How old were these kids? Honestly, kids can have abstract thoughts (though not more than children age 10-13 can) from ages 7 and 8, so this is kind of offensive. I felt sad because I read on her biography (on her website) that she had a Masters Degree in Developmental Psychology. Hell, I've underestimated what some of my cognitive-defficient patients could do and regret it. Granted, I have no idea if they (kids with mental retardation) can differenciate a game from real life, but underestimating kids with average intelligence can't be good.
Someone linked to the study somewhere. I've followed this discussion on at least two threads here and on a dozen other sites, and I can't find now where the link was, but I'll try a bit and edit if I find it.
I didn't read the report in much detail, but supposedly her conclusions are a bit of a stretch from what the study actually found.
Basically, 87 college students of both genders (average age was 19, so "adolescent boys" is a stretch. Note on numbers, 100 is mentioned in both blogs, but the abstract on the first link says 46 females and 41 males were involved) were interviewed about "heir knowledge of game usage, awareness and evaluation of stereotypes, beliefs about the influences of games on the players, and authority jurisdiction over three different types of games: games with negative male stereotypes, games with negative female stereotypes, and gender-neutral games."
Nothing about their ability to distinguish fantasy from reality, and the general results are that students see video games as harmless. Not having read the 25 page report itself, the linked articles don't even mention a finding of whether they're harmless or not, only that college students in general don't feel harm is being done.
Edit^2: Assuming this is the correct study, and it's not some super-secret study that the University of Maryland psychology department doesn't know it did yet, I think Lawrence used the report the same way she used the game. Somebody told her about it before the show, and she didn't actually have any idea what she was talking about.
Wow. I was considering being a little bit skeptic about the bad reviews her book got on Amazon, but after reading your post I don't think I want to doubt them.
The excuse she gave makes her seem even less professional than before, and it just stinks of a rushed apology in the face of crushing nerd retaliation.
The_Scarab on
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
The excuse she gave makes her seem even less professional than before, and it just stinks of a rushed apology in the face of crushing nerd retaliation.
She also needs to apologize on air.
It's just typical of the behavior we say with the other guy: "I heard this rumor from my stupid neo-con friends and I will pass it along as true."
The excuse she gave makes her seem even less professional than before, and it just stinks of a rushed apology in the face of crushing nerd retaliation.
She also needs to apologize on air.
It's just typical of the behavior we say with the other guy: "I heard this rumor from my stupid neo-con friends and I will pass it along as true."
"Because they said that if I passed it along to twenty friends, my crush would ask me out and Bill Gates would give me a computer."
The excuse she gave makes her seem even less professional than before, and it just stinks of a rushed apology in the face of crushing nerd retaliation.
She also needs to apologize on air.
It's just typical of the behavior we say with the other guy: "I heard this rumor from my stupid neo-con friends and I will pass it along as true."
Even this can be a problem. I was reading a study that showed that once a false statement has been established in the public view, attempted corrections REINFORCE the false view. One of the examples was the swift boat/John Kerry propaganda and another was the false story of McCains illegitimate black child spread in SC during the Primaries.
The excuse she gave makes her seem even less professional than before, and it just stinks of a rushed apology in the face of crushing nerd retaliation.
She also needs to apologize on air.
It's just typical of the behavior we say with the other guy: "I heard this rumor from my stupid neo-con friends and I will pass it along as true."
Even this can be a problem. I was reading a study that showed that once a false statement has been established in the public view, attempted corrections REINFORCE the false view. One of the examples was the swift boat/John Kerry propaganda and another was the false story of McCains illegitimate black child spread in SC during the Primaries.
Tell me I'm not the only one that sees the irony in this post?
The excuse she gave makes her seem even less professional than before, and it just stinks of a rushed apology in the face of crushing nerd retaliation.
She also needs to apologize on air.
It's just typical of the behavior we say with the other guy: "I heard this rumor from my stupid neo-con friends and I will pass it along as true."
Even this can be a problem. I was reading a study that showed that once a false statement has been established in the public view, attempted corrections REINFORCE the false view. One of the examples was the swift boat/John Kerry propaganda and another was the false story of McCains illegitimate black child spread in SC during the Primaries.
Tell me I'm not the only one that sees the irony in this post?
And I hate I can't find the damn study(actually I got tired of waiting for pdfs to load on to my antiquated laptop). For an informal personal confirmation fo the study, go find a conservative and ask them if there are WMDS in Irag or find a liberal and ask them if GWBs IQ is 85. People remember what they want to remember no matter how hard you try to change their mind. Here is a non political pop culture variation of a lie becoming fact thru false reinforcement: http://www.snopes.com/quotes/lauryn.asp
That’s the lesson Fox News and a self-help author learned this week after a program on that channel featured a discussion of the sexual content of the hit video game Mass Effect.
