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Who hasn't been told that playing video games will cause them problems? Or that video games are a waste of time? Or that sure, games are fun, but they aren't functional. If you've heard this and rolled your eyes, thinking "OK Boomer" or something like it, guess what? You were right! While not all video games are created equally, Psychological Science tells us that there can be benefits from the kinds of engagements required of success in a well designed, challenging game! Games that are social and require cooperation, games that level-up the challenge and require strategy for success, and games that require you to vigilantly change gears on a dime can actually provide you with transferable skills! [note: So rather than get bored on a brain-training program, go ahead and have fun in that interactive role play game! However, like all things, you do want to play in moderation]
Exhibit A
Exhibit A
Physical Change and Hand Eye Coordination
"Improvements in visual and spatial working memory have been observed after training with an action game, an adventure game, and a non-commercial game” (Pallavicini, Ferrari, and Mantovani, 2018).
“In robotic surgery, being a video gamer was associated with improved time to completion, the economy of motion, and overall performance” (Gupta, Lawendy, Goldenberg, Grober, Lee, & Perlis, 2021).
Communication and Social Skills
"Children that play violent video games together rather than individually display an increase in prosocial behavior" (Shoshani & Krauskopf, 2021).
We arenʻt here to tell you that playing video games hours at a time is good for you and your health. It simply isnʻt, and binging anything never has a positive outcome for an individual, but we are going to argue that in reasonable doses and being mindful during your game has powerful and positive effects on many different aspects of our cognition as well and behavior.
Exhibit B
Exhibit B
A 24-hour poll was conducted and consisted of a prompt saying “There are no positive benefits from playing video games, other than the fact that they are fun”. Participants could answer with "true" or "false".
Out of 51 participants, 14 (27.4%) people said "true" while 37 (72.6%) people said "false".
Many people were not fooled, but some still believed the myth. More people need to be educated on what video games can do to benefit youths.
Video games improve visuospatial functioning
A 2013 meta-analysis found that playing shooter video games improved a player’s capacity to think about objects in three dimensions (Granic, Lobel & Engels, 2013).
Video games help develop quick thinking.
According to researchers at the University of Rochester 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.
Improved ability to rapidly and accurately recognize visual information
A study from Beth Israel Medical Center NY, found that 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
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