Yr 10 Major Science Investigation

~ Does playing video games affect your blood pressure

Aim
Does playing video games affect your blood pressure?

Hypothesis
Playing video games raises your blood pressure

Materials
Xbox Console and 3+ controllers 3 or more people (subjects) (independent variable) 2 Xbox games (one RPG (role playing game) and one FPS first person shooter)) in this case Fable (RPG) and Bioshock (FPS) (controlled variable) Blood Pressure Monitor (dependent variable) Calculator Pen and Paper Stopwatch/ clock

Method
1. Step up console (using either a RPG or FPS) in a different room to the subjects (or have the TV off but turn the console on so no lights or sounds can be heard by the subject) 2. Record the subjects blood pressure 3. Take the subjects into the room with the console (or turn the sound and TV on) 4. Get the subjects to play the gaming console for 30 minutes 5. Take blood pressure readings from the subjects and record them 6. Give subjects 2 hours to relax (to get the blood pressure back to its normal rate) 7. Repeat with the alternate game

Risk Assessment
Headaches (solved by taking take regular breaks, playing in well lit rooms, and having snacks regularly) In conclusion I have very low risks if any with Sash Hewagama 10ES

Yr 10 Major Science Investigation

solutions if they do occur.

~ Does playing video games affect your blood pressure

Results
When playing a RPG (role playing game) the males and females blood

Game
Gender Male

Blood Pressure Results Table

RPG
Blood Pressure Before 115/64 Blood Pressure After 119/63 107/62

Female Game
Gender Male Female

106/68 FPS
Blood Pressure Before 115/65 106/63

Blood Pressure After 129/68 114/62

pressure increased slightly. Although when playing a FPS (first person shooter) game the blood pressure of both genders increased vastly.

Male Comparison:

Sash Hewagama 10ES

Yr 10 Major Science Investigation

~ Does playing video games affect your blood pressure

Female Comparison:

Sash Hewagama 10ES

Yr 10 Major Science Investigation

~ Does playing video games affect your blood pressure

This is what was happened while the blood pressure monitor was getting a reading.

Difficulties
I had a few difficulties with presenting my results, as the charts could not have full values but simple estimations (appearance), so I used the systolic reading to show a graph that was easy to interpret, the graph is accurate but only in terms on the systolic reading. I also found it hard to have diagrams of my topic of choice, but found a diagram as accurate to what I did as possible.

Improvements
I could have improved my assignment by having many more variables e.g. different types of experience levels of players to see how the amateur and experienced video games players have different pressures. I could have also taken pictures to show the type of people I used and the looks of my equipment.

Discussion
I was surprised to see that RPG did not increase the blood pressure by much; I knew it would never be as high as a FPS game would be but still expected a much higher reading. I wasnt shocked at how much the players blood pressure Sash Hewagama 10ES

Yr 10 Major Science Investigation

~ Does playing video games affect your blood pressure went up when they played the FPS game as it can be very frustrating and energy consuming. Its clear to see that the males blood pressure went up much more than the females in both games but mostly in FPS. Although it did shock me how low the initially blood pressure of the female and how it compared to the males. These results would definitely vary depending on the person; there normal blood pressure, experience, interest in the game and mood. My results are only accurate to the people I used in my experiment and probably would not compare the same to another female and male.

Conclusion
Playing video games does increase your blood pressure, regardless of the type of game or gender.

Acknowledgments

Sash Hewagama 10ES