Read the presentation Video Games Can Actually Be Good For You published at
http://konwersatorium1-ms-pjwstk.blogspot.com/2015/01/week-9-1901-250115-video-games-can.html
and present/discuss scientific opinions on the topic (quote research, experiments). Share with us your personal opinion/experience as well.
Sure there are benefits related to video games, i.e. they helped me learn english when I was younger. ;)
ReplyDeleteThere is also evidence that they help reduce depression and anxiety (source)). Cognitive scientists from the University of Rochester discovered that video games lead to faster decisions that are no less accurate (source)). The areas that are affected are: multitasking, driving, reading small print, keeping track of friends in a crowd and nacigation. However everything should be used in moderation. Too much time spent on video games can lead to addiction.
Having read the paper I agree entirely, that playing video games can improve the mental side of our health. Playing video games gives many advantages.
ReplyDeleteAs prof. Fredric Wolinsky from University of Iowa's College of Public Health said people above 50 who had played specially designed video games tend to improve the speed and quality of mental processing (read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/brain-games-slow-aging_n_3203116.html). This results simply shows that there are chances to apply video games to improve cure or rehabilitation methods for mental disorders like Alzheimer`s, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) or schizophrenia, etc. Moreover, as it was underlined the grey matter (the brain`s area) of study population has risen. As we got to known the grey matter is responsible for example for "motor skills in the hands".
There is another scientific opinion that confirmed the results. Study leader Simone Kühn from the Center for Lifespan Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development said that there is a “link between video gaming and a volumetric brain increase”.
Giving my opinion the field of research should be necessarily developed. We need to know that that strong mentality (psychological aspect) implies strong physical side of our body.
They are often criticized for their violence and addictiveness but video games also have their advantages.
ReplyDeleteThey provide a fun and social form of entertainment;
They encourage teamwork and cooperation when played in a group;
They initiate technology
ls increase the esteem and confidence of children when they have mastered a given game;
They develop academic skills such as reading and mathematics;
They improve their ability to solve problems, their coordination, execution speed and memory.
Some games can increase reflexes and some fighting games are adapted by the US military to increase future soldiers reflexes.
but frankly speaking, I like play with fifa or GTA only.
In addition to what has already been listed, apparently video games can also improve job performance. That is, if your job happens to be an aerial drone pilot or even a surgeon (sources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19649553, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21702315).
ReplyDeletePlaying video games is tied to greater creativity as well, at least when it comes to storytelling and drawing pictures (source: http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2011/video-game-playing-tied-to-creativity/).
On the other hand, some of the changes in brain structure are not unlike what gambling addicts experience (which is not to say that gambling addicts can't be smart people in their own way). Soruce: http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v1/n11/full/tp201153a.html.
I get the impression that games will find new ways to engage us and in doing so, will have lasting effects on our mental abilities. I saw a short Star Wars trailer recently and for the whole duration of the trailer it did not occur to me that I was watching a Star Wars game trailer. I thought it was a movie - the game was that realistic.
For me it is obvious that every activity that requires organised thinking or i.e. movement coordination in time stress develops adequate brain regions. Like every stimulation computer games might have great effect on your mind and neural system. You can develop new skills or recover skills that you’re missing. Games are great and cheap simulation of that, what we can face in our human life, however I don’t think that game will ever replace the reality. It is great to be “Starcraft” strategist for a while, but the real deal is to be a strategist in your life and use tools like computer games to train yourself in reasonable period of time. I’m writing this, because I can notice that for lot of people, games are the way of running away from the reality. When real problem is difficult to resolve or just requires an effort, it is easy to play your computer game and charge your brain’s reward system with dopamine coming from artificial successes. But this is not real, problem won’t disappear, it may even grow up enormously being untouched while you conquer another artificial kingdom.
ReplyDelete'In 2012, researchers in New Zealand created a video game designed to give therapy to kids in a way that was more fun and active than traditional counseling.' - reference
ReplyDelete'Sure there are benefits related to video games, i.e. they helped me learn english when I was younger. ;)' - Michail Mokkas
I wish there was a game that I can play and learn a bit Polish! :) I did learn GW-basic back to 90s because of computer games.
