Video Games: good for you

[Irvine511]

[q]Better living through video games?
CAROLYN ABRAHAM

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

When he snags downtime from his schoolwork, Ryerson University student Brad Evans gabs with friends, grooves to Kanye West on his MP3 player and races virtual hotrods on his Sony PlayStation. All at the same time.

Before you assume gadgets and video games fry the minds of the future, consider this: Canadian researchers are finding evidence that the high-speed, multitasking of the young and wireless can help protect their brains from aging.

A body of research suggests that playing video games provides benefits similar to bilingualism in exercising the mind. Just as people fluent in two languages learn to suppress one language while speaking the other, so too are gamers adept at shutting out distractions to swiftly switch attention between different tasks.

A new study of 100 university undergraduates in Toronto has found that video gamers consistently outperform their non-playing peers in a series of tricky mental tests. If they also happened to be bilingual, they were unbeatable.

"The people who were video game players were better and faster performers," said psychologist Ellen Bialystok, a research professor at York University. "Those who were bilingual and video game addicts scored best -- particularly at the most difficult tasks."

The York study, which tested subjects' responses to various misleading visual cues, is to be published next month in the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology. Three other studies published in the past two years have also concluded that action video games can lead to mental gains involving visual skills and short-term memory.

No one is certain how this translates to general learning or everyday life. But Mr. Evans, 21, an aerospace engineering student, said years of gaming have added valuable dimensions to his thinking.

"I grew up with video games, starting with Nintendo and SuperMario . . . from the age of 8 or 9," he said. "I know it helps with my dexterity; it's good for co-ordination and faster reflexes."

Prof. Bialystok suspects video gamers, like bilinguals, have a practised ability to block out information that is irrelevant to the task at hand.

"It's like going to the gym," she said. "You build up the ability to control impulses with practice."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060209.wxbrains09/BNStory/Science/home

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[nbcrusader]

Many interesting benefits from video games, from hand-eye coordination to multi-tasking.

I recently read a story about an individual in the air force who had a perfect score on his first flying exam in a T-34. The reason: he had flow a T-34 around the same airport on Microsoft Flight Simulator.

One question - do video games help or hurt an indivudal's attention span? Short term memory up, but is long term memory affected?

 

[yolland]

^ Pretty much what I was thinking...I don't doubt that they help prevent brain aging as far as "tricky mental tests" and "short-term memory" go (though how much "brain aging" should people this young be showing anyway?), but I suspect what regular use does for your ability to stay focused on a task requiring sustained, reflective analysis is another story.

The analogy to bilingualism is interesting, though--my parents often switched back and forth between English and Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) when talking to us and each other, and while I can only understand Ladino, not speak it, I do think this improved my ability to not be thrown off by extraneous details when listening to a conversation or carrying out a task.

 

[nbcrusader]

Kids were able to engage in activities that sharpen their mental abilities before video games.



It was called piano lessons.

 

[yolland]

Well I think musical training is thought to have somewhat different benefits. Supposedly it helps build math skills, although I can't say it ever helped me much in that area.

 

[Irvine511]

i feel so old -- i loved Nintendo, and Super Nintendo back in the late 80s/early 90s.

these days, i'm all about crossword puzzles and Sudoku.

 

[nbcrusader]

Well I think musical training is thought to have somewhat different benefits. Supposedly it helps build math skills, although I can't say it ever helped me much in that area.

Math and the ability to do multiple things at the same time (left and right hand - view music, not hands, etc.)

 

[Irvine511]

Math and the ability to do multiple things at the same time (left and right hand - view music, not hands, etc.)

which, come to think of it, sounds like video games ... i'll be honest, i'm *blown away* at how complex the video game controlers are these days.

or perhaps it was because i was only able to last 3 minutes playing Halo with a bunch of 9 year olds.

 

[nbcrusader]

which, come to think of it, sounds like video games ... i'll be honest, i'm *blown away* at how complex the video game controlers are these days.

I'm not sure the complexity of video games necessarily involves the human interface. Many games, such as Halo, are really "button mashing" games - press buttons as fast as you can - sequence and timing play a minor role.

 

[AliEnvy]

Good thing for my brain-aging that I'm bilingual then (English/French), I have no interest in video games lol.

