Ohio State U Retracts Paper that Claimed Violent Video Games Gave Players Better Aim with Real Guns
A 2012 paper on the effects of violent video games authored by Brad Bushman, a professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University, along with Jodi Whitaker, who’s now a professor at University of Arizona, has been retracted following its inability to meet scientific standards after peer review.
The paper, titled “Boom, Headshot!: Effect of Video Game Play and Controller Type on Firing Aim and Accuracy” presented controversial evidence that video games —specifically first-person shooters —could train players to be better marksmen and improve their aim with firearms.
In the last decade, anti-video game lawyer Jack Thompson cited Bushman’s research into violent video games, which Bushman co-produced with Craig A. Anderson.
Critics of the 2012 study cited irregularities with the data he presented, and OSU put one of them on notice for misconduct. Correspondence to an academic publication called Communication Research, where the paper was first published, prompted the publication to issue a retraction. Researchers Patrick Markey of Villanova University and Malte Elson of Ruhr University Bochum alerted the publication to irregularities in the data. Bushman was unable to confirm the sources of his data because the original research records were unavailable.
A 2012 paper on the effects of violent video games authored by Brad Bushman, a professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University, along with Jodi Whitaker, who’s now a professor at University of Arizona, has been retracted following its inability to meet scientific standards after peer review.
The paper, titled “Boom, Headshot!: Effect of Video Game Play and Controller Type on Firing Aim and Accuracy” presented controversial evidence that video games —specifically first-person shooters —could train players to be better marksmen and improve their aim with firearms.
In the last decade, anti-video game lawyer Jack Thompson cited Bushman’s research into violent video games, which Bushman co-produced with Craig A. Anderson.
Critics of the 2012 study cited irregularities with the data he presented, and OSU put one of them on notice for misconduct. Correspondence to an academic publication called Communication Research, where the paper was first published, prompted the publication to issue a retraction. Researchers Patrick Markey of Villanova University and Malte Elson of Ruhr University Bochum alerted the publication to irregularities in the data. Bushman was unable to confirm the sources of his data because the original research records were unavailable.