There is a common misconception that video games “brainwash” kids and do nothing but damage their intellect. Although that is not the case, video games have been proven to improve one’s everyday motor skills and even improve vision. Some parents may believe that their son/daughter will grow up to be some sort of lonely psychopath due to video games, but that is not the case. The truth of the matter is that video games do little to no damage to kid’s brains. There are many more things that improved rather than decreased. There is even scientific evidence to support of this. With tests showing gamers develop the ability to use the smaller and faster portion of their brain to process situations and make decisions. It was also apparent …show more content…
Daphne Bavelier says “It’s not the case that the action game players are 'trigger happy' and less accurate; they are just as accurate and also faster. Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference” (Current Biology 2). All of these aspects can improve one’s everyday life. There are many basic skills that are improved due to these aspects, such as driving, reading, navigating, multitasking, listening, and locating; which are all essential to one’s everyday life. Pure science also backs up this theory with proof of gamers’ brains using a smaller and faster portion to process data. Gamers use their frontal cortex, which is already naturally faster than the parietal cortex that non-gamers use (Brain Power 3). The frontal cortex is a surprisingly small portion of your brain that processes and makes suggestions based on the data it receives. Similar functions were found in musicians who play the guitar or the piano, in which they need to have fast reactions to be able to process all the notes that they are hitting.(Brain Power 3) Non-gamers use the part of their brain called the parietal cortex, which takes up a larger portion of one’s brain that is less complex and takes longer to process things. Not only is the parietal
Action games like Halo 4 teach teenagers to react quickly in an attempt to beat the opponents, which in real life is a helpful tool because being able to act quickly when a real world problem occurs is seen as an asset by employers. In an article published online by Isabela Granic she states that: “The most robust effects on cognitive performance come from playing shooter video games… cognitive enhancements are likely a product of the visually rich three-dimensional navigational spaces and the fast-paced demands that require split-second decision making and acute attention to unpredictable changes in context”(Granic). Granic clearly describes that video games have been shown to improve cognitive skills which includes the ability to be able to make decisions very quickly and be able to respond to sudden changes. In
The process itself requires a great deal of eye-hand coordination, utilization of the left and right hemisphere of the brain, visual-spatial ability and Strategic as well as, Cognitive skills. A relationship has been shown between increased video game play and improvements to eye-hand coordination, as well as manual dexterity, and reaction time. This experiment performed by Drew & Waters, 1986 is highly reputable. Additionally a contemporary study by Australian and Chinese researchers suggests, that not only does regularly playing action video games increase the amount of gray matter in a person’s brain(the part responsible for muscle control and sensory perception skills such as seeing and hearing; memory function; and emotion, speech, decision formation) but it also promotes better connectivity in certain sub-regions of the brain associated with
Daphne Bavelier(2012) express that the two main advantages are of eyesight and attention. Firstly, a lab shows that the people who play action video games have better eyesight than the people who don’t play. This can be shown when they observe the small things or distinguish different levels of color. Secondly, they have a great speed to find the things or catch the small details.
Understanding and action go together. We think more fluidly when an action is associated with a concept. Video games contain, joined together, both action and thought. This leads to a much better internalization and understanding of the game's subject matter. In a study done in Germany in 2008, participants were given a simple task to learn, such as Juggling. After about 12 weeks, these people showed a marked increase in the amount of grey matter in their brains. Further examination of these results revealed that it was, in fact, the act of learning coupled with the action that caused this increase, not simply the performance of the action itself. This suggests that games not only are excellent ways of teaching, they can have lasting beneficial effects on the health of the brain itself.
The over usage of video games has appeared to affect the mind in the OFC, the striatum, and the sensory regions. Addict gamers appeared to have more of a impulsiveness control than the normal gamer. Players who had played online showed an increase of gray matter density from the other players in the left anterior cingulate cortex. Another thing I found interesting in this article was that higher amounts of dopamine appeared in addict gamers from the “reward process” in videogames than the casual gamer. The Cambridge gambling task ( which affects the brain in making poor decisions) was found higher in addict gamers. Not only that, but addict gamers appeared to have a slower information processing than normal players.