`Gaming also releases endorphins in the brain, a chemical that is generally associated with happiness and capable of numbing discomfort.`
What if I'm not happy? Nowadays my character gets killed many times on multiplayer games and I'm wondering what my brain releases. Jokes aside, I'm one of the people who feels relaxed after playing couple of hours.
If you want to learn Polish while playing a game, you could try this one: http://arkadia.rpg.pl/ It's a MUD ('Multi User Dungeon'), which is a text based MMO. It's fun, addictive and it really hurts when your character gets killed, so it can be very exciting.
DeleteI’d like to focus on a different aspect of gaming - addiction. In my opinion this is the most important topic related to games, especially since the rise of MMOs. Games are designed to be entertaining, they give players a sense of achievement and usually tempt them with rewards waiting just around the corner. If you’re not careful enough (or if you’re very young), it may be quite easy to get addicted. I’ve seen my friends (in their thirties) desperately deleting their characters or accounts, because they couldn’t control the time they were spending on gaming.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad to hear that someone is testing positive influence of playing computer games and I do believe that one can benefit from playing them, but the problem I see is that all fun games are usually also very addictive. While I’m sure that playing Starcraft for 30 minutes can probably help your reflexes and make faster decisions, it’s hard for me to imagine someone playing for only 30 minutes and then voluntarily stopping in order to do some work while his brain is warmed up.
Also It’s always hard for me to accept results of studies done on such small groups. All I’m getting from the research described in the article is that if you’re an adult living in Germany, you should probably play Mario 64. I spent a lot of time navigating through dungeons in various games and I’m still easily getting lost in shopping malls, so playing games didn’t help me with those skills.
Here’s an interesting paper on the subject: http://dh101.humanities.ucla.edu/DH101Fall12Lab4/archive/files/8030e81caad4052014193b2d575f89e6.pdf
If you’re wondering whether you’re prone to computer games addiction, you can take the quiz at the end of this paper. And if you are - you should probably stay away from MMOs.
The topic of video games can be discussed from multiple points of view, depending on what dimension we are taking into account.
ReplyDeleteCertainly on the level of brain capacity, reflexes or mode of analyzing the information by an individual it may have positive effects on adaptation to a certain situation - better control over a vehicle or quicker response to an impulse. It may be good for education - when used as a learning tool for kids, however this has to be balanced with the real-life experience otherwise it will influence the sensory development of the child and even cause game addiction.
The influence of video games can be also observed in the social dimension - a good example is the Japanese society, where the current generation of young computer game users in said to be completely inactive in the real social life, not making any social contacts nor taking any action to influence their habitat or environment in any way. An interesting documentary can be found here : https://vimeo.com/80542212
I was particularly interested in a social phenomenon of people bonding for years only with their virtual girlfriends or boyfriends, but the problem is obviously more broad.
Finally an interesting concept that evolved from video games is gamification (game thinking applied in non-game contexts), especially with regards to my field of study, which is the citizen engagement in shaping the city environment. Gamification serves in this case as a good incentive to participate in a city project, gives tools for problem solving, rewards people and makes people engage their emotions in their actions, which can be very powerful for city planners. An interesting case-study is the Future Melbourne project.
Playing computer games is like a sport, but I would avoid using us only tool to increase our brain effectiveness. First of all the number of cells or mass of our brain doesn't correlate with intelligence. The quality of neural connection is responsible of our faster and more creative thinking. However we need to play different games to achieve that. Surly we can be master of one game like chess but does make us more intelligent that other people? Life require for us various skills and strategies to solve problems. I would put hypothesis that different types of computer games will develop different parts of our brain: labyrinth games will increase our memory, strategies will make us better and faster decision makers and so on. I recommend playing computer and non-computer games but unfortunately I can't tell you about the duration of how long you should play to do it healthy as I cannot tell you how long you should read a book to be smarter.
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