Video games are GOOD for you: Even violent shoot-em-ups boost learning, health and social skills, finds study



Findings published in the prestigious journal American Psychologist

Authors say findings have 'critical implications for education'

Other benefits include improved reasoning, a sharper memory and lower anxiety levels



To many it might seem counter-intuitive, but researchers have found that playing video games – including violent shooter titles – may boost children’s learning, health and social skills.



This conclusion comes from a review of studies into the influence of video games that will be published in the American Psychological Association’s flagship journal, American Psychologist.



Debate has raged for years among psychologists and other health professionals regarding the effects of violent media, with many warning that gaming can lead to addiction, depression and aggression.



Brain boost: The study found that playing violent shoot-em-ups, such as Call of Duty 2 (pictured), can enhance creativity

The authors of the article point out that these should be noted, but insisted that gaming has many positive side-effects.



Lead author Isabela Granic, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands, said: ‘Important research has already been conducted for decades on the negative effects of gaming, including addiction, depression and aggression, and we are certainly not suggesting that this should be ignored.



‘However, to understand the impact of video games on children's and adolescents' development, a more balanced perspective is needed.’



Benefits: Playing shooter video games improved a player's capacity to think about objects in three dimensions, just as well as academic courses to enhance these same skills, the study revealed

THE BENEFITS OF PLAYING GAMES (EVEN THE VIOLENT ONES)

According to an article in the prestigious American Psychologist journal, playing games may have the following benefits Improve spatial navigation

Improve reasoning

Sharpen up memory

Enhance perception

Help develop problem-solving skills

Promote relaxation

Ward off anxiety

Improve decision-making

Develop emotional resilience

Lead to better career prospects in science, technology, engineering and maths

While one widely held view maintains playing video games is intellectually lazy, such play actually may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception, according to several studies reviewed in the article.



The authors said this is particularly true for shooter video games that are often violent, such as Call of Duty 2, which was one of the titles used to study cognitive benefits.



A 2013 study found that playing shooter video games improved a player's capacity to think about objects in three dimensions, just as well as academic courses to enhance these same skills, according to the study.



'This has critical implications for education and career development, as previous research has established the power of spatial skills for achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,’ Granic said.



This enhanced thinking was not found with playing other types of video games, such as puzzles or role-playing games.



Playing video games may also help children develop problem-solving skills, the authors said.



The more adolescents reported playing strategic video games, such as role-playing games, the more they improved in problem solving and school grades the following year, according to a long-term study published in 2013.



What’s more, children's creativity was also enhanced by playing any kind of video game, including violent games.



Simple games that are easy to access and can be played quickly, such as Angry Birds, can improve players' moods, promote relaxation and ward off anxiety, the study said.



‘If playing video games simply makes people happier, this seems to be a fundamental emotional benefit to consider,’ said Granic.



Reap what you sow: Gaming isn't necessarily socially isolating, as fans of Farmville will attest

The authors also highlighted the possibility that video games are effective tools to learn resilience in the face of failure. By learning to cope with on-going failures in games, the authors suggest that children build emotional resilience they can rely upon in their everyday lives.



Another stereotype the research challenges is the socially isolated gamer. More than 70 per cent of gamers play with a friend and millions of people worldwide participate in massive virtual worlds through video games such as Farmville and World of Warcraft, the article noted.



Multiplayer games become virtual social communities, where decisions need to be made quickly about whom to trust or reject and how to lead a group, the authors said.



... BUT NOT EVERYONE AGREES: TEENS 'EAT MORE, CHEAT MORE' AFTER PLAYING VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES

Playing violent video games not only increases aggression, it also leads to less self-control and more cheating, a study finds.

Negative consequences: Playing violent games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas leads to an increased aggression, a study found Researchers found that teens who played violent video games ate more chocolate and were more likely to steal raffle tickets in a lab experiment than were teens who played nonviolent games.

The effects were strongest in teens who scored high on a measure of moral disengagement – the ability to convince yourself that ethical standards don't apply to you in a particular situation. Overall, the results suggest that the risks posed by violent video games goes beyond the well-studied impacts on aggression, said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at The Ohio State University.

‘When people play violent video games, they show less self-restraint. They eat more, they cheat more,’ Bushman said. ‘It isn't just about aggression, although that also increases when people play games like Grand Theft Auto.’

Bushman conducted the study with colleagues from Italy. The findings appear online in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Participants were 172 Italian high school students, aged 13 to 19.

They played either a violent video game (Grand Theft Auto III or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) or a nonviolent game (Pinball 3D or MiniGolf 3D) for 35 minutes, after practicing for 10 minutes.

During the experiment, a bowl containing 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of chocolate M&M candy was placed next to the computer. The teens were told they could freely eat them, but were warned that high consumption of candy in a short time was unhealthy. Those who played the violent games ate more than three times as much candy as did the other teens, the result showed.

‘They simply showed less restraint in their eating,’ Bushman said.

After playing the game, the teens were asked to solve a 10-item logic test in which they could win one raffle ticket for each question they got right. The raffle tickets could be used to win prizes.

The teens were told how many answers they got correct and had the opportunity to take the appropriate number of raffle tickets out of an envelope containing many tickets while not being watched. However, the researchers knew how many tickets were in the envelope so they could later determine if a player took more than he or she had earned.

Results showed that teens who played a violent game cheated more than did those who played a nonviolent game — more than eight times more.



People who play video games, even if they are violent, that encourage cooperation are more likely to be helpful to others while gaming than those who play the same games competitively, a 2011 study found.



The article emphasised that educators are currently redesigning classroom experiences, integrating video games that can shift the way the next generation of teachers and students approach learning.



Likewise, physicians have begun to use video games to motivate patients to improve their health, the authors said.



In the video game Re-Mission, child cancer patients can control a tiny robot that shoots cancer cells, overcomes bacterial infections and manages nausea and other barriers to adhering to treatments.



A 2008 international study in 34 medical centres found significantly greater adherence to treatment and cancer-related knowledge among children who played Re-Mission compared to children who played a different computer game.



‘It is this same kind of transformation, based on the foundational principle of play, that we suggest has the potential to transform the field of mental health,’ Granic said. ‘This is especially true because engaging children and youth is one of the most challenging tasks clinicians face.’

