RJA #15: Reflection

During the course of this class there have been many helpful skills that I have learned. For instance the formatting of an MLA style research paper was something that I have not done before, or if I have it was a decade ago. Also utilizing search engines on the Internet in an efficient manner was very helpful to me. As for the topic I researched I actually learned a lot. In fact I actually started on the opposite side of my stance until I had done all of my research. I really had no idea that there were actually benefits to kids playing video games. I feel that the whole research process will be very helpful to me in my future career as an Electrical Engineer because I am sure there will be many times where I am going to have to research something. Also as I said before, being able to use the search engines online in an efficient manner was something that I did not know how to do before and it really cut my research time probably in half. That is something that I know I will use at least on a weekly basis for the rest of my life.

RJA #14b: Application Project References

References

Parrish, D. (2008, April 19). The Effect of Violent Video Games on the Human Psyche. Retrieved April 5, 2010

Fleming, M. J., & Rick Wood, D. J. (2006). Effects of Violent Versus Nonviolent Video Games on Children's Arousal, Aggressive Mood, and Positive Mood. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 31(10), 2047-2071.

Desensitize. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved April 8, 2010

Brockmyer, J. H. (n.d.). Violent Video Games and Desensitization. Retrieved April 10, 2010

Schaffer, A. (2007, April 27). Don't Shoot: Why Video Games Really are Linked to Violence. Retrieved April 5, 2010

RJA #14a: Application Project Progress Report

The application project that I am going to be doing is a short story. My story is going to be following an elementary aged kid who has an obsession with video games. I plan to go through how video games impact his life negatively and positively. The negative impacts will range from lagging behind in school work to signs of desensitization. The positive influences I plan to incorporate are increased visual reflexes and increased cognitive abilities. I also plan to have him in the end figure out a good median of video games and real life, but is not definite at this point.
So far I have come up with a basic outline of what I want to incorporate into my story. Also I have begun an outline for my plot. In addition I have been examining other short stories to see how much detail they gave in their short stories to make them remain short stories instead of novels.
I still need to finish my plot line, however I may just leave the end out of the outline to kind of see where my writing takes it. In addition I still need to go through my sources a little more to make sure that I meet all the criteria for which ones to use. Other than that I just need to write it out.

RJA #13c: Application Project Example

Growth by Edward
http://www.freestoriescenter.com/storyview.asp?entry=3149

The short story which I found gave me a good structure to base my own on. By reading it I realized that my writing style will have to be drastically different than when I wrote my argumentative paper. Based on this authors style he starts a new paragraph whenever the subjects attention or train of thought is shifted in an other direction. Also it will give me a good start in using conversation between my main subject and other people in his environment. In addition to the structure I'm also going to have to be able to describe the environment in which my character is going to be interacting in, which will be very important since the story is going to be based on how he reacts to this environment. I also believe that since I am going to be showing how he engages his environment after playing video games, I am going to need to give sort of a short background story on how he acted before he was introduced to video games.

RJA #13b: Application Project Plan

For my application project I plan to write a short story depicting an elementary aged kid who has an obsession with video games. I plan to go through how video games have been effecting different aspects of his life. By using information that I have gathered from my resources for the argumentative paper I will show both negative and positive effects on his life. I intend to finish the story with him coming to some resoloution with his obsession and finding a middle ground, however we will see how things sort out when I start writing.

RJA #13a: Word Cloud

RJA #10c: Ideas for the Application Project

I've begun thinking about what to do for my application project and here are a few of my ideas:

• Write a news article on a child using skills that he has advanced by playing video games to help police solve a crime
• Do a short story about a young boy who spends all his time playing video games and how it effects his social life
• Write a news article on a recent crime spree committed by a couple of elementary school students and how video games did or did not contribute to their decisions
• Write an editorial on how society constantly searches for easy scape goats instead of focusing on the actual problem

RJA #10b: Progress Report for Argumentative Paper

Accomplished:

• Argumentative question developed
• Stance on question decided
• Thesis statement written
• Resources found and read
• Began putting resources in citation format
• Finished outline
• Began separating useful and non-useful information

Still need to do:

• Finish going through all resources (completed within a week)
• Begin to construct rough draft (within 10 days)
• Finish peer reviews (2 weeks)
• Finish final paper (2 1/2 weeks)

RJA #10a: Annotated Bibliography, Part 1

Parrish, Drew. "The Effect of Violent Video Games on the Human Psyche." ParrishCo. http://parrishco.com/academic/the-effect-of-violent-video-games-on-the-human-psyche/. Web. Apr. 19, 2008.

A student at the University of Central Florida created this website which contains articles he has written which correlated with his own interests. He states in his article that contrary to popular belief, video games can actually have positive effects on people including increased cognitive abilities. Parrish also goes on to show how video games were found to be protected under the first amendment. While this source was composed by a student he does cite many reliable references which support his ideas.

Fleming, Michele J. and Rick Wood, Debra J. "Effects of Violent Versus Nonviolent Video Games on Children's Arousal, Aggressive Mood, and Positive Mood." Journal of Applied Social Psychology. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119017627/abstract. Web. July 31, 2006.

Researchers from the Centre for Applied Psychology at the University of Canberra in Australia did a study on a child's mood after playing violent and non-violent video games. The study shows that after playing the violent video game that there is actually an increase in positive mood. Their study also showed that there was no increase in aggressive mood after playing the violent game. This study shows contradicting findings to what people believe to be true about violent video games. Also this study supports other references who make the same claim as these researchers.

RJA #9b: Argument

Research Question:



What effects do video games have on our youth?



Thesis Statement:

In the aftermath of such tragedies as the Columbine shootings and other such violent crimes committed by children has held the video game industry under scrutiny. However since claims have been made that the video games pushed these youth to act out on their violent impulses, many Psychologists and other professionals have began studies which contradict such claims. These studies have shown that children actually posses higher cognitive abilities, sharper visual reflexes, and an overall more positive behavior after playing video games.

Reasons:

1. Children who regularly play video games show an increase in cognitive abilities.

2. Children who regularly play video games are able to remember more details in a real life environment than those who do not.

3. A study done testing children's mood after playing violent, non-violent, and a pencil and paper game shows that after playing either video game the child's mood actually increased positively as opposed to negatively.

4. With advancements in technology there are actually video games that can provide exercise and learning activities for children.

Counter Arguments:

1. Children mimic acts seen on violent video games

2. Video games cause desensitization in not only children but society as a whole

3. Study shows that by seeing situations solved with violence, when that situation is presented they will react violently.

RJA #9a: Thesis Statement

Research Question:

How do video games effect our youth?

Precise Claim:

Popular opinion states that video games have a negative impact on the physical and psychological development of our children, however studies show that they actually have a positive impact.

Reasons/blueprint:

-Youth who play video games show an increase in cognitive abilities
-After playing video games children are able to pick up on details in real life that a normal person would overlook
-Children have an increase in positive behavior as opposed to a negative or aggressive behavior after playing violent and non-violent video games alike

Complete Thesis Statement:

In the aftermath of such tragedies as the Columbine shootings and other such violent crimes committed by children has held the video game industry under scrutiny. However since claims have been made that the video games pushed these youth to act out on their violent impulses, many Psychologists and other professionals have began studies which contradict such claims. These studies have shown that children actually posses higher cognitive abilities, sharper visual reflexes, and an overall more positive behavior after playing video games.