They develop quick reaction skills because they are forced to react fast to survive. Greg Tito (2010) a journalist writes in his article based on the Department of Defense research that gamers perform better than non-gamers by 10 to 20 percent which indicates that the skills they achieved from the games are beneficial. Also, they said that a part of their training should be through games due to it makes them develop their ways of thinking and react better when put in a critical situation. Furthermore, making fast decisions help in other jobs such as taking the role of a manager and making hard risky decisions. To demonstrate, a decision must be performed on spot, so the manager thinks of different alternatives quickly and chooses the best alternative that fits to make them achieve their desired goal. Decision making skill is a must in every-day life. Anywhere you go, from home duties to work or even education require this skill to get past the day. gamers are used to making quick decisions because of the fast paste game
They also enhance abilities such as driving at night in addition to hand eye coordination ability. Obvious benefits are creativity, faster decision making skills and sensitivity to details. Faster reflexes are the cause of first person shooting games while puzzle games help with memory, concentration and pattern recognition. Gamers playing real playing shooting games have been proven to make choices six times a second which is four times faster than most people and also, Hotz mentions that gamers that play games more frequently can can may attention to two more things at a time than normal people. On the contrary, violent games tend to make people feel more comfortable about violence and aggressiveness thus increasing aggressive behavior. Also, playing too much can socially isolate a player as well as keep then in their own little world where the fantasy is more important than reality. Health disorders can occur as well such as bad posture, obesity or even video induces seizures.
Next the average person has similar reception time from actions going around them, but gamers have the potential to have a better reaction time the average human being. Studies conducted by rochester university have shown that gamers playing fast pace games and strategy games can make fast decisions then a normal person and have a faster response time to objects. The reaction time of an individual who plays games often is closely matched to an fighter pilot. They have to coordinate with fellow members in their squad and make fast decisions similar to
They compared them to student who played 10 hours of non-action video game. On all visual skills tests, action video gamers scored better than non-action video gamers (Chudler 2003).
What is a video game? A video game is any of various interactive games played using a specialized electronic gaming device or a computer or mobile device and a television or other display screen, along with a means to control graphic images (“Video Game”). Video games came from the research labs of scientists before they hit the tv screens (History.com Staff). Video games have been around for decades, but society is at a disadvantage on whether or not video games are a good concept or do they just bring out the worst in people? Video games are a great part of life because they teach people about improving hand-eye coordination, making better decisions, and learning about the challenges that people have to face in the real world.
Video games can improve visual skills and brain function. Video games increase spatial awareness. When playing different video games eyes are focused on a video game a person are more likely to gain different eye strengths after training the brain. Action video games train the brain to better process certain visual information. When people play action video games, they’re changing the brain’s pathway responsible for visual processing (Masnick 1). Video games change brain functions. Researchers today are reporting that first-person-shooter
As previously mentioned, video gaming is a controversial topic in society. Even though video games had been around for a while, the controversy didn’t begin until the early 2000’s. The idea that video games only have a negative influence on behavior, causing increased violence, has been the focused conception in this controversy. On the contrary, it has been demonstrated that video games can be used positively in an educational environment, thus proving beneficial to our brain functions and abilities. Games are popular because of the enjoyment it brings to players. The enjoyment from playing video games is greatly determined by the games’ effectiveness in teaching players to succeed and sometimes fail difficult tasks. Morihei Ueshiba once
Since the Early 70’s video games have been giving a bad name. Parents state that video games rot the minds of children and are influencing them do be violent. These accusations are far from the truth. In my research I found that there are many positive effects of gaming. Some of these effects are increased skills, creativity, general knowledge, and also help those in need. Parents can also take proper precautions and look into a game before buying it to see if it meets the criteria discussed in this paper.
Excessive video game playing has been a problem with today’s youth they have had more influences over the youth than ever before. That brings to my attention a question, how do video games affect the youth of our society? Excessive video game playing, especially violent video games, can lead to youth violence, a decrease in academic success and many other negative things. I realize that some parents believe that they can be good for children, I agree but I also disagree in some cases. Some parents allow their children to play video games to keep a social life and to learn how to use strategies. This is true in some cases but not in all cases. For instance, other children that play video games alone and are in their rooms constantly can
If you ever wonder why kids aren’t outside, then that’s because they are inside playing the most intricate source of entertainment out there to date. Video games have the best positive effects on everyone, especially children. Just about all video games have been a part of children’s lives for many years. There have been so many game consoles like N64 or the Play Station. These days game consoles have their own controllers and composite games. Each controller has multiple buttons and sticks. Some controllers even have motion control! Video games are second nature to kids today. Playing video games have various positive effects, and unfortunately some negative effects. One of these positive effects