Journal of Adolescence 1991, 14, 53-73

Amusement machine playing in childhood and adolescence: A comparative analysis of video games and fnait machines MARK D. GRIFFITHS The introduction of video games has met with mixed reviews. In the US, an ongoing debate focusing on the potential problems of video game playing has been taken up by parents, politicians and social scientists. A number of the concerns that have been raised about the playing of video games in the US are very similar to the concerns raised about the playing of fruit machines (slot machines) in the UK. This paper attempts to put the ongoing US and UK amusement machine debates into an empirical perspective and attempts a comparative analysis of video games and fruit machines by examining: incidence of play, sex differences and psychological characteristics of machine players, observational findings in arcade settings, the alleged negative consequences of amusement machine playing (i.e. increased aggression and addiction), and an appraisal of amusement machines’ positive aspects. Future directions and an expanded version of Brown’s (1989) developmental model of a pathology of manmachine relationships are also discussed.

INTRODUCTION

The introduction of video games has met with mixed reviews (Creasey and Myers, 1986). In the US, an ongoing debate focusing on the potential problems of video game playing has been taken up by parents, politicians and social scientists (Greenburg, 1981; Mandel, 1983), however, as Anderson and Ford (1986) point out, the debate has probably generated more heat than light. It is interesting to note that many of the concerns raised about the playing of video games in the US are very similar to the concerns raised about the playing of fruit machines (slot machines) in the UK. Both video games and fruit machines, which come under the generic label of “amusement machines”, are potentially addictive, and have led to a number of allegations of delinquency (via dependency) including burglary, *Reprint requests should be addressed to Mark Griffiths, Department of Psychology, Polytechnic South West, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK. 0140-1971/91/010053 + 21 $03.00/0

01991 The Associationfor the PsychiatricStudy of Adolescents

54

M.

D. GRIFFITHS

drug dealing, attempted murder, suicide, and prostitution (e.g. Gory, 1983; Griffiths, 1990~). The main differences between the two types of machine are that video games are played to accumulate as many points as possible, whereas fruit machines are played (i.e. gambled upon) to accumulate as much money. However, playing a video game could be considered as a non-financial form of gambling, and taken to excess, both behaviors can be considered non-substance addictions. The other major difference between video games and fruit machines is that on video games the outcome is by and large a product of skill, whereas on fruit machines the outcome is usually a product of chance. Another minor difference is that fruit machines can only be played upon in licensed premises (e.g. amusement arcades, casinos) whereas video games can be delivered via four general hardware systems -handheld, personal computer, home video console and arcades (Nawrocki and Winner, 1983). However, most of the US debate on video games has centered upon the playing of arcade video games. This paper attempts to put the ongoing US and UK amusement machine debates into an empirical perspective and will attempt a comparative analysis of video games and fruit machines by examining: incidence of play, sex differences and psychological characteristics of machine players, observational findings in arcade settings, the alleged negative consequences of amusement machine playing (i.e. increased aggression and addiction), and an appraisal of amusement machines’ positive aspects. Future directions and an expanded version of Brown’s (1989) developmental model of a pathology of man-machine relationships are also discussed.

AMUSEMENT Who plays

MACHINES

them and how much?

Most surveys which have reported on the incidence of amusement machine playing among a general population have concluded that they are most frequently played by male adolescents. In the US, approximately nine out of ten teenagers play video games at some point during their adolescent years (Atari, 1982; Gallup, 1982). According to Surrey (1982), the clientele on video games can vary from business people and teenagers, to women shoppers and young children, however it is the older teenage boys who predominate. In a survey of 2000 video game players, Loftus and Loftus (1983) reported that without exception the most frequent players were teenage males. Incidence figures for video games in other countries are lower than in the US, but the games are still mostly played by adoles-

