R&D - Research and Development

When I began my research, I did not have a solid topic chosen. I knew that as a product of the technology generation, it has played and will continue to play an important part in my life. Children growing up now are exposed to more technology at an even earlier age. Most of their games and entertainment are technology based, and as we have more advances in technology, it will continue to consume a larger part of our lives. As with every aspect of our lives, the increase in technology will alter our lives and lifestyles. Is it possible that visual media could alter a person's personality and ethical decisions? Could it warp a child's conception of what reality is, and thus alter their conscious?

I began searching psychology databases on Saginaw Valley's website for academic journals that contained information about children being affected by media. In ProQuest Psychology Journals, I found an article by Edward L. Palmer and Brian M. Young called The Faces of Televisual Media: Teaching, Violence, Selling to Children. This is a scholarly journal and an academic article. It discusses the educational purposes of media and technology while contrasting it with its adverse effects of teaching aggressive behavioral patterns to children and young adults who play video games frequently. Though I do not know which conclusion I will establish, I know that I will represent the two instances and weigh out the pros and cons of media and technology’s role in our society.

The more popular site that I found for the relevant popular source was from http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D944Q94O0.htm. I found this by typing “court cases, children violent video games” into Google search engine. Here it discusses a court case in which children under 18 years of age would be prohibited to buy or rent a violent video game without the parent’s permission. The court has yet to rule on this specific case, but the paper came out Oct 30, 2008. The ruling is said to come out in the next few months. It is interesting because it is being considered that video games are affecting the personalities of children and their behavioral patterns. I plan to continue researching similar cases to find more information. Another popular site to go in congruence with the educational television is found on http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article119.html . The author provides information on preschoolers and young children who watched educational programming and scored higher on academic tests in the future.

Comparing and contrasting the positive and negative effects of technology is going to be my main focus. I hope to conclude which is more of an issue in our society, the disrupted behavior or advancements in education.