 

[Liesje]

Do video games really offer any advantage as far as smarts and skill that you couldn't get from music lessons, gymnastics, baseball, Spanish classes, etc? I have a middle school aged cousin and all he ever does, all he's done for the past 5 years, is play video games. When he's not home, he has his portable systems, even in church with the sound off. Unfortunately, he also has problems socially because he has a rare form of ADHD (he's VERY smart and quick and has no patience for his peers and if he can't get something right on the first attempt, he won't try). I know he's a more extreme case, but I look at him and feel sad because these games offer him nothing. He has no true friends, no hobbies, no desire to do anything but play games. My aunt has to pay me to sit with him and get him to do his math homework. He would forget to eat if he was left to his video games.

We never had access to a single game system growing up. The only game I know is Mario Kart, and I suck so I never play. I've never had any desire to play and don't regret never being able to. As kids, we learned team work and coordination by organizing sports games and obstacle courses in our yard and building forts from raw materials.

 

[AliEnvy]

The article was saying gamers who multitask seem to have an advantage, it's not the video games alone.

Lots of middle schoolers are loners at that age and become more social later on, hopefully that will be the case with your cousin. Too much of any one thing is never good.

 

[A_Wanderer]

I don't know about console games because I have always felt that they were simplistic, but PC games such as Deus Ex, Rainbow Six, Civ, Arcanum etc. are definitely more than excercises in mashing buttons.

 

[financeguy]

Played them a good bit in the '80's - ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, etc., video games have been around a bit longer than people think!

Funny thing was there was usually a social aspect as you would play with friends rather than alone.

Oh and I was at or near to the top of the class at school.

BUT my parents were very anti-TV and we did not have a TV in the house until I was around 13 or so.

 

[melon]

I was just playing "Resident Evil 4."

I've been playing video games since Atari 7800, and I'll probably play them for the rest of my life. But I'm also a media geek, so this stuff is right up my alley.

Melon

 

[the rockin edge]

Well I think musical training is thought to have somewhat different benefits. Supposedly it helps build math skills, although I can't say it ever helped me much in that area.

me neither

 

[nbcrusader]

I don't know about console games because I have always felt that they were simplistic, but PC games such as Deus Ex, Rainbow Six, Civ, Arcanum etc. are definitely more than excercises in mashing buttons.

There are many good games that offer tactical and strategic elements which provide a different mental challenge vs. the simple first person shooter.

 

[BostonAnne]

or perhaps it was because i was only able to last 3 minutes playing Halo with a bunch of 9 year olds.

Isn't that a M(Mature) game? What the heck are nine year olds doing playing that?

 

[the rockin edge]

Isn't that a M(Mature) game? What the heck are nine year olds doing playing that?

many parents buy kids those games

 

[BostonAnne]

I have a middle school aged cousin and all he ever does, all he's done for the past 5 years, is play video games. When he's not home, he has his portable systems, even in church with the sound off. Unfortunately, he also has problems socially because he has a rare form of ADHD (he's VERY smart and quick and has no patience for his peers and if he can't get something right on the first attempt, he won't try). I know he's a more extreme case, but I look at him and feel sad because these games offer him nothing. He has no true friends, no hobbies, no desire to do anything but play games. My aunt has to pay me to sit with him and get him to do his math homework. He would forget to eat if he was left to his video games.

My son and my step son only want to play video games. I've been battling with my son for a few years now for him to do other things. He isn't interested. He was a loner up until this year (1st year in high school). Now he hangs out with friends more frequently. we have a few computers in the house, and their favorite thing to do is to get online and play the same game against each other.

 

[Muggsy]

I have a middle school aged cousin and all he ever does, all he's done for the past 5 years, is play video games. When he's not home, he has his portable systems, even in church with the sound off. Unfortunately, he also has problems socially because he has a rare form of ADHD (he's VERY smart and quick and has no patience for his peers and if he can't get something right on the first attempt, he won't try). I know he's a more extreme case, but I look at him and feel sad because these games offer him nothing. He has no true friends, no hobbies, no desire to do anything but play games. My aunt has to pay me to sit with him and get him to do his math homework. He would forget to eat if he was left to his video games.

