25+ Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Psychology

Download 25+ Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Raise Smart Kid In: Raise Smart Preschool Child Articles 25+ Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games Updated Feb. 19, 2018 Are video games good or bad for you? It can be both. Video games are frowned upon by parents as time-wasters, and worse, some education experts think that these games corrupt the brain.  Playing violent video games are easily blamed by the media and some experts as the reason why some young people become violent or commit extreme anti-social behavior.  But many scientists and psychologists find that video games can actually have many benefits – the main one is making kids smart.  Video games may actually teach kids high-level thinking skills that they will need in the future. “Video games change your brain,” according to University of Wisconsin psychologist C. Shawn Green. Playing video games change the brain’s physical structure the same way as do learning to read, playing the piano, or navigating using a map. Much like exercise can build muscle, the powerful combination of concentration and rewarding surges of neurotransmitters like dopamine strengthen neural circuits that can build the brain. According to Marc Palaus, author of the study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, there is a broad consensus in the scientific community that playing video games not only changes how the brain performs, but also its structure. Below are the good and bad effects of video games – their benefits and disadvantages, according to researchers and child experts: The Benefits: Positive Effects of Video Games When your child plays video games, it gives his brain a real workout.  In many video games, the skills required to win involve abstract and high level thinking.  These skills are not even taught at school. The main benefits of playing video games involve enhancing mental skills that include: 1. Problem solving and logic – When a child plays a game such as The Incredible Machine, Angry Birds or Cut The Rope, he trains his brain to come up with creative ways to solve puzzles and other problems in short bursts 2. Hand­eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills. In shooting games, the character may be running and shooting at the same time. This requires the real-world player to keep track of the position of the character, where he/she is heading, his speed, where the gun is aiming, if the gunfire is hitting the enemy, and so on. All these factors need to be taken into account, and then the player must then coordinate the brain’s interpretation and reaction with the movement in his hands and fingertips. This process requires a great deal of eye-hand coordination and visual-spatial ability to be successful.  Research also suggests that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual attention skills from video games.  There have been even studies with adults showing that experience with video games is related to better surgical skills. Also, a reason given by experts as to why fighter pilots of today are more skillful is that this generation’s pilots are being weaned on video games. 3. Planning, resource management and logistics.  The player learns to manage resources that are limited, and decide the best use of resources, the same way as in real life.  This skill is honed in strategy games such as SimCity, Age of Empires, and Railroad Tycoon. Notably, The American Planning Association, the trade association of urban planners and Maxis, the game creator, have claimed that SimCity has inspired a lot of its players to take a career in urban planning and architecture. 4. Multitasking, simultaneous tracking of many shifting variables and managing multiple objectives.  In strategy games, for instance, while developing a city, an unexpected surprise like an enemy might emerge.  This forces the player to be flexible and quickly change tactics. Your brain on video games | Daphne Bavelier Cognitive researcher Daphne Bavalier talks about how video games can help us learn, focus and, fascinatingly, multitask. 5. Quick thinking, making fast analysis and decisions.  Sometimes the player does this almost every second of the game giving the brain a real workout. According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led by Daphne Bavelier, a cognitive scientist, games simulating stressful events such as those found in battle or action games could be a training tool for real-world situations. The study suggests that playing action video games primes the brain to make quick decisions. Video games can be used to train soldiers and surgeons, according to the study. Importantly, decisions made by action- packed video game players are no less accurate. According to Bavelier, “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.” 6. Accuracy – Action games, according to a study by the University of Rochester, train the player’s brain to make faster decisions without losing accuracy. In today’s world, it is important to move quickly without sacrificing accuracy. regions of the brain are crucial for spatial navigation, strategic planning, working memory and motor performance. Indeed, the increased gray matter in these parts of the brain is positively correlated with better memory. Decreased gray matter is correlated with bipolar disorder and dementia. What’s also striking is that those who enjoyed playing the game has a more pronounced gain in gray matter volume. The study suggests that video game training could be used to counteract known risk factors for smaller hippocampus and prefrontal cortex volume in, for example, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia and neurodegenerative disease. Other studies found that playing video games change the structure of the brain. Brain regions