Abstract
§ Amoral video games get a bad reputation
in the media for the type of behaviors they endorse. Studies have shown that
amoral video games do affect people behaviorally. This study looks at the game Grand
Theft Auto IV and sees if it primes people to cheat on a cognitive task.
Thirty-two participants were used from Mercyhurst University. Nearly all
participants were freshman and about two-thirds were male. They were randomly
divided into two groups and played either Grand Theft Auto IV or Hexic.
GTA seemed to have a definite role in priming participants to cheat but the
results were not significant.