PSYCHOLOGY OF COMPUTER GAMES

Since the early 80s. computer games in the West are becoming part of the entertainment industry, which captures a large number of people, mostly children and teenagers. Society meets a new hobby ambiguously: against the backdrop of admiration for the capabilities of the computer, wariness is seen, and in some cases - direct condemnation. A large number of messages appear in the media warning of the dangerous effects of the computer in general and computer games in particular on the psyche of adolescents. In the articles, the authors express the opinion that computer lessons are a kind of addiction, which is expressed in such psychopathological symptoms as the teenager’s inability to switch to other entertainment, a sense of perceived superiority over others, the so-called "master of fate", which the player acquires by controlling "life" of computer characters. Such a danger is also noted, such as “fooling” a teenager, impoverishment of his emotional sphere, since a player, if he wants to win, must constantly suppress his feelings and remain cool. Some computer games provoke, in the authors' opinion, aggressive behavior, glorification of wars and violence, right-wing extremism. There are data according to which the subjects who played the virtual game had a much stronger physiological arousal, as well as a large number of aggressive thoughts compared to the control group.

The negative consequences of computer games indicate the narrowing of the range of interests of adolescents, the desire to create their own world, escape from reality. According to some authors, one-on-one computer training, often to the detriment of communication with peers, leads to social isolation and difficulties in interpersonal contacts. The negative picture is complemented by somatic disorders (reduced visual acuity, fatigue, etc.), which are believed to be a direct consequence of the computerization of teenagers' free time. The above opinions are expressed not only in the media, but also find support in the scientific community.

These problems marked the beginning of research aimed at identifying the characteristics of the mental sphere of adolescents who spend a lot of time playing computer games. Some of the results of such research will be of interest to most readers. Emotional sphere and social contacts. To check the situation that intensive training with a computer leads to separation of personality and disruption of contacts with other people, foreign specialists interviewed users aged 10 to 20. It turned out that they play computer games much more often, being in the company of friends, than alone. According to other data, group forms of games are characteristic only for the respondents of the older age group (from 14 to 20); adolescents aged 10 to 13 years more often play alone. In both studies, the majority of respondents reported that they play much more readily in the company (or would play if they had such an opportunity). Teenagers from the “computer group” more often than their peers from the control group attend youth centers, discos and sports events are arranged for a one-time job by couriers or newspaper razonschikami. Thus, it can be assumed that children who often play computer games are more socialized than their non-playing peers.

The dangers of physical and mental disorders. Analysis of the literature of foreign researchers shows that in the group of adolescents engaged in computer, no serious mental disorders or symptoms of computer dependence were found. There is only data on overwork, pain in the legs (for players with computer machines), pain in the hands (from cramping squeezing of the joystick), cutting in the eyes, general agitation, difficulty falling asleep. As for the assumption that with age the symptoms of computer addiction increase, then, in the opinion of both German and American authors, the opposite tendency is observed. Of course, as in any other hobby, among the fans of computer games there are pathological players, which according to different data, are from 10 to 12% of the “computer group”.

The problem of the aggressiveness of minors and related offenses has a wide response in Western society and, apparently, therefore, acts as one of the central themes of psychological research. A large number of works have been published on the influence of computer games on the formation of aggressiveness in children and adolescents, the analysis of which allows us to state a strong polarization of opinions: some authors argue that computer games with aggressive content increase the aggressiveness of users, others deny this relationship. If we analyze them taking into account the age of the subjects, the conclusion is obvious: games with aggressive content can stimulate aggressiveness in children not only of primary school age (6-9 years). The same fact was obtained when studying the effect on children of television programs and commercials with elements of violence.

Cognitive (cognitive) abilities. It is shown that adolescents who spend their free time at the computer, the ability to distinguish complex spatial patterns is significantly higher than their peers. The "computer group" of adolescents also showed more extensive knowledge of engineering and technology. Other authors obtained higher marks from the "computer group" on the factors of "Wit and imagination." Interests. Studies show that teenagers who are fond of computers have lower rates of interest in the humanitarian field (music, art, literature). Similar results are reported by the German researcher D. Spanhel, who found that teenagers from the “computer group” read less and make less. In addition, they watch videos and TV more and, paradoxically, play more sports. Motivation. Of course, among the games that are popular with adolescents, there are also games with elements of war and violence. However, the statement of the media about the adolescents preferring games of aggressive content should be considered a great exaggeration. The structure of the use of free time in the group of computer "fans" is practically the same in the group of peers who prefer other kinds of hobbies. The opinion that computer lessons lead to the isolation of players, disruption of their social contacts is not confirmed either: playing with a computer is almost no different from other common activities in terms of negative effects on the psyche of a teenager. Of course, in the "computer group" you can find individuals with signs of addiction or other psychopathological symptoms.

Apparently, here a computer game acts as a means of overcoming intrapsychic (internal) conflicts caused by deep-seated reasons that lie in the field of family relations or peer relations. Thus, studies by Japanese psychologists have shown that obese children devote much more time to a computer game than their peers, who have a normal physique. Since overweight tends to negatively affect the status of a child in a peer group, a computer game can be viewed as a means of compensating for the failures that occur in his interpersonal communication process. Often in the works there is no distinction between the actual computer games as a pastime and other activities with the computer. The concepts of "computer games" and "computer lessons" are not always identified. In any case, a dilution of the concepts of gaming activity and activities related, for example, to the computation, text preparation or computer design of a technical device, would allow to obtain more reliable results.

By "computer games" is meant a wide class of programs and technical devices on which they are installed. Conclusions about the impact of computer games do not fully take into account such important parameters as the content of a computer game and its complexity, i.e. those cognitive and motor skills that require gaming activities. Even a novice user is clear that simple computer copies of traditional card games or lotto have a completely different psychological effect than games that simulate a real situation (flying on an airplane, traveling through an unknown country, etc.). Creating a clear classification of computer games according to their psychological content could lead researchers to understand the mechanisms of the impact of a particular game on the user.

The analysis of psychological literature devoted to the problem of computer entertainment has shown that most of the most popular games do not have aggressive content. Thus, their possible impact on the aggressive behavior of adolescents should be considered very limited. The only sufficiently proven fact is the increase in aggressiveness among younger students who played computer games with elements of violence. Most of the authors report that there is no connection between the aggressive content of the games and the aggressive behavior of users.

The relationship of computer games with aggressiveness can be interpreted in two ways: either the aggressive behavior of a player is caused by the aggressive content of a computer game, or, conversely, aggressive children and teenagers prefer computer games with aggressive content. Similar logic can be applied to the data on the negative impact of computer games on school performance, according to which computer gamblers forget about homework and, as a result, reduce academic performance. However, the situation here can be just the opposite: difficulties in mastering the material cause the student to “flee” to the world of a computer game. Obviously, only profound experimental studies can answer the question of cause-effect relationships.

Finally, it should be emphasized that research in the field of computer games is mainly related to the analysis of their impact on human mental activity and, to a lesser extent, on the possibility of their use. The basis of this approach is apparently the false notion of a teenager as a passive consumer of multimedia products and an object of expansion on their part. At the same time, there is an underestimation of the activity of the user in the field of selection of computer games and ways of interacting with them. It becomes obvious that at present it is necessary to shift the focus to applied research in this area, which would open up new possibilities of computer games as a means of training, teaching, testing, and also correcting violations of certain mental functions.