s, the video game grew from a novelty in a laboratory to become a multibillion dollar industry (Gettler, nd). Video games are now the most used media entertainment for children in the US (Ferguson, 2010).

Behavioral Conditioning Theory

Even though Ballard, Hamby, Panee, and Nivens (2006) argued that the responses elicited by video games are instinctively visceral, it is also arguably a teleological response elicited by behavioral conditioning that can have far-reaching consequences on the developing minds of high school students (Dunst, Raab, Hawks, Wilson, & Parkey, 2007). Learning processes can be divided into two accounts, classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

Classical Conditioning

There are several key principles and terminology that have been established since the inception of classical conditioning. According to Moore (2002), these are: Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): This is a natural occurrence that triggers a biological response from environmental conditions. The natural occurrences may be aural, visual, olfactory in nature, or anything that stimulates the senses. The intensity and form of stimuli received will affect a response based on the specific nature of the stimuli; for example, the smell of cooking (the UCS) causing pangs of hunger; Unconditioned Response (UCR): Where a UCS elicits a natural response. For example, the response of hunger pangs to the scent of food (pp. 16-17).

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): When a previously neutral stimulus – such as the ringing of a bell – is paired with a UCS, it becomes associated with that UCS and evokes the same response. For example, if a bell is rung just before dinner, it becomes associated with food and evokes the same physiological response as the smell of food; Conditioned Response (CR): The response that comes from the pairing of a UCS and a CS (p. 17-19).

Operant Conditioning

In operant conditioning behavior is modified, either by the application of negative reinforcement to discourage a specific behavior, or by positive reinforcement to encourage the behavior. Once these behaviors are modified, they become known as habits. Habits can either be formed voluntarily, by using specific stimulus to create wanted outcomes, or involuntarily, as in the case of repetitive stimulus that produce learned behavior, such as associating the smell of cooking with hunger pangs. Operant conditioning, therefore, is essentially the use of rewards to encourage wanted behavior, or, conversely, the lack of rewards to discourage unwanted behavior (Weiten, 2008, p. 177-179).

Motivational Constructs

Pavlovian studies have shown that learning is achieved when a stimulus provides some type of behavioral conditioning. Even though classical conditioning is concerned with learned behavior from the continuing reinforcement of stimuli based on environmental conditions, according to Gershman, Blei, and Niv (2010), many of these learned behaviors have proven to be extinguishable when the reinforcement was removed; however, there are proven latent behaviors that resurface when the original conditions are reintroduced. One of the tenets of classical conditioning is the unconditioned response. Even after the unconditioned stimulus has ceased to exist, the unconditioned response to it may still linger, and could resurface at a later time.

Video games are not simply for entertainment, according to Charsky and Mims (2008), they can be a valuable teaching tool. Not only do they provide a unique way of approaching various uninteresting subjects, students who use video games as a learning tool have been found to enjoy the material and retain the information to a greater extent than traditional learning within a teacher controlled environment. The games can provide an environment where learning is rewarded and getting the answers wrong is not – essentially operant conditioning.

There are several different types of video game equipment. They range from dedicated consoles that are designed to primarily play games – such as the Microsoft X Box 360, the Nintendo Wii, and the Sony Play Station – to games that are played on equipment that are not solely video game players, such as computers, cell phones, and other devices which have the ability to perform multiple tasks.

With the advent of high definition television, 3D television and multichannel surround sound, video games designers have created a lifelike environment for a new generation of realistic games. The lifelike characteristic of these new generation games has made them irresistible to many. While there has been some research on the effects of video games on the social aspects of children and adults (Wood, et al, 2004), there has been a paucity of research seeking to examine how video games insidiously changes the lives of high schools students by having a negative impact on their grades. That is an important distinction because any impact on the academic performance of high school students can have long-term ramifications that could affect them for the rest of their lives.

Behavioral changes that occur in young children are ingrained in their psyche and can have an impact on life-changing decisions that they make; furthermore, these changes can have far-reaching consequences that would affect every part of their social and professional life.

