Correlation Vs. Causation: Violent Video Thesis

The more violent teens might also be more apt to wear black rather than white t-shirts, but that does not mean that the act of wearing a black t-shirt makes a teen more predisposed to act violently.

The authors of another study did attempt an experiment that would suggest causation rather than mere correlation. In an experiment involving 210 college students, students who played a violent video game were more likely to 'punish' the opponent by inflicting a noise blast upon the opponent of greater intensity and for "a longer period of time" than did students who played a nonviolent video game (Willenz 2009).However, the idea that inflicting a loud noise upon an opponent after playing a loud, noisy video game is analogous to committing acts of physical violence in the real world also seems like a tenuous causal argument.

Works Cited

Willenz, Pam. (2009). Violent video games can increase aggression. American Psychological

Association (APA). Media Release. Retrieved August 8, 2009….....