(Press-News.org) Contact information: Lisa Bowen
lbowen@apa.org
202-336-5707
American Psychological Association
Video game play may provide learning, health, social benefits, review finds
Authors suggest balancing questions of harm with potential for positive impact
WASHINGTON – Playing video games, including violent shooter games, may boost children's learning, health and social skills, according to a review of research on the positive effects of video game play to be published by the American Psychological Association.
The study comes out as debate continues among psychologists and other health professionals regarding the effects of violent media on youth. An APA task force is conducting a comprehensive review of research on violence in video games and interactive media and will release its findings in 2014.
"Important research has already been conducted for decades on the negative effects of gaming, including addiction, depression and aggression, and we are certainly not suggesting that this should be ignored," said lead author Isabela Granic, PhD, of Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands. "However, to understand the impact of video games on children's and adolescents' development, a more balanced perspective is needed."
The article will be published in APA's flagship journal, American Psychologist.
While one widely held view maintains playing video games is intellectually lazy, such play actually may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception, according to several studies reviewed in the article. This is particularly true for shooter video games that are often violent, the authors said. A 2013 meta-analysis found that playing shooter video games improved a player's capacity to think about objects in three dimensions, just as well as academic courses to enhance these same skills, according to the study. "This has critical implications for education and career development, as previous research has established the power of spatial skills for achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," Granic said. This enhanced thinking was not found with playing other types of video games, such as puzzles or role-playing games.
Playing video games may also help children develop problem-solving skills, the authors said. The more adolescents reported playing strategic video games, such as role-playing games, the more they improved in problem solving and school grades the following year, according to a long-term study published in 2013. Children's creativity was also enhanced by playing any kind of video game, including violent games, but not when the children used other forms of technology, such as a computer or cell phone, other research revealed.
Simple games that are easy to access and can be played quickly, such as "Angry Birds," can improve players' moods, promote relaxation and ward off anxiety, the study said. "If playing video games simply makes people happier, this seems to be a fundamental emotional benefit to consider," said Granic. The authors also highlighted the possibility that video games are effective tools to learn resilience in the face of failure. By learning to cope with ongoing failures in games, the authors suggest that children build emotional resilience they can rely upon in their everyday lives.
Another stereotype the research challenges is the socially isolated gamer. More than 70 percent of gamers play with a friend and millions of people worldwide participate in massive virtual worlds through video games such as "Farmville" and "World of Warcraft," the article noted. Multiplayer games become virtual social communities, where decisions need to be made quickly about whom to trust or reject and how to lead a group, the authors said. People who play video games, even if they are violent, that encourage cooperation are more likely to be helpful to others while gaming than those who play the same games competitively, a 2011 study found.
The article emphasized that educators are currently redesigning classroom experiences, integrating video games that can shift the way the next generation of teachers and students approach learning. Likewise, physicians have begun to use video games to motivate patients to improve their health, the authors said. In the video game "Re-Mission," child cancer patients can control a tiny robot that shoots cancer cells, overcomes bacterial infections and manages nausea and other barriers to adhering to treatments. A 2008 international study in 34 medical centers found significantly greater adherence to treatment and cancer-related knowledge among children who played "Re-Mission" compared to children who played a different computer game.
"It is this same kind of transformation, based on the foundational principle of play, that we suggest has the potential to transform the field of mental health," Granic said. "This is especially true because engaging children and youth is one of the most challenging tasks clinicians face."
The authors recommended that teams of psychologists, clinicians and game designers work together to develop approaches to mental health care that integrate video game playing with traditional therapy.
###
Article: "The Benefits of Playing Video Games," Isabela Granic, PhD, Adam Lobel, PhD, and Rutger C.M.E. Engels, PhD, Radboud University Nijmegen; Nijmegen, The Netherlands; American Psychologist, 2013.
Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office.
Video game play may provide learning, health, social benefits, review finds
Authors suggest balancing questions of harm with potential for positive impact
2013-11-25
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2-way traffic enable proteins to get where needed, avoid disease
2013-11-25
2-way traffic enable proteins to get where needed, avoid disease
Augusta, Ga. - It turns out that your messenger RNA may catch more than one ride to get where it's going.
Scientists have found that mRNA may travel one way down a cell, ...
University Of Massachusetts Medical School scientists re-imagine how genomes are assembled
2013-11-25
University Of Massachusetts Medical School scientists re-imagine how genomes are assembled
Using DNA interaction frequency data, UMMS faculty develop quicker, more accurate method for assembling complex genome sequences
WORCESTER, MA ...