AMUSEMENT

MACHINES

IN CHILDHOOD

AND ADOLESCENCE

55

cents. Since American adolescents have little access to fruit machines (i.e. they are only found in licensed casinos where age admittance is a minimum of 21-years-old) there are no incidence statistics. However, in the UK, children and adolescents have ready access to both video games and fruit machines. Table 1 outlines a comprehensive summary of UK research studies on amusement machine playing in adolescence. Incidence figures of amusement machine playing range between 13 per cent and 100 per cent depending upon the research methodology employed, and in nearly all studies, males played upon both video and fruit machines significantly more than females. Sex differences The significant association between gender and the frequency of video game playing has been reported by many authors (e.g. Kaplan, 1983; Trinkaus, 1983; Egli and Meyers, 1984) as has a similar finding between gender and the frequency of fruit machine playing (e.g. Fisher, 1990; NHTPC, 1988). Little explanation for why males play fruit machines more than females has been offered, except by Griffiths (1988a; 1990~) who in interviews with “fruit machine addicts” reported that his players said “gambling (was) a man’s domain”. Explanations for the gender difference in video game playing have been more forthcoming. One explanation may be the content of the games. As Gutman (1982) has pointed put, video game software is usually designed by males for males. For instance, Braun, Goupil, Giroux and Chagnon (1986) reported that in 21 video games they examined, 12 contained exclusively masculine images, two contained both masculine and feminine images, seven contained neither and none contained exclusively female images. In a study of 117 undergraduate video game players by Morlock, Yando and Nigolean (1985), males reported that they play for competition and to master the games. Females preferred more whimsical, less aggressive and to some extent less demanding games than men [a finding also reported by Malone (1981)]. This may be explained by social factors; women have not been encouraged to express aggression in public and are unlikely to feel comfortable with games of combat or war (Surrey, 1982). Another factor which may be important in explaining sex differences is that males on average perform better in visual and spatial skills, particularly depth perception and image solving (Maccoby and Jacklin, 1974). These skills are essential in good video game playing since good hand-eye coordination is needed, in addition to quick judgements of spatial relationships (Kiesler, Sproull and Eccles, 1983). Kiesler et al. (1983) note that since boys would tend to score higher than girls on the evidence out-

Summary

machine

1211 986

248

1223 960

386

2434 1946

634 194 SO 576

1988

1988

1988a

I9886

1989

1989

Spectrum Trust

Home Office

Wyatt

Wyatt

Beverle>- Area Management Committee

Leeds

Rands and Hwper

Griffiths

1990 (b; c) 1990 (a; b) 1990

Griffiths

2817

50

8

134 213

1989

1989

Brown

Bentall, Fisher, Kelly. Bromley and Hawksworth

Polytechnic

Children’s

11

39 (not spccitird)

0

8

I l-16

20 (f.m.) 23 (v.g.)

100 (f.m.) 68 (v.g.)

I-l-21

15-51+

100 (f.m.) SO (\‘,&)

44 (v.g.) 100 (f.m.)

12-16

(not specified)

I9

39 (f.m.) 44 (v.g.)

11-16

(not specified)

160 50 (3 unrecorded)

94

1120+

(not specified)

59 (f.m.) 84 (f.m.)

11-15

11-15

(“roughly 50-50”)

13 (f.m.) 11 (v.g.) 14 (both)

!8 l&16

1I-16

64 (f.m.) 52 (v.g.)

13-16

4434

S184

9752

1988

National Housing and Town Planning Council

51

31

40

71

1987

70 (f.m.) 76 (v.g.)

166

163

329

1987

Barham

Ashdown

11-15

35 (f.m.) 60 (v.g.)

11-16

77

1985 IS-21

and Atkin

Huff and Collinson

Waterman

l+l8

(X)

Played

41 (f.rn.J

6

90

-

6 (f.m.) 10 (v.g.)

8.7 (f.m.1

14

23 (f.m.) -

19

24 (f.m.) 27 (v.g.)

to schoolchildren

Questionnaire

9 I0

to schoolchildren

Questionnaire/Interviews fruit machine players

34 (f.rn.)

to

to fruit machine

to schoolchildren

to schoolchildren

Interviews with “addicted” fruit machine players

Questionnaire players

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Questionnaire/Interview to unspecified “young people”

to schoolchildren Questionnaire

to schoolchildren

to schoolchildren

to schoolchildren

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

to

to schoolchildren

to juvenile

to schoolchildren

methodology

v.g. = video game)

Questionnaire/Interview schoolchildren

Questionnaire

Questionnaire offenders

Questionnaire

Research

Regular players ( ‘% ) 9

= fruit machine;

(f.m.

