Are Video Games Good for You? The Positive Effects of Video Games

 

The main benefits of playing video games involve enhancing mental skills that include:

1. Problem solving and logic – When a child plays a game such as The Incredible Machine, Angry Birds or Cut The Rope, he trains his brain to come up with creative ways to solve puzzles and other problems in short bursts
2. Hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills. In shooting games, the character may be running and shooting at the same time. This requires the real-world player to keep track of the position of the character, where he/she is heading, his speed, where the gun is aiming, if the gunfire is hitting the enemy, and so on. All these factors need to be taken into account, and then the player must then coordinate the brain’s interpretation and reaction with the movement in his hands and fingertips. This process requires a great deal of eye-hand coordination and visual-spatial ability to be successful.  Research also suggests that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual attention skills from video games.  There have been even studies with adults showing that experience with video games is related to better surgical skills. Also, a reason given by experts as to why fighter pilots of today are more skillful is that this generation’s pilots are being weaned on video games.
3. Planning, resource management and logistics.  The player learns to manage resources that are limited, and decide the best use of resources, the same way as in real life.  This skill is honed in strategy games such as SimCity, Age of Empires, and Railroad Tycoon. Notably, The American Planning Association, the trade association of urban planners and Maxis, the game creator, have claimed that SimCity has inspired a lot of its players to take a career in urban planning and architecture.
4. Multitasking, simultaneous tracking of many shifting variables and managing multiple objectives.  In strategy games, for instance, while developing a city, an unexpected surprise like an enemy might emerge.  This forces the player to be flexible and quickly change tactics.

Cognitive researcher Daphne Bavalier talks about how video games can help us learn, focus and, fascinatingly, multitask.

5. Quick thinking, making fast analysis and decisions.  Sometimes the player does this almost every second of the game giving the brain a real workout. According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led by Daphne Bavelier, a cognitive scientist, games simulating stressful events such as those found in battle or action games could be a training tool for real-world situations. The study suggests that playing action video games primes the brain to make quick decisions. Video games can be used to train soldiers and surgeons, according to the study. Importantly, decisions made by action-packed video game players are no less accurate. According to Bavelier, “Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference.”
6. Accuracy – Action games, according to a study by the University of Rochester, train the player’s brain to make faster decisions without losing accuracy. In today’s world, it is important to move quickly without sacrificing accuracy.
7. Strategy and anticipation – Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good For You: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter, calls this “telescoping.” The gamer must deal with immediate problems while keeping his long-term goals on his horizon.
8. Situational awareness – – Defense News reported that the Army include video games to train soldiers to improve their situational awareness in combat. Many strategy games also require the player to become mindful of sudden situational changes in the game and adapt accordingly.
9. Developing reading and math skills – The young gamer reads to get instructions, follow storylines of games, and get information from the game texts.  Also, using math skills is important to win in many games that involves quantitative analysis like managing resources.
10. Perseverance – In higher levels of a game, the player usually fails the first time around, but he keeps on trying until he succeeds and move on to the next level.
11. Pattern recognition – Games have internal logic in them, and the player figures it out by recognizing patterns.
12. Estimating skills
13. Inductive reasoning and hypothesis testing – James Paul Gee, professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that playing a video game is similar to working through a science problem. Like a student in a laboratory, the gamer must come up with a hypothesis. For example, the gamer must constantly try out combinations of weapons and powers to use to defeat an enemy.  If one does not work, he changes hypothesis and try the next one.  Video games are goal-driven experiences, says Gee, which are fundamental to learning.
14. Mapping – The gamer use in-game maps or build maps on his head to navigate around virtual worlds.
15. Memory – Playing first person shooter games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield series enables the player to effectively judge what information should be stored in his working memory and what can be discarded considering the task at hand, according to a study published in the Psychological Research.
16.  Concentration – A study conducted by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory reveal that children with attention-deficit disorder who played Dance Dance Revolution improve their reading scores by helping them concentrate.
17. Improved ability to rapidly and accurately recognize visual information – A study from Beth Israel Medical Center NY, found a direct link between skill at video gaming and skill at keyhole, or laparoscopic, surgery. Doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 % fewer mistakes in surgery and performed the task 27% faster than non-gaming surgeons. Another study found that people who play video games on a regular basis are better at registering visual data and are therefore quicker visual learners. They are also more resistant to perceptual interference, and are therefore able to learn for a longer period of time in distracting environments.
18. Reasoned judgments
19. Taking risks – Winning in any game involves a player’s courage to take risks. Most games do not reward players who play safely.
20. How to respond to challenges
21. How to respond to frustrations
22. How to explore and rethink goals
23. Teamwork and cooperation when played with others – Many multiplayer games such as Team Fortress 2 involve cooperation with other online players in order to win. These games encourage players to make the most of their individual skills to contribute to the team. According to a survey by Joan Ganz Cooney Center, teachers report that their students become better collaborators after using digital games in the classroom.
24. Management – Management simulation games such as Rollercoaster Tycoon and Zoo tycoon teach the player to make management decisions and manage the effective use of finite resources. Other games such as Age of Empires and Civilization even simulate managing the course of a civilization.
25. Simulation, real world skills.  The most well known simulations are flight simulators, which attempt to mimic the reality of flying a plane. All of the controls, including airspeed, wing angles, altimeter, and so on, are displayed for the player, as well as a visual representation of the world, and are updated in real time.
26. Non-English speaking players report learning English by playing games.

