5 Ways Video Games Can Destroy Your Health
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Some games are intentionally designed to keep you glued to playing the game. Games will give random rewards based on certain activity. There are some games that players feel have lost appeal but continue to play for the next level-up, bonus or whatever the promised reward is.
B.F. Skinner and Pavlov used similar methods to train animals.
Skinner gave pellets to lab animals at random times for pulling down a lever. The more times they did it, the fewer times he rewarded the animal with a pellet. The result, the animals exhibited more lever pulling behavior. Similarly, gamers are rewarded points for munching or shooting at specified targets in their games with some form of intangible reward.
Pavlov noticed his lab dogs salivated everytime his techs came into the room to feed them. He wanted to see if the dog would salivate at just the smell of meat without receiving the food. He was correct. Video game companies use Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning to see if they can get their brand ingrained into your mind with images, toys, colors, catch phrases and etc, to continuously promote their products and derivatives.
4. Source and Exacerbation of Existing Disorders
Researchers have discovered that the cute loveable 80’s arcade game QBert actually causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
The game’s premise is to help QBert, an orange bipedal creature, keep a cluster of squares all one color. Enemies in the game will try to change the color of the squares. Qbert had to change the colors back and trick his enemies into jumping off the cluster of squares.
On-line, role-playing games are at the center of growing controversy regarding video game addiction. Video game over use is currently being seen as a symptom of larger problems already present in adults and children.
3. Lowers Performance and Development
Children that are mostly using games for enteratinment are not focusing on doing activities that help develope cognitive, behavioral and motor development.
Adults that spend most of their time logged into games are not actively strengthening bonding relationships, not getting enough exercise and increased aggression.
2. Bad Habits
To get more game time in, children and adults have been known to hold up in their rooms for hours. Personal cleaning habits go neglected and healthy eating is put on hold. Adults and children will opt for fast food or even no food to get more game time in.
1. No Life
Before you have realized it the video company has won. You are addicted. Devoting all your time and money to circumnavigating irrelevant things such as bathing, eating and cleaning up the toxic waste dump that has become your home. Your social skills have frozen at the age you discovered games, no company wants to hire an emotionally stunted, overly aggressive liability. Perspective partners will not want to have a futile competition with a piece of electronic media that will out last and out do them everyway possible.