100 (f.m.)

in adolescents

0

Age

playing

100

Sample size Female Male

on amusement

(not specified)

Total

studies

100

Year

research

451

of UK

1987

Researcher(s)

Table 1.

AMUSEMENT

MACHINES IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE

57

lined, the fact that girls on average do not score as highly as boys could be considered a discouraging factor in girls’ reluctance at playing video games.

AMUSEMENT

MACHINE

PLAYING-A

SOCIAL

ACTIVITY?

There has been very little systematic research into whether video game and fruit machine playing are largely social or non-social activities. Brooks (1983) reported that in a survey of Los Angeles video game players, less than half the time in the video arcade was spent actually playing video games and therefore concluded that video game playing was to some degree a social activity. Braun, Goupil, Giroux and Chagnon (1986) surveyed 18 video arcades and reported that most of the activity that takes place is solitary. Of 498 clients observed, 297 were alone, 60 were in couples, 1.5 trios, six were in foursomes and two in quintets. Dominick (1984) reported that over a fifth (21 per cent) of males played alone but only a small proportion of females (6 per cent) did similarly. Silnow (1984) reported that video game players use the machines as “electronic friends”. This assertion had been tested experimentally by Scheibe and Erwin (1979) who studied the conversations of people with video games while they were playing them. Out of 40 subjects, spontaneous verbalizations were frequent and recorded in 39 cases, averaging one comment every 40 seconds. They reported widespread use of pronouns for the machine, i.e. “it hates me”, “he’s trying to get me” or “you dumb machine”, but interestingly no use of the pronoun “she”. The remarks themselves fell into two categories-direct comments to the machine and simple exclamations or expletives. Scheibe and Erwin concluded that players were reacting to video game machines as if they were people. A similar finding has also been reported by Griffiths (1989~) in a study of the cognitive activity of fruit machine players. Research into the social nature of fruit machine playing has suggested that the more time and money an individual spends playing on a fruit machine the more likely they are to be playing on their own (e.g. NHTPC, 1988; Griffiths, 1990~). The Home Office (1988) described fruit machine playing as a “predominantly gregarious, peer group centred activity” (p.22) in which going to the amusement arcade was the central focus of a social event. In a survey by Bentall, Fisher, Kelly, Bromley and Hawksworth (1989) it was reported that most of their respondents visited amusement arcades alone, however they did report that young males tended to go with their friends. A recent survey by Rands and Hooper (1990) has suggested that typical adolescent males tend to play alone whereas female adoles-

M. D. GRIFFITHS

58

cents

tend

findings

tc play with their

on the social

lected were obtained (19893) in a summary although

friends.

nature

However

of fruit machine

the one problem playing

employing retrospective of his own observational

adolescents

may

at the

meet

with the

is that the data col-

questionnaires. Griffiths studies has concluded that

arcade,

more

often

than

not

they

play alone.

PSYCHOLOGICAL To

date there

fruit

CHARACTERISTICS

have been no studies

machine

players,

however

OF THE PLAYERS

on the psychological

a number

of studies

characteristics have

of

examined

the

psychological characteristics of video game players. McClure and Mears (1984) reported that frequent video game players tend to be young, male, and

bright

bright.

whereas

In a second

tionship

between

of 290

students,

video

games

played

players

McClure

video

game

they

examined

every

video games

was reported

infrequent study,

playing

day-the once

that HR

older,

high

rate

(HR)

players

were more

extraverted

oriented. The only significant to the school office for minor players. cantly

It was concluded related

to major

not

those

but not more

more

than

who

players.

disordered,

neurotic

played

those

low rate (LR)

not more conduct

Out

who

players-and

as

the rela-

psychopathologies.

not use drugs more, smoke more or drink alcohol HR

and

examined

between

a month-the

were

female

(1986)

and several

differences

or twice

players

were

and Mears

It

and did

LR

players.

or achievement

difference was that HR players were sent disciplinary offences more often than LR

that

measures

HR

video

game

playing

was not

signifi-

of psychopathology.

Gibb, Bailey, Lambirth and Wilson (1983) examined whether personality was related to high or low video game usage. Using the Bipolar Personality Inventory

(BPI)

and its derivatives

leagues

reported

that

became

apparent.