involved in attention were more efficient in gamers, and regions related to visuospatial skills that were both bigger and more efficient. Another study published in Scientific Reports have found that Action Video Gamers have more gray matter and better integration of brain networks associated with attention and sensorimotor function. A Bristol University research shows that the “gamification” of learning can reduce the activity of a particular brain network which is responsible for mind wandering. When designed and developed properly, computer-based games can have a beneficial effect on learning. A number of research, including the one done in Ruhr-University Bochum show that video gamers have an advantage at learning compared to non- gamers. In their test, video gamers performed significantly better than non-gamers in a learning competition, and gamers showed an increased activity in the brain areas relevant for learning. According to the lead author Sabrina Schenk, “Our study shows that gamers are better in analyzing a situation quickly, to generate new knowledge and to categorize facts — especially in situations with high uncertainties.” A study published in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology in 2016 suggests that “video game use is not associated with an increased risk of mental health problems. On the contrary, the data presented here suggest that video games are a protective factor, especially regarding peer relationship problems for the children who are the most involved in video games. Finally, video games seem to be linked to better intellectual functioning and academic achievement.” Another study suggests that playing some video games may even overcome the cognitive skills affected by poverty like focus, self-control, and memory, and may help reduce the achievement gaps related to poverty that are seen in school. Finally, according to a study, gamers actually tend to be more social, more successful and more educated than people who make fun of them. Considering all these, be reminded again that the type of genre affects the brain differently, and one should not generalize that all video games have the same effect or benefit. For example, the researchers of a study hypothesize that playing strategy games result in improving memory tasks, while playing action games that stimulate the limbic area and elicit emotional arousal might be beneficial to those with mood disorders. Experts believe that parents playing video games with their kids can boost better communication between them. See also: How to choose a video game for your child and yourself The Drawbacks: Negative Effects of Video Games Amazon Top Video Games Ads by Amazon  Injustice 2 ­ Xbox One Standard Edition $32.12 $39.99  (110) The LEGO Movie Videogame ­ Xbox … $14.49  (565) LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham ­ Xbo… $14.99 $19.99  (191) Star Wars Battlefront II ­ PlayStation 4 $22.00 $59.99  (207) Forza Motorsport 7: Standard Edition ­ Xb… $59.99  (45) Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns ­ Nintend… $29.99  (198) Star Wars Battlefront II: Elite Trooper Delux… $57.93 $79.99  (74) Need for Speed Payback ­ XBOX One $47.88  (28) Video Games best selling video games Go Most of the bad effects of video games are blamed on the violence they contain.  Children who play more violent video games are more likely to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and decreased prosocial helping, according to a scientific study (Anderson & Bushman, 2001).  Also according to Dmitri A. Christakis of the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, those who watch a lot of simulated violence, such as those in video games, can become immune to it, more inclined to act violently themselves, and are less likely to behave emphatically. Another study suggests that chronic exposure to violent video games is not only associated with lower empathy, but emotional callousness as well. This, however, is still hotly debated because there is also evidence that shows that excessive use of video games does not lead to long-term desensitization and lack of empathy. A 2017 study published in Frontiers in Psychology, for example, didn’t find any long-term effects of playing violent video games and empathy. Another study from University of York found no evidence to support the theory that video games make players more violent. On the other hand, The American Psychological Association (APA) concluded that there is a “consistent correlation” between violent game use and aggression, but finds insufficient evidence to link violent video play to criminal violence.  An open letter by a number of media scholars, psychologists and criminologists, however, find APA’s study and conclusion to be misleading and alarmist.   Many experts including Henry Jenkins of Massachusetts Institute of Technology have noted that there is a decreased rate of juvenile crime which coincides with the popularity of games such as Death Race, Mortal Kombat, Doom and Grand Theft auto. He concludes that teenage players are able to leave the emotional effects of the game behind when the game is over.   