LAME STUDY FINDS VIDEO GAME ADDICTION IN CHILDREN COMPARABLE TO GAMBLING ADDICTION
Meet public enemy number one boys and girls. This is Dr. Douglas Gentile, professor at Iowa State University, and a certified PHDouche. Many articles about children being addictted to video games have hit the web recently and it's all thanks to the work of this guy. In his study (which was released in 2009) Gentile stated that 8% of American children surveyed played video games double the amount of the average gamer (19 hours a week) and exhibited signs of poor grades and an increased lack of attention.
The innocent face of addiction.
Gentile believes this addiction is so strong that it is comparable to gambling addiction in adults...he explains below.
“Video games and gambling both rely on intermittent reinforcement. If you win some times, but not every single time, it’s one of the most powerful ways to get people to keep doing something. Video games are similar to gambling in that you don’t just succeed every time, the same way a slot machine gives you little successes here and there, just enough to get players to keep trying.”
He went to grad school to make that discovery? Whatever the case, media outlets have been running with this story and causing widespread panic among over-protective mothers everywhere (unfortunately the addicted children's parents are too busy working to read fluff news reports). It is important to note when reading these stories that even Gentile himself is wary of the word "addiction" when referring to childrens gaming habits...as can be found by reading his study...and this statement below.
"I prefer the term pathological computer or video game use rather than computer, Internet, or video game addiction. Addiction is not a proper medical term, really, and the ultimate issue seems to be that the pattern of use is pathological - that is, it disrupts the ability to function socially, psychologically, occupationally, academically, or otherwise."
So it's more like being a pathological liar right doctor? What's the next move geeks? Do we combat the fallacies of mainstream media, or get our children off the junk?