In females,

ence

in playing

that there

video

of the games

was little evidence anti-social anger,

on 280 students,

Gibb

and his col-

24 possible

significant

differences

achievement

motivation

and length

were positively to indicate behavior

correlated.

only

one

of experi-

It was concluded

that video games encourage social and compulsivity. Additionally,

isolation, there were no significant differences between high and low frequency video game users along the personality dimensions of social withdrawal, hostility, self-esteem and social deviancy.

Kestenbaum and Weinstein (1985) reported that 76 high frequency video game players (from a total of 447 school students) showed no differences to the rest of the subjects on neuroticism, extraversion and daydreaming

scales.

High

frequency

players

reported

playing

when they were

AMUSEMENT

MACHINES

IN CHILDHOOD

AND

ADOLESCENCE

59

tense or “wound up”, but were more relaxed once they had finished playing. It was concluded that frequent video game use neither results in nor relates to global psychopathology or social introversion and that video game players are for the most part healthy adolescents. However, frequent players were in trouble with the police significantly more than low frequency players. However Kestenbaum and Weinstein argued there was no evidence that video game use either causes or contributes to this delinquency. From the sparse evidence outlined it would appear that video game players seem to possess little in the way of a uniform personality, except that it is not related to any major global psychopathology. The studies outlined seem to suggest that video game players show higher levels of minor delinquency than non- or less regular players, however, it has yet to be ascertained whether video game playing either causes or contributes to this finding.

AMUSEMENT

MACHINES

AND AGGRESSION

One of the main concerns that has constantly been raised against video games is that most of the games feature some form of aggressive metaphor, and this has led some people to state (without empirical evidence) that children become more aggressive after playing such games (Koop, 1982; Zimbardo, 1982). This issue has not however, been widely researched. There is a much reported link between violence on television and violence in childrens’ behavior, that is, those children who view television violence subsequently show increases in their aggressive reactions (e.g. Berkowitz, 1970; Andison, 1977; Eron, 1982). Silvern, Williamson and Countermine (1983~) have noted the similarities between television and video games; both have entertainment value, violent content, and various physical feature similarities (action, pace and visual change). Most video games are violent in nature and feature death and destruction (Dominick, 1984; Loftus and Loftus, 1983). In a survey reported by Bowman and Rotter (1983), 85 per cent of video games that were examined (n=28) involved participants in acts of simulated destruction, killing or violence. Little is known about the possible long term effects of playing violent video games, but great concern has been raised that video games may have a greater adverse effect on children than television because of the child’s actiwe involvement. Television is only a passive, one way communicative medium (Bowman and Rotter, 1983). Greenfield (1984) has further pointed out that children prefer video games over television because there is greater control.

11-14

2nd-6th

4-6 2nd-6th

208

116 84 60 28 126

56 31

1984

1985

1986

1986

1987

1987

1987

1988

Kestenbaum

Hunter

Post-Garden

Novak and Hopson

Strawniak,

and Williamson

and Ford

Schutte, Malouff, and Rodasta

Winkel.

Graybill, O’Leary

Silvern

Anderson

and Vlackie

Cooper

and

and Esselman

Kirsch

Graybill,

and Weinstein

Study

in aggression

in aggression Increase

No increase of free play

Play

5-7 years

Rate/Role

Heart

Observation

8th grade

in aggression

Increase

in aggression

grade

effect

increased

No effect

more assertive

video games

No increase

of free play

fantasies; in aggression.

Observation

Girls increase in boys

Fewer defensive fantasies

Higher aggression hostility

of free play

P-F

Multiple Affect Adjective Checklrst

Observation

(1978)

Rosenzweig

Singer and Antrobus Day Dreaming Scale (1970)

videos have a calming

Aggressive

Finding

Questionnaire Eysenck short form Extroversion and Neuroticism Scale (1958)

in children

Significant relationship between video game playing and aggressive delinquency

and aggression

Questionnaire

Method

on video games

Rosenzweig P-F Study Response Hierarchy Measure Pushbutton behavioural Measure

years

Undergraduates

4th and 5th grade

grade

years

l Oth-11 th grade

250

studies

Age

1984

Researcher(s)

Dominick

of published N

Summary

Year

Table 2.

