Analysis Of Video Games Increases Intelligence, By Dan Hurley

Video Games Increases Intelligence
“Can you Make Yourself Smarter” is an essay written by Dan Hurley. In the essay, Dan Hurley explores the rise use of video games in classrooms. He starts out by talking about his visit to a third grade classroom in Chicago Heights. During his visit, he met a group of third graders and noticed that they were sitting down in front of apple computers and were told by an instructor to explain how to get points. He says that the game included a haunted house, with bats and a crescent moon in a midnight blue sky. Dan Hurley mentions that a black cat would appear every few seconds in one of the house’s five windows. The cat would also vanish. This exercise was divided into levels. On the first level, the kids had to remember which window the cat appeared in. Hurley says “But the game is progressive; the cats keep coming and the kids have to keep watching and remembering.” (Hurley 316) This exercise is proof that many video games can make you smarter. In today’s society, there are many educational video games

that are used in classrooms. I believe that video games can make you smarter because it can improve your I.Q, memory and problem solving.

The first reason why I believe that video games can make you smarter is because research has shown that certain games can improve your IQ.

In today’s community, there are many games that can test your intelligence. Games, like the black cat game that was mentioned earlier, can increase your intelligence. In the essay. Dan Hurley says that “Psychologists have long regarded intelligence as coming in two flavors” (Hurley 317). The two types of intelligence are known as crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence grows as you age while fluid intelligence starts to peak in early adulthood. Although fluid intelligence starts in early adulthood, it tends to decline gradually later in life. Dan Hurley says “That, after all, is the premise of IQ tests “(Hurley 317). In my experience, I can agree that most video games today can improve people’s IQ. Not only can it improve IQ, but it can also improve

memory.

The second reason why I believe that video games can make you smarter is, because it can enhance memory. There are many games that deal with remembering certain items. In the essay, Dan Hurley mentions that many memory games, like the one that he witnessed with the third graders, targets the most elemental cognitive skills that are called the “working memory”. Dan Hurley states that “What long-term memory is to crystallized intelligence, working memory is to fluid intelligence” (Hurley 317). He then goes on to explain that “ Working memory is more than just the ability to remember a telephone number long enough to dial it ; it’s the capacity to manipulate the information you’re holding in your head—to add r subtract those numbers, place them in reverse order or sort them from high to low” (Hurley 317). Both of those quotes are important because they explain the effect that video games have on a person’s working memory. Although video games have a huge influence on memory, they also help people develop problem-solving skills.

The third reason why I believe that video games can make you smarter is because there is a great chance that video games can improve problem solving skills. Throughout the essay, Dan Hurley talks about fluid intelligence. He says that fluid intelligence improves IQ and memory. He also says that fluid intelligence also has the capacity to “solve novel problems” (Hurley 317) this means that fluid intelligence also has a huge impact on the development of problem- solving. In my experience, I believe that there are many games that can help a person develop problem-solving skills.
In conclusion, the essay “Can you make yourself smarter” questions whether video games can make you more intelligent. I believe that there are many video games that can help a person gain more knowledge. I believe this because a lot of video games in today’s century can help increase a person’s intelligence, improve memory and can help a person develop problem-solving skills.