Bound by global message boards, blogs, chat rooms and of course the games themselves, gamers are perhaps the single most intense subculture on the Internet — fiercely protective of their pastime and at ease with the byways of cyberspace.
So the game world has been ablaze with indignation since the Fox News program “The Live Desk With Martha MacCallum†said on Monday that Mass Effect, one of the most critically praised games of 2007, contains frontal nudity and explicit depictions of sexual activity. The assertions of virtual lasciviousness first appeared earlier this month among conservative bloggers incensed by brief YouTube clips excerpted from the 30- to 40-hour game.
To exact their revenge, gamers have turned their vitriol on Cooper Lawrence, an author who appeared to mischaracterize the game when she said: “Here’s how they’re seeing women: They’re seeing them as these objects of desire, as these, you know, hot bodies. They don’t show women as being valued for anything other than their sexuality. And it’s a man in this game deciding how many women he wants to be with.â€
In fact Mass Effect allows users to play as either a man or a woman, and the few suggestions of intimate contact occur in the context of a detailed interpersonal story line. Asked on the air by Geoff Keighley of Spike TV whether she had ever played the game, Ms. Lawrence laughed and said, “No.â€
Irate gamers have flooded the page on Amazon.com selling Ms. Lawrence’s most recent book, “The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace With Your Inner Overachiever,†sending its user-generated rating into oblivion.
By Friday afternoon 412 of the book’s 472 user reviews were the lowest possible rating, one star. Another 48 ratings were for two stars. Only 12 of the ratings were for three stars or higher. In addition, 929 Amazon users had tagged the book with the keyword “ignorant.†Tied for second place with 744 tags were “garbage†and “hypocrisy,†while “hack†and “hypocrite†tied for fourth place with 710 votes. Gamers have also attacked the book on the Barnes & Noble Web site.
Many of the reviewers admit that they have not read Ms. Lawrence’s book.
As one Amazon user put it: “I know all about this book but have never fully read it. Why? Due to the overwhelming backlash, I have no choice but to agree with the 1 star ratings. The rumors are rampant that this book was poorly written and poorly researched. So without verifying the contents myself — I give it a 1 star. Good thing video games aren’t judged in this manner — whew!!!â€
On Friday “The Cult of Perfection†was ranked the 346,106th best-selling book on Amazon. Mass Effect, by contrast, has been a hit, selling more than 1.6 million copies since November. An Amazon spokeswoman said the site would soon begin to remove reviews written by users who had clearly not read the book.
In an interview on Friday, Ms. Lawrence said that since the controversy over her remarks erupted she had watched someone play the game for about two and a half hours. “I recognize that I misspoke,†she said. “I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it’s kind of a joke.
“Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography,†she added. “But it’s not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.â€
Electronic Arts, the giant publisher that owns Mass Effect, has asked Fox News for a correction. A Fox News spokesman would say only that Electronic Arts had been offered a chance to appear on the channel. An Electronic Arts spokesman said the company had not yet decided whether to accept the offer.
By telephone from Edmonton, Alberta, Ray Muzyka, the medical doctor who is chief executive of BioWare, the Electronic Arts studio that made Mass Effect, said: “We’re hurt. We believe in video games as an art form, and on behalf of the 120 people who poured their blood and tears into this game over three years, we’re just really hurt that someone would misrepresent the game without even playing it. All we can hope for is that people who actually play our games will see the truth.â€
:shock:
Wait wait wait. Someone from Fox News apologized and said they were wrong? ...you're sure that's Fox News you're talking about?
Voodoo, EA has already declined Fox's offer to have someone appear on the show a second time. And since the show is run by them, there is no way they can have a fair shot at clearing everything up.
EA wants a fact clarification and an apology from Fox. They don't want to have one of their people go back onto their show and back into the same old trap.
Author retracts comments and apologises for not knowing what she's talking about?
Jack Thompson avoids a bandwagon set to paint games in a bad light?
Four Horsemen alert, people.
The US government is giving money BACK to people? We're going to die soon, I know it.
Since the topic is about Fox News, I will add this. I stopped briefly on Fox News as I was flipping through, and they were talking about these tax rebates. They were talking about how its soooo horrible that the government (might be) giving money to the poor, instead of doing a universal tax cut that would give most of the money back to the wealthiest. Giving money to poor people instead of corporate CEOs? Disgusting!
Dirty on
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Author retracts comments and apologises for not knowing what she's talking about?
Jack Thompson avoids a bandwagon set to paint games in a bad light?