Of particular interest is the theory of operant conditioning. The behavioral and psychological processes of operant conditioning are similar to those that occur in the learning styles of video game players (Bolling, Terry, & Kohlenberg, 2006). For example, some students may be more influenced by conditions, like violent actions, that exist in some video games than in others. Moreover, all students may not always be able to separate the video game world from the reality of everyday living (Ferguson & Rueda, 2010), thereby creating conditions for rewarding students for increasing their level of violent activity – the types of games that have been proven to be particularly addictive. These rewards could translate into unrealistic students’ expectations in the real world.

While video games have their own reward structure endemic to the game, there are different reasons why students play. Possible motivational constructs that could determine the effects of video game playing on high school students’ grades are: intrinsic and, or, extrinsic rewards; social interactive situations with friends and family; autonomy; and self regulation.

Extrinsic Rewards

There are extrinsic rewards inherent to video games – for example, players can collect points, achieve improved capabilities, or get to the next level as a prerequisite for winning or completing the game – moreover, there are also online games where players can compete against other players for prizes. Furthermore, Wood, Gupta, Derevensky and Griffiths (2004), found that extrinsic rewards can be a strong motivational factor in playing video games, these same rewards can also be a precursor to other addictive behavior as adults. Indeed, gambling and alcoholic dependency has been seen as addictive behavior that has its roots in genetics and childhood upbringing (Lawrence Luty, Boodan, Sahakian, and Clark, 2009).

Intrinsic Rewards

While the extrinsic rewards are a big part of the reason for playing, some players prefer peer approval which can be a huge incentive to video game players (King, Delfabbro, and Griffiths, 2010). Furthermore, they also theorize that completing the game, or even completing a particular part of the game can increase gratification enough for them to increase the time spent playing. An article by Kappes and Thompson (1985) suggested that those who play video games are motivated by their need to have a strong degree of control over events. Video games give them that sense of control and confidence.

Social Interaction

A study by Ballard, Hamby, Panee, and Nivens (2006) suggests that players of violent video games are more likely to be antisocial and lack cognitive adaptability. Moreover, this study found that these players may have an increasingly decreased sensitivity to video games violence. While the study did not specifically deal with the effect that video games have on high school student’s grades, there was evidence that violent games increased aggression, anxiety, and arousal. Furthermore, a study by Moyer (2008) found that there was a correlation between video game playing and social cognitive behavior among fifth and eighth grade students, while an article by Wallenius, Rimpela, Punamaki, and Lintonen (2009) suggests that excessive video game playing by adolescents has an effect on their school performance, sleeping habits, and their communication with their parents. However, the study by Ballard et al. (2006) pointed out that the aggression effects on video games players was no different from the aggression brought about by watching violent television shows that children have been watching before the advent of video games. But children and teenagers today occupy their time with both violent television shows and violent video games. Furthermore, unlike video games, television could be considered a passive form of entertainment. The Ballard et al. ANOVA study had a sample size of 42 adolescents; variables measured were behavioral aggression, anger, and arousal during video game play. The experimental sessions were completed in three sessions conducted over three weeks. The results of the study found that the players would not have increased arousal during play, they would instead show signs of increased negative aggression after game play. Furthermore, they would become desensitized to the violence in the games and would increasingly need to have new and more violent games.

Video Games and Learning

Evidence of Problems

Existing research has documented several areas where video games have caused problems for young players. According to Ballard, et al (2006), these problems include: poor grades, social deficits, aggression, and hostility. Pathological gaming, identified as players who experience severe life-style disruptions when video game playing consumes their time, affects their grades, social functioning, and psychological well being. Researchers used the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to define pathological gaming as a behavioral addiction that affects several areas of a person’s life (Gentile, 2009).

However, contrary to most of the research that found evidence of negative effects on children, a study by Chuang and Chen (2009) found that video games improved children’s cognitive learning skills by challenging and motivating them. Furthermore, in a study that measured the effects of violent video games, it was discovered that players were better able to cope with stress after playing violent video games for long periods; the same effect was not evident when games were only played for short durations (Ferguson and Rueda, 2010).