AMUSEMENT

MACHINES

IN CHILDHOOD

AND

ADOLESCENCE

61

Research into the effects of violent video games is steadily growing. There are at present only a handful of published studies examining the possible “aggression” link between video games and childrens’ subsequent behavior, and these have only examined the short term effects (see Table 2). A number of studies have examined the differences in children’s behavior after playing an aggressive video game. Silvern and his associates (Silvern, Williamson and Countermine, 1983a; 19833; Silvern and Williamson, 1987) have found that individual 4-6 year old children became more aggressive relative to a baseline condition when they were observed during free play after an aggressive video game. However they also reported (19833) that children playing in pairs seemed to reduce aggressive behavior. Cooper and Mackie (1986) observed the free play of 9-10 year old children in the toy room after playing and watching aggressive video games. They reported that girls’ aggressive activity significantly increased although boys remained unaffected. Both Cooper and Mackie (1986) and Silvern and Williamson (1987) noted there were no significant differences in aggression levels between active video game players and passive video game observers. Schutte, Malouff, Post-Gorden and Rodasta (1988) also observed the free play of S-7 year old children after playing an aggressive video game and concluded that the child’s subsequent behavior is similar to the character the individual controlled while playing the video game, for instance, those who p1ayed.a jungle video game played with jungle like toys whereas those who played the violent video game became more aggressive. Apart from observing children’s free play, the presence of increased aggression has been measured in other ways. In a questionnaire study of teenagers, Dominick (1984) found that video game playing was correlated with aggression, however when the effects of other factors were taken out, the correlation between video games and aggression became nonsignificant. Anderson and Ford (1986) measured hostility using the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist after undergraduates had played either very aggressive or mildly aggressive video games. Their results indicated that the playing of aggressive video games can have short term negative effects on the players’ emotional state and that players of the highly aggressive video game showed increased hostility and anxiety. Two studies by Graybill and his associates (Graybill, Kirsch and Esselman, 1985; Graybill, Strawniak, Hunter and O’Leary, 1987) have suggested that video games may have short term beneficial effects for children. Graybill, Kirsch and Esselman (1985) reported that children (6-l 1 year olds) exhibited fewer defensive fantasies and tended to exhibit more assertive fantasies after playing violent video games. Aggression was assessed

62

M. D. GRIFFITHS

using the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration (P-F) Study-a projective test. In a further study, Graybill, Strawniak, Hunter and O’Leary (1987) used a behavioral measure (apparatus in which children could push buttons to hurt or help another child) in addition to two self report measures (the Response Hierarchy Measure and the Rosenzweig P-F Study). These were administered after the playing of violent and non-violent video games. No significant differences were recorded. Graybill and his associates concluded there may be differences between television viewing and video game playing. One obvious difference reported was that although the video game’s content may be violent, the graphics are not nearly as realistic as televised violence. However, the possibility of longer term effects was not ruled out. Winkel, Novak and Hopson (1987) in a study involving young teenagers found that after playing violent video games there was no increase in aggression towards peers in a pretend “teacher/learner” role play situation, and no significant differences in heart rate. In the short term, Winkel, Novak and Hopson concluded that teenagers do not mimic the simulated televised violence they see. These few studies examining the effects of video games on childrens’ aggression only involved a measure of possible short term aggressive consequences. A majority of the studies-especially on very young children, as opposed to those in their teens upwards-tended to show that children do become more aggressive after either playing or watching a violent video game, however there is much speculation as to whether the procedures used to measure aggression levels are valid and reliable. Research into the effects of long term exposure to video games on subsequent aggressive behavior is noticeably lacking and at present remains speculative. There is little evidence to suggest that playing fruit machines makes adolescents more aggressive, however this is probably because no-one as yet has addressed the question directly. There is a small body of findings, which suggests that some fruit machine players may show signs of aggressive behavior due to their fruit machine playing. Moran (1987) noted in a study of headteachers’ subjective reports, seven schools out of 30 claimed the playing of fruit machines had caused more aggressive behavior in their children; although no evidence was given as to how fruit machines were directly responsible for the reported aggressive behavior. Griffiths (1990~2) reported that one of the moods fruit machine players can experience is “anger”, usually as a result of a heavy financial loss during a playing session. The anger can then be expressed as a form of aggression, for instance, the putting of one’s fist through the machine (admittedly a rare occurrence). It has also been reported by Griffiths (1989~) that fruit machine players can be verbally aggressive towards a fruit machine

AMUSEMENT

MACHINES

IN CHILDHOOD

AND ADOLESCENCE

63

when asked to think aloud while playing, however these verbal outbursts are probably context specific (i.e. occurring only when playing a fruit machine). Much research needs to be done before a link can be established between fruit machine playing and aggression.

