The Cognitive Benefits of Video Games - Term Paper Example

Video Games and Its Effects on Societies and Individuals Introduction The emergent generation has been much exposed to a myriad of video games. Just as movies were in the past, video games have now taken over as the new normal in the media. Whereas many parents would be horrified by the effect that video games could have on their children, they fail to recognize that these games also have some positive effects. Thus, appreciating the limitations associated with video gaming, this paper seeks to support video gaming for its positive effects to individuals and societies. Indeed, despite some limitations, video games could immensely benefit individuals and the society at large. Video games have increasingly become a popular pastime activity, especially among children and adolescents. According to Prot, McDonald, Anderson and Gentile (2012), 90% of children and teens in America play video games. Typically, they play for 2 hours on average per day. It is this popularity and the significant time spent in the game that has elicited mixed reactions and immense research studies on its effect on individuals and the society at large. Arguments for Video Games The cognitive benefit of video games has been widely documented. Evaluating a research conducted by the American Psychological Association, APA, Shapiro (2013) notes that people who took part in first person shooters exhibited more accurate and faster attention allocation, pronounced mental rotation abilities and higher spatial resolution with regards to visual processing. In fact, the research argues that the spatial skills developed by the gamers compares to the same skills gained through formal courses. Moreover, video gaming improves on creativity and motor skills as noted by Raphael (2013). Thus, video games should be supported because they improve on the cognitive aspect of an individual, making the brains of the gamers less involved when solving problems as compared to non-gamers. Secondly, motivational benefits have been noted from video games. The idea revolves around the fact that the persistent engagement of the video gamers helps in the development of a sense of identity and the belief about their abilities and intelligence (Anderson & Warburton, 2012). In the long run, this improves on proclivity for success among them. The fact that a gamer, especially the young ones, worked hard in a game and solved the puzzle and as such got rewarded, motivates gamers to greater achievement. This is what Shapiro (2013) refers to as incremental theory of intelligence. This rewarding of continual effort keeps the gamers motivated, helping them learn to balance between frustrations and challenges and sufficient success and accomplishment experiences. The same could be said of emotions, video gaming noted to be effective and efficient in helping individuals, especially the young ones, to generate positive feelings. According to Shapiro (2013), video gaming fosters the building of complex system simulations. Players would put themselves into the context of practice and system and find a way out of the challenges that such a system presents. Broadly said, the creation of realistic simulations elicits intense emotional responses, whether positive or negative, by commercial games presenting an opportunity for the gamers to control their emotions. The players learn to appreciate that whereas the attainment of the set goal matters, the space within which the game takes place would be safe enough to exercise modulation and control. Strategies for adaptive regulation like acceptance and reappraisal associate with lower depressive symptoms levels, greater social support and less negative effects. Finally, video games benefit the society by enhancing sociability among those involved. A majority of video games nowadays are multiplayer, requiring that several players interact (Raphael, 2013). Such interactions boost collaborative working among people. More so, the self control learnt from video games makes one more adaptable in a greater society full of competition. Thus, playing video games enhances pro-social behaviors. In fact, Shapiro (2013) points out at recent studies which have found out video games eliciting cooperation beyond the gaming context. As such, video games enhance harmonious living in the society. Arguments against Video Games Even with all these benefits of video games, opponents still argue for negative effects of video games. One of the widely fronted negative effects of video games is aggression. This has been particularly associated with violent video games. A research study by Prot et al. (2012) observes that video games increase aggressive emotions and thoughts even with physiologic arousal properties controlled for. Violent video games propagate aggressive thoughts, create hostile attribution bias and enhance positive attitude towards violence. Over time, this would arouse aggressive personality development. However, recent studies show that whereas the rate of violent juvenile crime in the US decreased from 71.9% in 1995 to 49.3% in 2008, the sales of video games rose tremendously (Raphael, 2013). Moreover, despite the violent nature of video games, such as Call of Duty, they still do not diminish the pro-social behavior associated with the games (Shapiro, 2013). Thus, video games, including the violent ones, do not necessarily propagate aggressive behaviors. Video games promote antisocial behaviors. Video game addiction in particular promotes such behaviors as the gamer spends more time interacting with the game as opposed to socializing with friends. With Prot et al. (2012) referring to this as pathologic gaming, this has affected 8.5% of the youth in America. This is a significant number that spends more of their time playing video games than playing with their peers. Nonetheless, Shapiro (2013) holds a contrary opinion arguing that video games enhance sociability, documenting 70% of gamers playing cooperatively or competitively with a friend. With a majority of these games being multiplayer, they play a greater role in socializing than not. Lastly, video games negatively affect school performance. Numerous studies have found a negative correlation between video gaming and school performance among children and adolescents, implying that the greater children would be involved in video games, the poorer they perform in school. Prot et al. (2012) explain this using the displacement hypothesis, noting that video games could displace the time that would have been otherwise spent on academic activities. The researchers further cite findings from a study that showed that gamers spent 30% and 34% less of the time spent by their peers to read and do homework respectively. Thus, the loss of focus occasioned by video games could negatively affect school performance. This postulate does not hold because, as observed by APA, video gaming improves the cognitive aspects of individuals (Shapiro, 2013). This makes children more intelligent and ready to consume knowledge. In fact, it makes problem-solving easier and faster. Thus, video games promote greater school achievement. Conclusion Video games, with their immense popularity among modern-day children and teenagers, are multidimensional and have complex effects on those involved. It has been argued to promote aggression, antisocial behaviors and poor school performance. However, previous studies evidence the fact that video games have cognitive, emotional, motivational and social benefits. In fact, the benefits of video gaming outweigh its negative effects on individuals and the society. Of importance would be to develop mechanisms that would protect the children from the negative effects and promote the positive effects. Indeed, despite the limitations, video games have immense benefits which parents should appreciate in order to promote the overall wellbeing of their children. References Anderson, C. A. & Warburton, W. A. (2012). The impact of violent video games: An overview. In W. Warburton & D. Braunstein (Eds.), Growing up fast and furious: Reviewing the impact of violent and sexualized media on children (pp. 56 – 84). Leichhardt, NSW: Federation Press. Prot, S., McDonald, K. A., Anderson, C. A. & Gentile, D. A. (2012). Video games: Good, bad or other? Pediatric Clinics of North America, 59, 647 – 658. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2012.03.016 Raphael, D. (2013, November 7). The impact of video games on this generation. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 November 2014 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ Shapiro, J. (2013, November 11). 4 reasons video games are good for your health (according to American Psychological Association). Forbes. Retrieved 18 November 2014 from http://www.forbes.com/ Read More