School performance

Several studies have looked at the effect of playing video games on the academic performance of students but none of them specifically examined the effect it has on the grades of high school students. For instance, Weis and Cerankosky (2010) studied the direct causal effect of owning a video game to the scholastic performance of young boys, ages 6 to 9 years old. Pretest and posttests that measure academic achievement were obtained among students in randomly divided groups, one group was given a video game system after taking the baseline assessment, the other group was promised to receive their video game system after four months. The results of the study showed significant difference among the control and experimental group in terms of academic achievement. Boys who were given the video game system immediately were seen to have lower scores in reading and writing, and were reported to spend less time in academic activities compared to those who had not received their video game system. More time spent by the student in playing video games predicted poorer academic achievement.

This same principle was studied by Cummings and Vanderwater (2007). They postulated that playing video games would take up the time of people that could have been used in engaging in other activities like social interaction with family and friends and other school activities. They found that video game players spentd less time reading and doing homework compared to those who do not play video games. The participants, ages 10 to 19 years, used diaries to record time spent participating in various activities with parents and friends. The researchers, however, clarified that this is not a direct measurement of school performance but suggested that these activities are signs of school engagement that could be related to school performance.

Gaming frequency was also the focus of a study by Ip, Jacobs, and Watkins (2007). They sought to establish whether there was any correlation between exam scores on various academic areas and the amount of time spent playing video games. The results found that all significant correlations to be were all negative, indicating that the frequency of playing video games is negatively related to academic performance, that is, as frequency of playing increases, the level of academic achievement decreases. They found that several subject areas such as physical sciences and language, showed more significant negative correlation between the two variables among the respondents. Another important conclusion of the study was that there are other factors that are predictors of low academic achievement such as time spent on social events, watching television, listening to music and other pastime. The researchers stressed that the low academic performance observed among frequent players could not be caused directly by playing video games. It is important to note that this study used a population of undergraduates; because of this, the results may not apply to high school students. Additionally, the time the students spend doing something other than academic activity might be directly correlated to low school performance among the college student respondents of this study.

Similarly, Sharif and Sargent (2006) concluded that media exposure, such as television, movies and video games, each have significant main effect relationship with lower school performance of middle school students. They found a stronger relationship between school performance and time spent on media exposure during weekdays. These findings suggest that it is the reduced time spent on homework or studying that has a detrimental effect on school performance and not the particular type of media to which students were exposed.

Although there is extensive research suggesting this negative correlation between playing video games and academic performance, all the previous research focused on the time spent playing video games or the time lost that could have been used doing educational activities that would increase learning. The particular and unique properties or qualities of video games that might cause the observed decreased scholastic achievement and school performance is yet to be established by the body of research on this topic.

Attitude to learning

Children’s learning processes take different forms. Even though learning is typically thought of as something children accomplish in the classroom, they also learn during play. However, while schoolwork can be tracked and tested, video game play does not enjoy that same luxury (Hamlen, 2011).

According to previous studies, intrinsic motivation to learn plays a key role in academic achievement in children (Linnenbrick, 2002) and this motivation persists in adolescents (Gottfried, et al., 2001). Intrinsic motivation to study and learn among grade school and high school students was not observed to change greatly over time. Gottfried and his colleagues (2001) posited that this level of motivation found among the young students is likely to persist when they grow older; if students are initially enjoying school or learning and feel the pleasures of performing well in school, they are likely to have the same motivation during high school. Contrary to this, other studies have shown that students actually diminish their level of motivation as time passes (Bowman, 2004). This decrease in motivation can be apparent in the student’s diminishing interest and enthusiasm towards learning. Stipek (1988) suggested several reasons why a person would have a low motivation, and these reasons include the conflict between their long term goal and their present activities and the lack of association between their current activities and their goal. This suggests that, if students’ long term goal is to learn or succeed in school, but they engage in other activities that do not seem related to that goal, such as playing video games, their motivation in school would decrease. Interest and excitement of students are seen to be centered more on video games than school, as evidenced by the growing time spent on video games by students as compared to the time that they spend doing school work (Stipek, 1988). Cummings (2007) studied the effects of video game play on the time spent by adolescents in other activities, and concluded that those who play video games spent 30% less time reading than those who do not, and 34% less time on homework compared to non-gamers. This suggests that they are more motivated to play video games than to do school work. Research shows that motivation is related to the time an individual spends on a particular task (Marzano, 2003). As students spend more time doing something they are more motivated to do like playing video games, they spend less time on their school work, thus, decreasing their level of learning in school.

