The studies are complete. The results are in. The next time someone tries to argue that playing video games is nothing but a waste of time, you'll be armed to argue otherwise. In fact, over the past five years, more and more studies and trials have been completed that are shedding a much more positive light on the past time of gaming. The number and scope of the overall benefits and boons of playing video games is expansive, but for the sake of argument, this article will focus in on five of the most impressive arguments in favor of gaming as a hobby. Keep them in your arsenal when you need a little argumentative ammunition.
Intellectual Benefit #1: Accurate, Rapid Decision Making Literally Under Fire
According to an article by John Barron in November of 2010, gamers who are fans of titles like Call of Duty and Modern Warfare are walking away with a critical skill that can't be obtained through other, less violent options: a boosted ability to process sensory input and quickly make a decision - with an incredible incident of accuracy. Need the facts to back up your claims? This came straight from a research team from New York's University of Rochester.
Intellectual Benefit #2: Gaming Can Yield Surgical Precision
In the same article referenced above, another surprising fact was shared. Surgeons who spent at least three hours each week playing action games benefited from a 37 percent decrease in mistakes versus their counterparts in laproscopic surgeries, while doing so 27 percent faster. If those laser-like precision performance metrics don't give you a solid excuse, nothing else will. The folks at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City verified those facts themselves.
Intellectual Benefit #3: Video Gaming Can Break Up the Patterns of Depression
Depression does more than cast a grey cloud over the world. It devastates lives and can suck the joy out of everything. It stretches out to encompass everything in your life. In an article from an August 2009 edition of the online Washington Post there was a story of a Bejeweled fan who suffered from depression but found solace and a break in the depression that set in during long sleepless nights into a way to cope and recover. A letter to the games creator launched a clinical study that found that games with rhythmic beats and objectives can have a positive impact on mental health, with the patterns of the game interrupting the patterns that give depression a stronghold.
Intellectual Benefit #4: Exercise Your Executive Function
According to a May 2008 article by Kristen Morie, action games and many RPGs exercise what is known as executive function, the human ability to design a plan of action and then to follow through with it. This is a complex skill, and many games out there are not only asking for greater use of executive function, but they force players to do so under duress and within a time limit. This is distinct from Intellectual Benefit #1 as this has greater long-term implications than split-second, life or death survival situations in war games.
Intellectual Benefit #5: An Argument Your Kids Will Turn Around and Use on You
Back in April of 2009, another article emerged on the scene that reported on a study that was co-sponsored by Sony and Yahoo! and found that 70% of parents who were surveyed responded favorably and affirmatively when asked if their children's problem solving skills had improved since starting video gaming. In another, unrelated study reported on in the same article, the team at University of Illinois and under the tutelage of Arthur Kramer found that senior adults in their 60's and 70's who were monitored under laboratory conditions showed specific skill improvements in those playing Rise of Nations, a Big Huge Games production. One of those specifically improved skills was short-term memory function.
It just goes to show, no matter how young or old you are, there are plenty of benefits to playing video games, you just need to know how to prove it when you're under fire.
Author Bio:
Karim Toohalik writes for Brainloop, a company specializing in creating a highly secure workspace through secure online document sharing, information rights management, and other data protection services using the highly secure Brainloop virtual data room for mergers and acquisitions due diligence.
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702114.html
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-mental-benefits-video-games-1487573.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/death-love-sex-magic/201006/the-social-benefits-video-gaming
http://www.jonbarron.org/natural-health/bl101118/playing-video-games
Intellectual Benefit #1: Accurate, Rapid Decision Making Literally Under Fire
According to an article by John Barron in November of 2010, gamers who are fans of titles like Call of Duty and Modern Warfare are walking away with a critical skill that can't be obtained through other, less violent options: a boosted ability to process sensory input and quickly make a decision - with an incredible incident of accuracy. Need the facts to back up your claims? This came straight from a research team from New York's University of Rochester.
Intellectual Benefit #2: Gaming Can Yield Surgical Precision
In the same article referenced above, another surprising fact was shared. Surgeons who spent at least three hours each week playing action games benefited from a 37 percent decrease in mistakes versus their counterparts in laproscopic surgeries, while doing so 27 percent faster. If those laser-like precision performance metrics don't give you a solid excuse, nothing else will. The folks at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City verified those facts themselves.
Intellectual Benefit #3: Video Gaming Can Break Up the Patterns of Depression
Depression does more than cast a grey cloud over the world. It devastates lives and can suck the joy out of everything. It stretches out to encompass everything in your life. In an article from an August 2009 edition of the online Washington Post there was a story of a Bejeweled fan who suffered from depression but found solace and a break in the depression that set in during long sleepless nights into a way to cope and recover. A letter to the games creator launched a clinical study that found that games with rhythmic beats and objectives can have a positive impact on mental health, with the patterns of the game interrupting the patterns that give depression a stronghold.
Intellectual Benefit #4: Exercise Your Executive Function
According to a May 2008 article by Kristen Morie, action games and many RPGs exercise what is known as executive function, the human ability to design a plan of action and then to follow through with it. This is a complex skill, and many games out there are not only asking for greater use of executive function, but they force players to do so under duress and within a time limit. This is distinct from Intellectual Benefit #1 as this has greater long-term implications than split-second, life or death survival situations in war games.
Intellectual Benefit #5: An Argument Your Kids Will Turn Around and Use on You
Back in April of 2009, another article emerged on the scene that reported on a study that was co-sponsored by Sony and Yahoo! and found that 70% of parents who were surveyed responded favorably and affirmatively when asked if their children's problem solving skills had improved since starting video gaming. In another, unrelated study reported on in the same article, the team at University of Illinois and under the tutelage of Arthur Kramer found that senior adults in their 60's and 70's who were monitored under laboratory conditions showed specific skill improvements in those playing Rise of Nations, a Big Huge Games production. One of those specifically improved skills was short-term memory function.
It just goes to show, no matter how young or old you are, there are plenty of benefits to playing video games, you just need to know how to prove it when you're under fire.
Author Bio:
Karim Toohalik writes for Brainloop, a company specializing in creating a highly secure workspace through secure online document sharing, information rights management, and other data protection services using the highly secure Brainloop virtual data room for mergers and acquisitions due diligence.
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702114.html
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-mental-benefits-video-games-1487573.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/death-love-sex-magic/201006/the-social-benefits-video-gaming
http://www.jonbarron.org/natural-health/bl101118/playing-video-games
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