I have a cousin just like that, but he's a grown up, he's 27, and I kinda hate him (sorry ). althought he has finished a college degree he spents his entire day playing games on the computer, he doesn't have friends and he lives wondering why doesn't he have a girlfriend .

Maybe videogames can develop some abilities but ... that doesn't mean that people will get happier with them.

 

[hedgehog]

As a former video games addict as a kid (I still play them from time to time, but very rarely) I find it very difficult to see how computer games are good for you.

Im not anti-video games or anything (the occassional play never did any harm) but many games I've played involve mostly button bashing, my memory is pathetic and personality-wise I never gained anything from them (I became addicted, which harmed my childhood, IMO).

Like I said, I like video games and all (although much of todays video games are graphicly tarted up rubbish that bores me) but I fail to see any benefits that can be had by playing them.

My little brothers spend almost all of their free time playing them, it definately is NOT doing them any good and its sad to see that they would rather sit infront of a TV and console all day than go out, play with their friends, play football, etc...

 

[A_Wanderer]

Someones practicing

 

[joyfulgirl]

i feel so old -- i loved Nintendo, and Super Nintendo back in the late 80s/early 90s.

these days, i'm all about crossword puzzles and Sudoku.

I do crossword puzzles while I eat ... with the TV on in the background, running back and forth to the computer to check on whatever it is that I'm downloading and burning, popping in here to put in my two cents worth, talking on my cell phone and doing laundry...all at the same time. Being born at the very end of the baby boomer generation, I have one foot in the old world and one in the hi-tech world but seem to be more of the hi-speed multitasking variety than most of my friends my age. I've always been slightly ADHD, too, so in my case I don't know if this kind of multitasking exacerbates an existing problem or if it just happens to suit my personality. In college before we used computers (ack, so old!) I used to do my best work in noisy public places, and in NYC I slept better on the subway than in my bed, so I tend to think this is just how I am.

 

[Liesje]

As for the issue of parents buying games for kids, we had an incident here like that a few years back. Some high school kids spent all their time playing GTA. Then one night they got bored of just playing on TV. They got a friend's car and started running down pedestrians until they ended up running over a cyclist. Then the got out of the car and started beating and kicking him. Then they went and picked up their girlfriends, came back, and continued kicking him to death.

When the police went to their house to investigate, they found a four year old playing GTA.

 

[nbcrusader]

I wonder how many more instances of copy cat behavior we will need to realize that there is a negative influence from some of these video games.

 

[Liesje]

I wonder how many more instances of copy cat behavior we will need to realize that there is a negative influence from some of these video games.

You know, like with the gun thing, I say "people kill people", but that still doesn't address the fact that certain games have ZERO value. Nobody would suffer if these games did not exist. Therefore, I can't think of any reason they should. I'm sure the kids that killed the cyclist were messed up and probably would've committed a similar crime eventually, but there's no WAY you can say that the game had nothing to do with that murder. I've never played a full game of GTA, but from what people told me, what they did to that man was like a real-life replica. It's just sick. Some guy out for a bike ride gets run over by a bunch of kids and then kicked to death.

 

[Irvine511]

I wonder how many more instances of copy cat behavior we will need to realize that there is a negative influence from some of these video games.

aren't we alone responsible for our behavior? isn't blaming the games an abdication of personal responsibility?

or is it only media that victimizes people?

 

[melon]

I wonder how many more instances of copy cat behavior we will need to realize that there is a negative influence from some of these video games.

I wonder how many more instances of gun violence we will need to realize that there is a negative influence from some of these guns.

And, just as gun ownership is protected by the Second Amendment, video game publishing is protected by the First Amendment. Other nations have these same exact video games and do not have remotely the same crime rates as the U.S. Maybe we should stop scapegoating the media for America's cultural problems.

Melon

 

[nbcrusader]

aren't we alone responsible for our behavior? isn't blaming the games an abdication of personal responsibility?

or is it only media that victimizes people?

Notice my use of the word "influence" instead of "blame". We miss the issue if we jump back and forth between extremes.

People don't play video games and then immediately have the images and experiences removed from their memory. Games can have a negative influence. We've seen it in some copycat behavior.