The Effects Of Video Game Playing On Attention, Memory, And Executive Control

Have you ever played the Game of Life before? The game that’s similar to Monopoly but it's about a (pretend) life you play and what would happen to it as you continue and make choices in the game. Emotional Intelligence gives you choices for your everyday scenario, where you can choose to calm down or impulsively react to the situation. However, those who lack emotional intelligence don't have a choice. In the article, “Video Games Affect the Brain – for Better and Worse” by Douglas A. Gentile from the DANA Foundation states that video games may affect the brain in five unnoticeable ways. Gentile mentioned that what players learn from video games can be transferred over to the real world. He later says that video games desensitize

Playing certain video games can have cognitive benefits. Specific video games, like Tetris, have been shown to have positive effects on spatial rotation, while games like Grand Theft Auto V have been shown to increase reaction times within gamers. Open-ended games and interactive games improve problem-solving skills by learning to solve things through trial and error. Interactive games are shown to improve creativity as well. People who play shooter video games show faster and more accurate attention allocation, higher spatial resolution in visual processing, and enhanced mental rotation abilities than those who don’t (Granic, Lobel, & Engels, 2014). Other cognitive benefits of playing video games include improved coordination, enhanced memory, enhanced multitasking skills, and improves attention. Even though, most video games show some kind of cognitive effect, most robust effects come from shooter games, rather than puzzle games (Green & Bavelier, 2012).

Video games are a enormous part in the world today. “More than 150 million people in the United States play video games regularly or for at least three hours per week. The number of sales has increased and in 2016, 24.5 billion games were sold, up from 23.2 billion in 2015.” “This Type of Video Game May Actually Harm Your Brain.” written by Mahita Gajanan is my positive article and “How Video Games Affect the Brain.” written by Hannah Nichols is my negative article. In this essay I am going to talk about video games and their impact on the brain (Nichols).

Playing video games will affect your decisions in one way or another. Will your perceptions change due to the type of game you are playing? There are two answers to this question, yes and no. Researching the effect of video games on the brain provides detail results that show my thoughts.

In the past years, critics have concluded stating that because of video games being released, homicide rates have dropped seventy-seven percent amongst juveniles and less than seven in ten million students have a chance of being killed at school (Sternheimer 214). In “Do Video Games Kill?” the author states, “the 2005 review found evidence that playing video games improves spatial skills and reaction times, but not that the games increase aggression” (Sternheimer 217). Many different video games have positive effects such as problem-solving skills, following directions, multitasking, quick thinking, and more. Video games increase problem-solving skills by placing obstacles in the game for the player to overcome. Virtual gaming can also teach the players how to follow directions to progress throughout the game. Players learn to multitask by taking on different objectives at the same time. According to the studies conducted by Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester found that players become more attuned to their surroundings due to the effects of gaming (Hughes “Benefits of Playing Video Games”). By the player becoming attuned to their surroundings, it allows the player to safely release their competitive urges. The American Psychological Association stated that an estimated of 70 percent of gamers play with friends worldwide (APA). While playing with others a player can enhance their communication skills by giving the players common ground to talk about how to complete certain objectives throughout the game. With video games helping with an individual’s cognitive state it can also help individuals who are recovering from physical harm such as a stroke. A stroke is when the brain loses blood flow,

"The Truth About Video Games And The Brain: What Research Tells Us".Scientific Learning. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.

North America has spiraled into an unhealthy obsession with video games. The value of the video game industry in 2015 was over seventy-one billion dollars in the United States alone, and its worth has only increased. Polls show that 63% of American households have persons who play video games for a minimum of three hours a day. But do exposure to those games affect the brain in a negative way? Video games are shown to be more influential to the brain than television and movies, and research shows that video games shrink essential parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus. This diminution influences cognitive functions, whose effects will carry on into later life.