Are Video Games Bad for You? The Negative Effects of Video Games

• Most of the bad effects of video games are blamed on the violence they contain.  Children who play more violent video games are more likely to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and decreased prosocial helping, according to a scientific study (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). A number of studies across different cultures suggest that children who play violent video games become physically aggressive in their daily lives. Also according to Dmitri A. Christakis of the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, those who watch a lot of simulated violence, such as those in video games, can become immune to it, more inclined to act violently themselves, and are less likely to behave emphatically. Another study suggests that chronic exposure to violent video games is not only associated with lower empathy, but emotional callousness as well.
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  This, however, is still hotly debated because there is also evidence that shows that excessive use of video games does not lead to long-term desensitization and lack of empathy. A 2017 study published in Frontiers in Psychology, for example, didn’t find any long-term effects of playing violent video games and empathy. Another study from University of York and another by the Royal Society found no evidence to support the theory that video games make players more violent, and another study suggests that there is no increase in the level of aggression of players who had long-term exposure to violent video games. A 2020 reanalysis of a number of independent studies did not find a clear link between video game and both violence and agression in children. This finding was again confirmed when no evidence was found that violence against other people increases after a new violent video game is released, although some children do display aggression by destroying objects, not attacking people.

  Although politicians oftentimes declare video games as a cause of gun violence, there is currently little scientific evidence that links playing video games, even the “gruesome and grisly” ones, to violence.

• On the other hand, The American Psychological Association (APA) concluded that there is a “consistent correlation” between violent game use and aggression, but finds insufficient evidence to link violent video play to criminal violence.  An open letter by a number of media scholars, psychologists and criminologists, however, find APA’s study and conclusion to be misleading and alarmist.   Many experts including Henry Jenkins of Massachusetts Institute of Technology have noted that there is a decreased rate of juvenile crime which coincides with the popularity of games such as Death Race, Mortal Kombat, Doom and Grand Theft auto. He concludes that teenage players are able to leave the emotional effects of the game behind when the game is over.   Indeed there are cases of teenagers who commit violent crimes who also spend great amount of time playing video games such as those involved in the Columbine and Newport cases. It appears that there will always be violent people, and it just so happen that many of them also enjoy playing violent video games.

  Also, a meta analysis conducted by the Stentson University psychologist Christopher Ferguson, that examines 101 studies found that “violent video games had little impact on kids’ aggression, mood, helping behavior or grades.” According to Ferguson, “Any claims that there is consistent evidence that violent video games encourage aggression are simply false.” Others like Benjamin Burroughs, a professor of emerging media at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas found that there are no longitudinal studies that show a link between violence and video games, and although players experience short-term increase in aggressive thoughts and feelings after playing video games, it doesn’t rise to the level of violence. Also, men who commit severe acts of violence actually play video games less than the average male, according to Patrick Markey, a psychology professor at Villanova University.

• Also, in 2018, an analysis of 24 studies involving 17000 youngsters from countries including the U.S., Canada, Germany and Japan and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found those who played violent games such as “Grand Theft Auto,” “Call of Duty” and “Manhunt” were more likely to exhibit behavior such as being sent to the principal’s office for fighting or hitting a non-family member. According to Jay Hull, the study’s lead author “If your kids are playing these games, either these games are having a warping effect on right and wrong or they have a warped sense of right or wrong and that’s why they are attracted to these games. Either way you should be concerned about it.” Hull’s previous research suggests players may also practice riskier behaviors such as reckless driving, binge drinking, smoking and unsafe sex.
• Other studies that seem to indicate that playing video games have a connection to aggressive thoughts and behavior are those done by Anderson & Dill, 2000 and Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, 2004.
• Some experts who believe that there is a connection between video games and violence blame the games’ interactive nature. In many games, kids are rewarded for being more violent. The act of violence is done repeatedly. The child is in control of the violence and experiences the violence in his own eyes (killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting). This active participation, repetition and reward are effective tools for learning behavior.
• Kids can be addicted to video gaming. The World Health Organization in June 2018 declared gaming addiction as a mental health disorder. A study by the Minneapolis-based National Institute for Media and the Family suggests that video games can be addictive for kids, and that the kids’ addiction to video games increases their depression and anxiety levels. Addicted kids also exhibit social phobias. Not surprisingly, kids addicted to video games see their school performance suffer. Neuroimaging research suggests heavy use of certain video games may cause brain changes linked to addictive behaviors. Also, MRI scans reveal that addictive video games can have a similar effect on kids’ brains as drugs and alcohol. A series of studies by California State University found that the impulsive part of the brain, known as the amygdala-striatal system was more sensitive and smaller in excessive game players. According to Professor Ofir Turel, heavy game players between 13 and 15 whose self-control system is not yet well-developed can have increased susceptibility to other forms of addiction and can be more predisposed to impulsive and risky behaviors later in life.

  
  

• A study from the Université de Montréal suggests that playing action video games like Call of Duty may actually harm the brain. Most study participants mainly use an area of the brain called the caudate nucleus. These players navigate through the game terrain using in-system navigation tools or on-screen GPS, relying on navigational “habit” instead of active learning. It appears that this causes an increase in the amount of gray matter in their caudate nucleus, while it decreases in the hippocampus. Reduced gray matter in the hippocampus has previously been linked to higher risks of brain illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia, PTSD, and Alzheimer’s disease. However players who play games that requires players to navigate using spatial strategies like the 3D Super Mario games have increased grey matter in the hippocampus.
• Too much video game playing makes your kid socially isolated.  Also, he may spend less time in other activities such as doing homework, reading, sports, and interacting with the family and friends. On the other hand, a study by researchers at the North Carolina State University, New York and the University Of Ontario Institute Of Technology points out that gamers usually do not replace their offline social lives with online game playing, but rather it expands them. In fact, among gamers, being a loner is not the norm.