Four Horsemen alert, people.
The US government is giving money BACK to people? We're going to die soon, I know it.
Since the topic is about Fox News, I will add this. I stopped briefly on Fox News as I was flipping through, and they were talking about these tax rebates. They were talking about how its soooo horrible that the government (might be) giving money to the poor, instead of doing a universal tax cut that would give most of the money back to the wealthiest. Giving money to poor people instead of corporate CEOs? Disgusting!
The only good thing that FOX has (in my opinion) is House. Everything else can burn.
Posts
Wow. I was considering being a little bit skeptic about the bad reviews her book got on Amazon, but after reading your post I don't think I want to doubt them.
I dont hold much stock in her actions.
The excuse she gave makes her seem even less professional than before, and it just stinks of a rushed apology in the face of crushing nerd retaliation.
She also needs to apologize on air.
It's just typical of the behavior we say with the other guy: "I heard this rumor from my stupid neo-con friends and I will pass it along as true."
For paintings in progress, check out canvas and paints
"The power of the weirdness compels me."
Hahahahahahahahahaha
*gasp*
"Because they said that if I passed it along to twenty friends, my crush would ask me out and Bill Gates would give me a computer."
For paintings in progress, check out canvas and paints
"The power of the weirdness compels me."
Busted
Even this can be a problem. I was reading a study that showed that once a false statement has been established in the public view, attempted corrections REINFORCE the false view. One of the examples was the swift boat/John Kerry propaganda and another was the false story of McCains illegitimate black child spread in SC during the Primaries.
Tell me I'm not the only one that sees the irony in this post?
And I hate I can't find the damn study(actually I got tired of waiting for pdfs to load on to my antiquated laptop). For an informal personal confirmation fo the study, go find a conservative and ask them if there are WMDS in Irag or find a liberal and ask them if GWBs IQ is 85. People remember what they want to remember no matter how hard you try to change their mind. Here is a non political pop culture variation of a lie becoming fact thru false reinforcement: http://www.snopes.com/quotes/lauryn.asp
:shock:
Wait wait wait. Someone from Fox News apologized and said they were wrong? ...you're sure that's Fox News you're talking about?
pigs flying over a frozen hell.jpg
So no, Fox still haven't apologised. At all.
Ah well, a man can dream...
Game scandals never go this well. I have a little more faith in the media-games industry relationship now.
Besides... Have you ever known a girl to have the name "Cooper?"
Are you serious? Wow.
It's just a dodge and EA should call them on that. Fox should either apologize or EA should take it to the next level
Or is there a way EA can accept the offer (aka: trap) and still somehow make Fox look like an idiot on air..on their own network no less.
At what point does Fox finally get called to account for their tactics?
Enlist in Star Citizen! Citizenship must be earned!
When the viewers know better than to believe them.
So, never.
EA wants a fact clarification and an apology from Fox. They don't want to have one of their people go back onto their show and back into the same old trap.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Yeah, but only as a name through a friend. Never met her.
To be honest though, Cooper isn't a particularly weird girls' name. I've known a 'Ryan' and a 'James'.
Hey, I have a blog! (Actually being updated again!)
3DS: 0860-3240-2604
Batman.
This made me grin far more than it should do.
Especially being I'm at work at the moment, we're not allowed to smile here.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
My brain is hard-wired into hearing the Metal Gear "discovered" sound whenever I see an exclamation mark alone.
That's awesome and worrying. But it makes me laugh.
There you go.
sketchyblargh / Steam! / Tumblr Prime
http://kotaku.com/349423/jack-thompson-defends-mass-effect
Apparently even he saw this for what it was.
JT has earned respect +1. This puts him at -998.
Author retracts comments and apologises for not knowing what she's talking about?
Jack Thompson avoids a bandwagon set to paint games in a bad light?
Four Horsemen alert, people.
The US government is giving money BACK to people? We're going to die soon, I know it.
My world:Upside down.
Post Of The Year.
Since the topic is about Fox News, I will add this. I stopped briefly on Fox News as I was flipping through, and they were talking about these tax rebates. They were talking about how its soooo horrible that the government (might be) giving money to the poor, instead of doing a universal tax cut that would give most of the money back to the wealthiest. Giving money to poor people instead of corporate CEOs? Disgusting!
Sig'd.
The only good thing that FOX has (in my opinion) is House. Everything else can burn.
I don't know what to believe anymore
My worldview is shattered
Anything is possible in a world where Jack Thompson makes sense
Oh wow, seeing those last four words in that order is hella weird
Wii: 5024 6786 2934 2806 | Steam/XBL: Arcibi | FFXI: Arcibi / Bahamut