Indeed there are cases of teenagers who commit violent crimes who also spend great amount of time playing video games such as those involved in the Columbine and Newport cases. It appears that there will always be violent people, and it just so happen that many of them also enjoy playing violent video games. Some experts also believe that the effect of video game violence in kids is worsened by the games’ interactive nature. In many games, kids are rewarded for being more violent. The act of violence is done repeatedly. The child is in control of the violence and experiences the violence in his own eyes (killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting). This active participation, repetition and reward are effective tools for learning behavior. Indeed, many studies seem to indicate that violent video games may be related to aggressive behavior (such as Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, 2004). However, the evidence is not consistent and this issue is far from settled. A 2017 study from the Université de Montréal suggests that playing action video games like Call of Duty may actually harm the brain. Most study participants mainly use an area of the brain called the caudate nucleus. These players navigate through the game terrain using in-system navigation tools or on-screen GPS, relying on navigational “habit” instead of active learning. It appears that this causes an increase in the amount of gray matter in their caudate nucleus, while it decreases in the hippocampus. Reduced gray matter in the hippocampus has previously been linked to higher risks of brain illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia, PTSD, and Alzheimer’s disease. However players who play games that requires players to navigate using spatial strategies like the 3D Super Mario games have increased grey matter in the hippocampus. Too much video game playing makes your kid socially isolated.  Also, he may spend less time in other activities such as doing homework, reading, sports, and interacting with the family and friends. On the other hand, a study by researchers at the North Carolina State University, New York and the University Of Ontario Institute Of Technology points out that gamers usually do not replace their offline social lives with online game playing, but rather it expands them. In fact, among gamers, being a loner is not the norm. Some video games teach kids the wrong values.  Violent behavior, vengeance and aggression are rewarded.  Negotiating and other nonviolent solutions are often not options.  Women are often portrayed as weaker characters that are helpless or sexually provocative.    On the other hand, a University of Buffalo study suggests that violence and bad behavior played in the virtual world may be contributing to better behavior in the real world. Gamers who play violent games may feel guilty about their behavior in the virtual world and this may make them be more sensitive to the moral issues they violated during game play. Games can confuse reality and fantasy. Academic achievement may be negatively related to over-all time spent playing video games. Studies have shown that the more time a kid spends playing video games, the poorer is his performance in school.  (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, 2004). A study by Argosy University’s Minnesota School on Professional Psychology found that video game addicts argue a lot with their teachers, fight a lot with their friends, and score lower grades than others who play video games less often. Other studies show that many game players routinely skip their homework to play games, and many students admitted that their video game habits are often responsible for poor school grades. Although some studies suggest that playing video games enhances a child’s concentration, other studies, such as a 2012 paper published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture, have found that games can hurt and help children’s attention issues — improving the ability to concentrate in short bursts but damaging long-term concentration. Dr Philip A Chan and Professor Terry Rabinowitz, writing in the Annals of General Psychiatry, concluded that: “Adolescents who play more than one hour of console or Internet video games may have more or more intense symptoms of ADHD or inattention than those who do not.” This negative effect may lead to problems in school. Video games may also have bad effects on some children’s health, including obesity, video-induced seizures. and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders, such as tendonitis, nerve compression, carpal tunnel syndrome. When playing online, your kid can pick up bad language and behavior from other people, and may make your kid vulnerable to online dangers. A study by the Minneapolis-based National Institute for Media and the Family suggests that video games can be addictive for kids, and that the kids’ addiction to video games increases their depression and anxiety levels. Addicted kids also exhibit social phobias. Not surprisingly, kids addicted to video games see their school performance suffer.  Click here for tips on how to avoid getting your kids addicted to video games, and how to treat your kid’s video game addiction. Kids spending too much time playing video games may exhibit impulsive behavior and have attention problems. This is according to a new study published in the February 2012 issue of the Journal of Psychology and Popular Media Culture. For the study, attention problems were defined as difficulty engaging in or sustaining behavior to reach a goal. According to Catherine Steiner-Adair, a Harvard-affiliated psychologist and author of the best-selling book “The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationship in the Digital Age”, if kids are allowed to play “Candy Crush” on the way to school, the trip will be quiet, but it’s not what kids need. “They need time to daydream, deal with anxieties, process their thoughts and share them with parents, who can provide reassurance.” See also: The Best Educational Apps for Toddler and Babies Related: Positive and negative effects of social media on children. Educational Toys and Games to Help Make Your Kids Smart Comments comments Related 25 Video Games That Could Make You Smarter August 27, 2015 In "Raise Smart Grade Schooler Articles" How to Treat your Child’s Video Game Addiction July 8, 2017 In "Raise Smart Pre-teens and Teens Articles" Smartphone and Tablet Screen Time: Good or Bad for Kids? August 27, 2015 In "Raising Smart Kids Articles"