AMUSEMENT

MACHINES

AND

ADDICTION

“Are amusement machines detrimental to a young person’s healthy development?” is the question at the center of almost all debate concerning the playing of amusement machines. A popular argument against amusement machines is that they are potentially addictive and that their overuse can produce excessive and irrational behavior (Anderson and Ford, 1986; Griffiths, 1989~). This is probably due to the fact that in their respective countries, both video games (US) and fruit machines (UK) have low stakes and can be found in a myriad of locations including cafes, bars, restaurants, hotels, cinema foyers, arcades, etc. (Surrey, 1982; Bowman and Rotter, 1983; Griffiths, 19883). A number of researchers (e.g. Soper and Miller, 1983) have argued that “video game addiction” and “fruit machine addiction” are like any other behavioral addiction, consisting of compulsive behavioral involvement, a lack of interest in other activities, association mainly with other addicts, and physical and mental symptoms when attempting to stop the behavior (e.g. the “shakes”). Undeniably, amusement machines can absorb a lot of children’s time and money. Egli and Meyers (1984) interviewed 15 1 adolescent video game players and reported that 20 (13 per cent) were heavy users who showed compulsive components and made many sacrifices by giving up going to the cinema, buying clothes, records and food as well as sacrificing sporting activities. McClure and Mears (1984) found that in a sample of 336 high school students, 15 per cent of their subjects played video games to escape outside pressures and 26 per cent used part or all of their lunch money to finance their video game playing. Much of the evidence for “video game addiction” in the US is of an anecdotal nature. For instance Klein (1984) reported that the number one spoken pre-occupation of the children he counselled with oppositional or conduct disorders was video game playing. He received an unspecified number of reports from parents and teachers who reported that their children were spending their lunch money at the arcade, stealing or begging on street comers in order to get their “video game fix”. Evidence for signs of “fruit machine addiction” in the UK are still quite sparse but steadily growing. Nearly all the studies in fruit machine playing (outlined in Table 1)

*May

hare

only happened

once;

**from

1990

and Hooper

Rands

1989

1990a

Polytechnic

Griffiths

Leeds

1989

Management

1988

Beverly Area Committee

Trust

1988

Children’s

Office

Home

Spectrum

1988

and Council

National Housing Town Planning

1987

Year

studies

showing

‘*‘from

3.6

1X

outside

4.3

-

farnil!

1.5x* “.8XXf

12 (18)#

10

4 (22)X

7.1

3.2

28

6 2

I .6

6

51

18 (32)”

7

-

-

2

5

6.2

4.3

3

-

-

0.9

18

dependency

Heav) playing (four or more times week) (“4,)

machine

Truanq from school/job ( ‘%)

signs of fruit

Stealing ( W,)

16.7

-

-

Using lunch money ( ‘%) ~___

Dependency sign

research

members;

7.3

21(3x)*

20

16.5

35

16.3

Borrowing “I”“ey ( ‘%r)

of UK

family

Summary

1987

and Collinson

3.

Barham

Huff

Researchers

Table

-

-

-

-

x

(“/o)

Irritable if not playing

Chasing

AMUSEMENT

MACHINES

IN CHILDHOOD

AND ADOLESCENCE

65

have shown that a small minority of individuals have severe behavioral problems as a result of their excessive fruit machine playing. The debate centers around how big the “minority” is. Table 3 outlines those studies which have reported negative consequences of fruit machine playing which could be taken as signs of fruit machine dependency. A number of studies have reported the use of lunch money to play fruit machines (NHTPC, 1988; Griffiths, 1990~; Rands and Hooper, 1990), stealing to play fruit machines (e.g. Barham, 1987; Spectrum Children’s Trust, 1988) and truanting to play fruit machines (e.g. NHTPC, 1988; Leeds Polytechnic, 1989; Griffiths, 1990a), as well as a range of other behaviors (e.g. borrowing money, heavy playing, chasing losses, irritability when not playing) which may be indicators of potential fruit machine dependence. Although there is a dearth of hard data concerning “fruit machine/ video game addiction” it is clear from the studies outlined that some individuals (and quite possibly a significant minority) have a bona fide gaming dependency.