It can be noted that the rewards of playing, which include competition, challenge, diversion, social interaction and arousal (Sherry & Lucas, 2003 cited by Przybylski, et al., 2010) and the rewards for learning in school have some parallelism, which might suggest that some students could be substituting the rewards they feel when they achieved something in playing video games with the rewards that they could feel if they succeed in school. Przybylski and his colleagues (2010) found that the intrinsic motivation of gamers to play included a sense of competence and autonomy and relatedness, the same components of motivation that Ryan and Deci (2000) suggested in their Self Determination Theory that states that these three innate psychological needs of humans guide their behavior and actions. Williams and his colleagues (2008) also reported that achievement motivation is a very strong predictor of amount of time spent playing games, although social reasons and immersion also were seen to have a significant relationship with playing time. This could be very dangerous for students who no longer seek their sense of achievement or competence in school but instead turn to video games to satisfy these needs for intrinsic rewards. It can be hypothesized that students that are initially low performing at school might turn to video games to achieve the mastery and superiority that they do not get from school, thus, further decreasing their school performance. Gamers also report that their motivation for playing video games is that it is enjoyable and entertaining (Przybylski, et al., 2010). This added intrinsic motivation that most students fail to attribute to school activities gives them more motivation to play than to spend their time doing homework that could lead to a higher GPA.

Aspirations

Aspirations or the ideal goals that people strongly desire to achieve are also altered by the changes in the media and prevalence of video games. Educational aspirations of adolescent students were assessed by Geckova, et al. (2010) who concluded that attitudes towards school or how much adolescents liked school had a significant effect on students’ educational aspirations. Based on previous research, video game players tend to have a diminished motivation to learn in school compared to those who do not play games as seen by the reduced amount of time gamers spend doing homework and reading (Cummings, 2007). This could mean that the lack of motivation and less positive attitude of gamers towards school could significantly affect their educational aspirations in the future. Ryan (2001) found that adolescents tend to form groups according to their academic characteristics, and researched the influence of peer groups on the development of adolescents’ motivation and achievement in school. He concluded that peers influenced each other on attitudes towards school such as liking and enjoyment of school. It might be hypothesized from these findings that students who bond together due to common interest in video games and common attitude towards school influence each other in their future education aspirations.

Negative Associations to Learning

Attention Deficit

Chan and Rabinowitz (2006) concluded that high school video game players who play more than one hour per day have more inattention, lack of notice or regard, and other symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder compared to those who do not play. However, the research did not clarify the causality of the variables. It is possible that the subjects that are already experiencing symptoms of ADHD spend more time on video games for a reason not yet established. Still, this association between video game playing and inattention could pose some problems for parents and teachers given the rapid escalation of the popularity of video games among students. Inattention has been seen to be negatively associated with several cognitive functions like mental processing speed and working memory. Both functions are seen to have a positive effect on learning rate and performance (Rast, 2011). This suggests that if playing video games causes inattention among students, then their school performances are likely to be affected because processing speed and memory, functions that are seen to be related to inattention, are important cognitive functions that contribute to learning.

Lack of concentration and focus

Extensive researches have linked lack of focus and concentration to television viewing. Anderson et al. (1977) have hypothesized that frequent television viewing could decrease a child’s sustained focus on other tasks that are less attention-grabbing. These tasks that do not have the attention grabbing characteristics of television may include school work. Thus, suggesting that early exposure to television among children may cause them to have a decreased ability to concentrate on homework and in school. Several other studies have shown that this same problem with attention and focus among children can be found among adolescents (Landhuis, et al, 2007; Johnson, et al., 2007), suggesting that the problem in focusing on tasks may extend to later years in students’ school life.

