Videogames 7 - videogames and the effects model

15 - Media effects (on audiences) - Albert Bandura

(videogames)

• This old-fashioned view of how media products effect audiences is associated with the Frankfurt School in Germany
• The effects model suggests that media can implant ideas in the mind of the audience directly. It is also known as the hypodermic needle model
• Audiences acquire attitudes, emotional responses and behaviours through media products modelling ideologies
• If a media product represents  behaviour such as violence or physical aggression, this can lead audience members to imitate those forms of behaviour
• This model has many issues, though it still proves popular with the general public, newspapers and politicians who should frankly read a media studies textbook or two.

a flaw or issue with the effects model

an issue that many would be able to see is that although it could be prtially true that we absorb behaviour and ideas that we see as it gives us almost like a sponge, there are many examples of times that media has put forward a perspective or ideology and the audiences have adhered to. HOWEVER there are also many many accounts where people have played either violent video games or seen graphic and violent films (many genres of film such as horror, action and thrillers will have elements of blood and gore or violence, these are also very popular genres enjoyed by a wide audience) and have not then gone and repeated the actions they had just seen. this theory fails to identify why this is only the case in some cases and not others, what factors lead certain people to be more susceptible to this and why others are not.

the effects model and its relationship with video games

• it is generally believed that children or young people are incredibly influenced by the actions of others and especially adults around them. so not suprising that Bandura theorised that young people were succeptible to being more impressionable especially actions shwon in videogames like violence.
• a key example of the effect model is the bobo doll experiment where children were shown a woman kicking and throwing a bobo doll. the children then copied the actions they had seen and did the same when they were given the same doll.
• A key example of how video games are associated with murderous and violent acts, through the Effects Model, is the Columbine Massacre, where two boys who had been playing the mind-plaguing (as effectively described by the media) game Doom and then went out and killed their classmates and teachers.
• Two massive flaws in the theory:
• One criticism from Stuart Hall (the Reception Theory) is that audiences negotiate media products based on their own culture, background and understanding, so different people who are playing violent video games will be affected by them differently and receive them differently
• Another criticism from George Gerbner (the cultivation theory) is that audiences are manipulated through repetition of ideological perspectives

the effects model and its relationship with Assassins creed 

how might this game affect its audience?

This game may have a negative impact on audiences as they believe they are the character in the game, therefore disturbing them by the extremely violent gameplay. However players could be thrilled or excited by this gameplay, making them desensitised to the violent nature.

If we are to believe the effects model and to take it at face value, what behavior in this gameplay could be copied?

The violence in this game could be copied as well as the acceptance of violence because if players have repetitively seen violence and been involved in it in the game, they're unlikely to be as affected by it in the real world. Also, the use of violent battles to solve issues and find resolutions could be taken the wrong way and copied in everyday life especially with younger children.

What elements from this gameplay footage may cause concern for parents, teachers and other caregivers?

gameplay footage elements that could cause concern for parents and teachers include the stabbing, fighting and dead bodies of people (characters) who have just been murdered and the 'blood' that is seen coming from them. This is extremely concerning, graphic and complex for audiences of a young age (or any audience really) to be seeing and consuming

What positive messages might this game give?

the problem solving element could be considered positive, because the hours of gameplay footage requires problem solving the whole way through, which could be beneficial in the player's problem solving abilities outside of the game.