AMUSEMENT

MACHINES

Positive aspects In addition to the alleged negative consequences of amusement machine playing (i.e. increased aggressiveness and addiction), there are many who ardently support the use of video games, and to a much less extent fruit machines, for a variety of reasons. Silvem (1986) has noted that some children may only be drawn into learning through fun and has argued that classroom video games would be of educational use. Loftus and Loftus (1983) have advocated three ways in which video games could be put to use educationally. They propose that there should be specifically designed games to run on computers already in school, that educational games should be marketed for the home computer and that video arcade games should be modified to include educational features. Similar recommendations have been put forward by Chaffin, Maxwell and Thompson (1982). Malone (1981), in what has become a pioneering study on the use of video games in education, concluded that the three primary factors in intrinsic motivation for video game play were challenge, curiosity and fantasy. The use of these components in the design of a video game could not only make the games more fun, but also more educational. Sutton Smith (cited in Surrey, 1982) argues that video games are a good influence because they give children access to “state of the art” technology. It has also been similarly argued by Gordon (cited in Surrey, 1982) that video games

66

M. D. GRIFFITHS

give children and adolescents a sense of confidence, and equip them with computer related skills for the future, a connection that has also been echoed by Loftus and Loftus (1983). Although these authors support the educational use of video games, it must be pointed out that they have not voiced their open support for arcade video game machines per se. One area in which there is a growing use of video games is in the testing of skilled motor performances (Nawrocki and Winner, 1983). The Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER) project has already demonstrated that some electronic video games are reliable and valid measures of psychomotor skills (Carter, Kennedy and Bittner, 1980; Jones, 1981). It has also been reported that the US Army uses video games to train gunners (Trachtman, 1981) and that US Navy officials have frequented video arcades to recruit trainees with the promise that the US Navy has more games with better quality on offer (Soper and Miller, 1983)! Video games are also employed in therapeutic contexts (Leerhsen, Zabarsky, and McDonald, 1983). For instance, “video game therapy” has been used by Lynch (1981; 1983) f or various types of disorders (e.g. stroke patients). Not only can video game performance be compared between patients and “normals”, but playing video games can be used as a training aid to some cognitive and perceptual-motor disorders. Supporters of amusement machines argue that both video game and fruit machine playing promote social interaction and growth (Favaro, 1982; Home Office, 1988). Fruit machine playing “is about risk taking, thrills, and excitement, emotional highs and lows, and requiring the respect and admiration of one’s peers. And it is also about testing the boundaries of right and wrong, expressing one’s emerging independence to the outside world, and ultimately, reaching towards adulthood” (Home Office, 1988, p.35). It has also been argued that the aggressive content of video games actually allows the players to release their stress and aggression in a non-destructive way and has the effect of relaxing the players (Bowman and Rotter, 1983; Kestenbaum and Weinstein, 1985). Further theraputic effects of video games that have been cited include increased hand-eye coordination, attention span and motivation (Butterfield, 1983), the enhancement of cognitive skills (Greenfield, 1983), a sense of mastery, control and accomplishment (Anderson and Ford, 1986) and a reduction in other youth problems due to the “addictive interest” in video games (Anderson and Ford, 1986)! Future directions Interest in the topic of video games and fruit machines is growing but there is little survey data, and much of what has been written could best