Bavelier and Green have suggested the effects of video games have not been readily determined. (Bavelier, & Green, P.763, 2011). Han and Renshaw, have determined through

In “Everything Bad Is Good For You,” Steven Johnson discusses why and how he believes today’s popular culture is actually making us smarter, rather than dumbing us down. Johnson has his book split into two different parts, focusing mainly on the first part of his book, he talks about the ways people consume media and how it has become more complex and challenging over the years. The title headings for each sub-chapters are - Video Games, Television, Internet, and Movies. Within each subchapter he uses a vast number of examples from each section to support his argument. The biggest part the first chapter is dedicated to video games. Johnston suggests that when video games were first released that people thought they made us dumber and wasted our mind’s skills. He uses the example about how if video games had arrived before books, we would be more hesitant towards books. We would be looking at the negative aspects of book reading and how they are isolating, under-stimulating and do not engage enough. Stating that we use books to test cognitive benefits – attention, memory, focus and following threads, Johnston goes into a detail about how video games uses all these skills and more. He uses examples from Tetris, Pac-Man, SimCity200 and even The Legend of Zelda. Continuing his argument that video games engage us more that any other media our there at the moment, he acknowledges how to reward system and the desire to explore in video games keep us engaged. No other form of

Recently, I read an article about a young teenager that murdered his Mother because she told him to get off of his video game. The question that begs to be answered in this scenario is did playing video games make him violent? There is no definitive answer for either side of this debate. According to Michael M. Merzenich, there is growing direct evidence that intensive use of video games results in significant generalized improvements in cognitive function. (Merzenich, 2011,

In today’s society, the concerns for the effects of video games have acquired quite a terrible reputation. Worried parents around the world assume video games make their children do poorly in school, and create violent, desensitized, antisocial children. The increase in violent games, usually get the blame for aggressive behavior, shootings and violence in schools and young individuals. Most beliefs about video games effect on the brain and emotions are very common misconceptions. I strongly believe that video games are an essential tool to learning and gaining much-needed skills. When people look at the studies that have been done on video games and the brain, it will be apparent that some myths about video games have been blown out of proportion. It has come to my attention that there are studies that prove the negative effects of video games may only last the duration of game play. Kids can improve in general knowledge with educational video games like Leap Frog. Video games can train specific areas of the brain as well as increase brain flexibility and memory. Gaming actually has more beneficial effects than negative effects. Video games are excellent educational implement used in elementary schools. It is extremely helpful in brain development and helping kids with trouble reading improve. Memory retention can be improved and increased with the use of strategic, thinking games. Video games, as funny as it might sound, even promote

Video games are typically used as a scapegoat for several reasons, such as causing violence and obesity. Many parents usually consider them a waste of time and others classify video games with being lazy and unproductive. Unfortunately, video game prejudice is nothing new; parents often blame video games for the failing grades that their child received and/or talking back. Although no strong evidence exists to prove these theories, numerous studies have pointed to improvement in cognitive skills, such as vision and hand-eye coordination, for those that play high action video games. Therefore, playing action filled video games may be beneficial to those with vision problems and people with certain diseases that can cause cognitive issues such as poor hand-eye coordination. However, the previously mentioned individuals may be unaware of the studies that have shown the benefits that may be the result of playing high action video games such as Call of Duty or Battlefield. As a result, one can argue that playing high action video games improve vision and hand-eye coordination.

“High-school students who report spending more time playing video games or who report spending more money on video games had poorer grades in English classes” (Gentile, Lynch, Linder, Walsh 2). All young minds that play video games longer than the average time start to show a poor performance in school. These children start to think more about the video games they are watching and playing every day, rather than doing their homework and studying for tests.

They are ruining your eyes; they are turning you into a violent person. This is some of the critiques we get the video games The habitual obsession of shooter games has a negative effect on the brain and puts you at risk of psychiatric diseases such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

Playing video games is among one of the favorite pastimes of many people around the world. Some play games to kill time with simple tasks found most commonly on the phone, while others play them to challenge their mind in the form of complex puzzles or to practice management skills, some play them to experience a sense of adventure that they just can’t find anywhere else, and many use them as a way to communicate or have fun with friends both near and far. Whatever the reason someone may have for playing video games, they may not think that games can have an effect on their brains. Some would say that playing video games can lead to negative effects such as harming the player’s cognitive skills or causing them to become much more violent than normal. Others would argue that playing video games quickens the minds of their players, leading to higher mental performance or an increased attention to detail. Thanks to this hotly debated controversy many studies have been conducted over the past years in order to settle the debate once and for all. So what effect can playing video games have on the cognitive skills of their players, and are these effects positive, negative, or somewhere in the middle?