Given that television has been around longer than video games, very few studies have focused on the effect of playing video games and concentration. However, Swing and his colleagues (2010) hypothesized that television and video games are conceptually related because both share similar features like the excitement they elicit and the rapid shift in focus that the activities entail. They suggested that both activities could possibly cause similar pattern in attention and focus of television viewers and video game players. This could mean that video game exposure among children and adolescents could cause lack of focus in school work and other activities. Swing et al. (2010) concluded that grade school children and college students who spent too much time playing video games are twice as likely to have attention problems compared to those who did not. Using a longitudinal study with two different samples, one with 1323 middle childhood and another with 210 late adolescent participants, the research showed that spending too much time playing video games and watching television is associated with short attention span and lack of focus in school.

Procrastination

Carden, Bryant and Moss (2004) reported that students with lower GPA were found to show significantly higher academic procrastination, which suggests that procrastination, or the delay in execution of a task negatively affects school performance. Rabin et al. (2011) studied the executive functioning components related to academic procrastination among college students. They reported that procrastination affects achievement, academic efficacy and quality of life of a student. They have found that working memory is one of the significant predictors of academic procrastination. Working memory and attention are some of the cognitive functions that were found to be negatively affected by playing video games. Thakkar (2009) mentioned in his research that video games offer a distraction to students that result in their procrastination with school work. These bodies of work show indirectly how video games are associated with procrastination and how procrastination may lead to lower academic achievement and performance.

Time management

It is logical to assume that youths who spend too much time playing video games would have less time for other activities such as homework, chores and social activities that may involve family and peers. Kline (2000) reported that adolescents who play video games excessively are more likely to delay doing homework and family activities than those who do not.

Tobin and Grondin (2009) studied how adolescent video game players perceived duration of time spent doing certain activities. They have reported that the subjects in general have a tendency to report the amount of time playing a video game as less than it actually was. They underestimated the time that they spent playing but overestimated the time that they spent reading. This suggests that the adolescents experience an altered sense of time that is not congruent with reality. This was explained by the amount of perceptual stimulation that they get from playing video games as compared to when they are reading. Furthermore, the subjects reported to be video game players showed an even more decreased estimation of time spent playing. The findings of this research suggest that the students who play video games are likely to be unaware of other considerations when it comes to time. They underestimate the time that they spend playing and over estimate the time that they spend doing school work. This poses a problem to students’ time management skills since they naturally tend to spend more time playing video games and lose track of time doing so, and spend very little time doing other activities that do not provide as much stimulation and do not grab their attention.

Depression and Learning

A recent study by Gentile et al. (2011) looked at third, fourth, seventh and eighth graders in Singapore longitudinally and assessed pathological gaming inclinations and effects among them in a span of three years. They found that students who spent more time playing video games eventually become more impulsive and socially less competent and are more likely to develop pathological gaming or addiction to the game. As a result, the researchers concluded that pathological gamers were more likely to develop depression, anxiety and social phobias. These students were more likely to have lower grades in school as a result of poor performance and family relationship problems.

Similarly, teenaged high school students in China who reported excessive internet use for gaming were also found to be more than twice as likely to suffer from depression after nine months according to a study by Lam and Peng (2010). Adolescents and school children were seen to be affected by depression, either major depression or mild cases, that were seen to affect school performance (Lamarine, 1995). These findings suggest that parents and teachers should not only be aware of negative school performance among video game players but also the possible depression that might develop as a result of excessive time spent playing video games.

Sleep pattern

If students spend more time playing video games, they have less time to spend doing other activities such as school work or even sleeping. Wallenius (2009) found that students who are ritualistically motivated to play video games, that is, they play to pass the time and entertain themselves, were seen to have a much later bed time and longer video game play time than those who play with instrumental motivation or the desire to experience and learn things through playing. Sleep continuity and sleep architecture after playing video games were assessed by Dworak et al. (2007) who found that both continuity and architecture of sleep were affected negatively by playing computer games. Lack of sleep was seen be associated with distractibility, inattention, lack of motivation and decreased ability to consolidate memories that are seen to affect learning negatively (Carskadon, 2011). Dewald and his colleagues (2010) assessed the relation between lack of sleep, poor sleep quality and sleepiness with the school performance of children and adolescents. They found that all three factors showed significant relation to school performance, with sleepiness being the strongest predictor of poor school performance.

Reduced ability to exert executive control

One function of executive control is the inhibition of an automatic response that