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be described as “armchair theorizing” or anecdotal. From the summaries of adolescent amusement machine studies, it is evident that although more research has been carried out into the playing of video games, many of the research findings on video games (in the US) and fruit machines (in the UK) parallel each other in many ways. Amusement machines on both sides of the Atlantic are typically played upon by older male adolescents, some of whom develop gaming machine addictions which can cause a number of negative behavioral consequences. In future research programs it would be beneficial to adapt the DSMIII-R criteria of pathological gambling (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) for use in the monitoring of gaming machine addictions (see Table 4). By using the adapted DSM-III-R nine-point checklist, it would be possible to record objective measures of incidence of probable amusement machine addicts. Much research needs to be carried out into the roots, causes and incidence of addictive amusement machine play, as well as into the families of such individuals, and the impact of addictive playing on schooling. It would also be useful to illustrate particular problem cases highlighting arcade associated difficulties, maybe even following single case studies longitudinally and recording developmental features of the “adolescent amusement machine player at large”. This would help determine the variables which influence how adolescents “learn” to play amusement machines. Observational work by Griffiths (19893) and reports from Gamblers Anonymous (Moody, 1990) have suggested that excessive amusement machine playing may be age related like other “deviant” adolescent behaviors (e.g. glue sniffing) since there is little evidence of excessive play by people over the age of 25 years either in arcades or at Gamblers Anonymous meetings. HowTable 4.

Adaption of DSM-III-R criteria of pathological gambling (APA, to amusement machine play

1987)

Have you ever done any of the following? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Frequently play and obtain money to play Frequently play with larger amounts of money Need to play more to get more excited Restless if you can’t play Return to win back your losses Make repeated efforts to stop playing Play instead of going to school/job Sacrifice other activities to play Continue to play even when you owe money

If a player answers “yes” to four or more of the above questions s/he is probably an ment machine “addict”.

amuse-

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ever, more research into the development of excessive amusement machine playing behavior needs to be carried out to confirm such findings. In addition, research needs to be done to see which factors correlate best with the establishment of habitual amusement machine play. Expanding on Brown’s (1989) developmental model of a pathology of man-machine relationships, it could be that “addicted” amusement machine players were previously “television addicts” and possibly go on to become pathological gamblers (see Table 5). In chronological terms, the child may invest an abnormal amount of time watching television because of parent and/or peer deprivation becoming a continuous passive observer. At some later stage, the child/adolescent may discover television has an active medium, that is, the playing of video games in which the child is psychologically rewarded through interaction and decision making via the television screen. At the next stage the discovery of fruit machines is made (probably as an adult in the US and an adolescent in the UK). At this stage, the rewards during man-machine interaction are both psychological and financial (i.e. the player has the chance to win money). It is in the final stage that the player may become a pathological gambler when s/he discovers that other forms of gambling (e.g. horse-race betting, card playing, casino gambling or even gambling on the stock market) have psychological and financial rewards but also require a greater level of skill than fruit machine playing. Although predictions from this type of model are hard to test, retrospective questionnaire and interview studies may reveal that video game or fruit machine addicts were once constant television viewers or that Table

5.

A dez~elopmental model of a possible route from a television Gwer gambler

(US) Television addict

Video game addict

Fruit

machine addict

observer)

(active participant: psychological rewards)

(UK) Pathological gambler t

f

(passive

to pathological

(active participant: psychological and financial rewards)

(active participant: psychological and financial rewards at a greater “skill” level)

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pathological horse-race gamblers were once addicted to fruit machine playing. However, a greater research pay off would come from longitudinal studies (rather than cross-sectional and retrospective studies) which might establish a long term outcome of adolescent amusement machine addiction. As Brown (1989) noted in a similar model to the one outlined above, the theory may require more than merely an a priori refutation. Such research may help in identifying potentially vulnerable adolescents or help in establishing programs for clinical intervention. For instance, it may be profitable to administer the adapted DSM-III-R checklist (in Table 4) to school truants as it is likely that such a group would show higher levels of gaming dependency than the normal population. However, such a proposition is based on what is currently known. Until there is an established body of research literature on adolescent amusement machine play, directions for prevention, intervention and treatment will remain limited in scope.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank the Economic and Social Research Council for funding this work through a Research Studentship Grant. The author would also like to thank Stephen Lea and Paul Webley for their help in the preparation of this manuscript.

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Amusement machine playing in childhood and adolescence: a comparative analysis of video games and fruit machines.

The introduction of video games has met with mixed reviews. In the US, an ongoing debate focusing on the potential problems of video game playing has ...
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