Drug interactions causing a significant impact on statin use
2013-11-25
Drug interactions causing a significant impact on statin use
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study has found that many people who stopped taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs were also taking an average of three other drugs that interfered with the normal metabolism of the statins.
The ...
NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Alessia make landfall near Darwin
2013-11-25
NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Alessia make landfall near Darwin
Tropical Cyclone made landfall near Darwin, Australia on November 24 as a weak tropical storm as NASA's TRMM satellite passed overhead and measured its rainfall.
The final warning on the tropical storm ...
Turning autism upside down: When symptoms are strengths
2013-11-25
Turning autism upside down: When symptoms are strengths
Alternative treatment focuses on controlling the 'fight or flight' response
A novel approach to treating children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder could help them navigate their world by teaching ...
Rain as acidic as lemon juice may have contributed to ancient mass extinction
2013-11-25
Rain as acidic as lemon juice may have contributed to ancient mass extinction
MIT researchers find that rain as acidic as lemon juice may have contributed to massive die-offs on land 252 million years ago
Rain as acidic as undiluted lemon juice may have ...
Broken cellular 'clock' linked to brain damage
2013-11-25
Broken cellular 'clock' linked to brain damage
A new discovery may help explain the surprisingly strong connections between sleep problems and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.
Sleep loss increases the risk of Alzheimer's ...
Research: Materialism makes bad events even worse
2013-11-25
Research: Materialism makes bad events even worse
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In addition to its already well-documented negative direct effects on a person's well-being, materialism also wields an indirect negative effect by making bad events even ...
UCI, Northwestern researchers create compounds that boost antibiotics' effectiveness
2013-11-25
UCI, Northwestern researchers create compounds that boost antibiotics' effectiveness
Inhibitors could form basis of new treatments for such diseases as MRSA, anthrax
Irvine, Calif., Nov. 25, 2013 — Inhibitor compounds developed by UC Irvine structural ...
NASA catches Tropical Cyclone Lehar over the Andaman Islands
2013-11-25
NASA catches Tropical Cyclone Lehar over the Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands received an unwelcome visitor on November 25 in the form of Tropical Cyclone Lehar. NASA's Terra satellite captured a picture of the visitor as it was making its exit from the islands ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Novel PET tracer detects synaptic changes in spinal cord and brain after spinal cord injury
Wiley advances Knowitall Solutions with new trendfinder application for user-friendly chemometric analysis and additional enhancements to analytical workflows
Benchmark study tracks trends in dog behavior
OpenAI, DeepSeek, and Google vary widely in identifying hate speech
Research spotlight: Study identifies a surprising new treatment target for chronic limb threatening ischemia
Childhood loneliness and cognitive decline and dementia risk in middle-aged and older adults
Parental diseases of despair and suicidal events in their children
Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults
Acupuncture treatment improves disabling effects of chronic low back pain in older adults
How interstellar objects similar to 3I/ATLAS could jump-start planet formation around infant stars
Rented e-bicycles more dangerous than e-scooters in cities
Ditches as waterways: Managing ‘ditch-scapes’ to strengthen communities and the environment
In-situ molecular passivation enables pure-blue perovskite LEDs via vacuum thermal evaporation
Microscopes can now watch materials go quantum with liquid helium
Who shows up in times of need? High school extracurriculars offer clues
Synthetic magnetic fields steer light on a chip for faster communications
Hear that? Mizzou researchers are ‘listening’ to molecules in supersonic conditions
Mount Sinai researchers find electrical stimulation may help predict recovery path for acute nerve injuries
Developmental biologist Maria Jasin wins the 2025 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize
Training doctors for the digital age: Canadian study charts new course for health education
New College of AI, Cyber and Computing launched at UT San Antonio
Collaborative team earns five-year renewal grant from NINDS to continue stroke research
Vitamin K analogues may help transform the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases
Cyclic triaxial tests: Evaluation of liquefaction resistance in chemically treated soils
Uniting the light spectrum on a chip
Hundreds of new bacteria, and two potential antibiotics, found in soil
Smells deceive the brain – are interpreted as taste
New species survival commission fills critical gap in conservation
New conservation committee led by Applied Microbiology International calls on science community to get on board with microbial conservation
Scientists uncover key stabilizing role of small molecules
[Press-News.org] Video game play may provide learning, health, social benefits, review findsAuthors suggest balancing questions of harm with potential for positive impact