Video Games and Their Benefits - Research Paper Example

Video Games and Their Benefits Introduction Video game is a computer-controlled game where players interact with objects displayed on a screen for the sake of entertainment and they are fundamentally the same form of entertainment, but refers not only to games played on one’s computer, but also to games run by arcade machine and console machines. Video games have become fundamental part of almost all children’s and the adolescent’s lives and has even spread to most adults. In the United States there is approximately 97% of the children and adolescent population who play these games for at least one hour per day and today in the United States at least 91% of children between 2 and 17 play video games and in general 99% of boys and 94% of girls among the teenagers play video game. Most of the research done by most psychologists on the effects of these games has mostly been based on its negative effects; the potential harm related to violence, depression, and addiction forgetting the positive effect (McGonigal, 2012). Video games also have very great positive effects on the people involved in the game and considering these likely benefits is important because the nature of these games has dramatically changed in the last few years, becoming increasingly diverse, realistic, complex and social in nature. The work tries to summarize all research on the positive impact of playing video games, focusing on four main domains: motivational, cognitive, emotional, and social. By assimilating understandings from positive, developmental and media psychology, as well as social psychology, we suggest some candidate ways by which playing video games may lead to real-world psychosocial benefits (Gunter, 1998). The main objective of the work is to provide solid enough evidence and a theoretical rationale to inspire new programs of research on the fundamentally unexplored mental health benefits of gaming. And finally to call to the intervention researchers and practitioners to test the constructive and positive uses of video games and giving the way forward and suggestion of doing so. Emotional benefits of video games Most people normally use diverse media is in order to manage their moods and to enhance their emotional states. Through video games which are the most efficient and effective means by which youths and children generate positive feelings which in turn improve their mood and increases their positive emotions, for example, playing puzzle video game, a game with minimal interference, high degree of accessibility and short term commitment, improves players moods, promotes relaxation, and ward of anxiety (McGonigal, 2012). From the 2009's Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine, gamers who suffered from mental health issues like depression and stress are able to vent their aggression and frustration by playing video games, this leads to great improvement in their state of mind. Also, most people play video games for enjoyment and improving their mood, the game also distracts them from real world problems (e.g. bulling and other negative behaviors from young children). When the gamer succeeds in the game they get to have positive feelings, becoming more relaxed and reduced anxiety. Most gamers show intense feelings of pride and accomplishment by submerging themselves in games that allow a great sense of control that takes them out of themselves. Video games also leads to flow experience which is a mental state mostly reported by gamers when they are performing an activity that leaves them fully committed without feeling self-conscious. The flow experience is also linked to positive outcomes such as sense of achievement and greater self-esteem that can lead to greater mental health benefits (Gunter, 1998). The positive emotions developed through playing the games also increases awareness and encourage a more novel outlook on life; broadening the number of behaviors seen as durable and build social relationship to provide support for achieving goals and coping with failure. Social benefits of video games Gamers seem to acquire important prosocial skills when they play games that are specifically designed to reward effective support, cooperation and helping behavior. Playing prosocial games leads to fundamental, short-term effects on improving behaviors, and longitudinal impacts are also found, also, children who play more prosocial games at the commencement of the school year are more likely to display helpful behaviors in cooperating with other students. Through the game social skills are also exhibited in forms of civic engagement: the ability to establish groups and lead likeminded people in social causes (McGonigal, 2012). Majority of the gamers play with friends, whether as part of a team or in direct competition, and through this they rapidly develop social skills that generalizes to social relationships in the real world. Though most of the games are violent related in content, the gamers are still provided with the opportunity to learn social skills by focusing on cooperation with the team members, also through playing this violent games in groups reduces the feeling of hostility compared to when one is playing alone (Kirsh, 2010). Though most of the games are purely entertainment, there are some which are made to motivate the patients and keep them informed of the treatment options. For example the Re-Mission video game is designed for young cancer patients, it enables players to control a nanobot injected into the human body to shoot cancer cells and monitor patient health. Children playing this game get to learn about their own illness, side effects of cancer treatment, and the importance of treatment adherence and further more they become more educated about cancer and therefore developing greater treatment self-efficacy. Motivational benefits of video games Game designers have mastered the art of bringing people of all ages together into virtual environments, endure in the face of multiple failures, having them toil toward significant goals and rejoice the rare moments of triumph after successfully completing challenging tasks. In children it is believed that they develop the belief about their intelligence and abilities, beliefs that underlie specific motivational styles and directly affect achievement. Video games are the most ideal training ground for acquiring an incremental theory of intelligence since they give the gamers concrete and immediate feedback on specific efforts made by players. Also by putting specific tasks and allowing young people to work in hard situations to achieve these tasks, the games boosts their self-esteem and help the children learn the value of persistence (Steinberg, 2011). Through the provision of immediate feedback the game players is able to solve problems and realize better expertise, players get to discover the skills and intelligence they might not otherwise realize they possess.   Gaming helps young people to be able to solve problems on their own while working towards specific goals. The skills gained by the players improves with time as the level of the games also rises to difficult level; also provides intermittent reinforcement to encourage players never to give up despite the growing challenges. Cognitive development Contrary to the belief that playing video games is intellectually lazy and sedating, it has turn out that playing the video game promotes a wide range of cognitive skills. Action video games are responsible for the enhanced mental rotational abilities, higher spatial resolution in visual processing and faster and more accurate attention allocation among all the players. Cognitive advantages from video produces larger neural processing and efficiency, functioning, improve attention and help with pattern recognition. One can also improve his vision through the video games by sitting in front of the TV or the computer where the video game is played. People who suffer from cataracts can improve their vision by playing games that are fast paced which require extreme attention and this therefore trains the visually impaired to view things more sharply. They can also produce high level of adrenaline and dopamine that may potentially make the brain to be more plastic (Steinberg, 2011). Conclusion Video games are socially interactive, motivational in nature, have emotional benefits and also have a lot of cognitive in our development. Increasingly, players are gaming online, with friends, family, and complete strangers, crossing vast geographical distances and blurring not only cultural boundaries but also age and generation gaps, socioeconomic differences, and language barriers. The vast amount of time devoted in playing video games may also mean that they provide qualitatively dissimilar experiences than conventional games (Steinberg, 2011). Though we may think of spending whole weekends playing Monopoly with siblings and neighbors, few games can boast the months and weeks of game play that many video games provide. Also we find that researchers should not just focus on the negative effects of video games but to look at its positive end also as this will broaden the thinking of our growing population and also to aid in the cognitive development and also to reduce the level of crime by socializing much through the games. References Gunter, B. (1998). The effects of video games on children: The myth unmasked. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press. Kirsh, S. J. (2010). Media and youth: A developmental perspective. Chichester, U.K: Wiley- Blackwell McGonigal, J. (2012). Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world. London: Vintage. Steinberg, S. (2011). The modern parent's guide to kids and video games. Lilburn, GA: P3: Power Play Publishing Great Britain. (2011). Video games industry in Scotland. London: Stationery Office Giordano, G. (2009). Cockeyed education: A case method primer. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Education Read More