Not all video games are equally useful
Scientists have found out which computer games are most useful for the brain
Long-term observations of the brain of gamers have shown that it is not puzzles and games for ingenuity that best develops and stimulates our nervous system, but shooting games and arcades, say neurophysiologists in the article The Impacts of Video Games on Cognition (and How the Government Can Guide the Industry), published in the journal Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
"Modern video games have evolved into very complex phenomena embodying many principles that psychologists, neurophysiologists and educators consider to be fundamentally important for the emergence of positive changes in human behavior, increasing the plasticity of the brain and its entire ability to learn in general. Games by their nature are a proactive form of learning, which are usually more effective than passive acquisition of knowledge," said Shawn Green from the University of Wisconsin at Madison (in a press release What types of video games improve brain function? – VM).
Green and his colleague Aaron Seitz from the University of California at Riverside (USA) found out that computer games of various genres have extremely different effects on the development and work of our brain by analyzing how some popular games today affected the psyche and cognitive abilities of young people in experiments conducted by other scientists.
These include several shooters, including Wolfenstein and GTA, social games like Sims, construction "sandbox" (Minecraft), casual mobile games such as Angry Birds and Candy Crush, as well as a number of educational gaming applications designed specifically for brain development.
As the observations of Green and Zaitz have shown, not all computer games are equally useful for the development of intelligence – for example, sandbox games, casual games, card games like Heartstone did not positively affect the brain of players and do not contain such things that would stimulate the development of cognitive abilities.
On the other hand, in a rather unexpected way, shooting games and arcade games improved the mental abilities of gamers quite well and coped with this task no worse than games specially designed for these purposes.
"Shooting games have been associated with improved attention to detail, accelerated information processing in the brain and a number of other cognitive functions, including the development of speculative vision and imagination. Interestingly, games for ingenuity usually embody a fairly small number of these properties," the authors of the article write.
Nevertheless, as scientists emphasize, do not forget that computer games have negative sides (although there is a directly opposite opinion – VM). Although they do not contribute to the development of attention deficit, as many parents believe, there is evidence, says Green, that they reduce the child's interest in what is happening in the classroom, and also have a number of other negative social effects.
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09.10.2015