Can video games improve the abilities of humanity? A hard question to answer, but with research it could be answered, most people would say "no" that video games fry people brains and make kids violent, but research suggest that video games have real-world benefits for your brain and body. Daphne Bavelier a professor of brain and cognitive science at the university of Rochester conducted more than 20 studies on young people playing action based video games. Her studies show that video gamers show improved skills in vision, attention, and certain aspects of cognition. Gamers also perform better than non-gamers on certain tests of attention, speed, accuracy, vision, and multitasking. Gamers show improved skill in the kind of vision called contrast sensitivity, which is the abilities to see subtle shades of gray and this comes in handy to see other cars when driving in a fog. Gamers are also able to see smaller types of font than non-gamers. Researchers have found these effects of the visual skill of contrast sensitivity last for up two years. Several tests to measure attention found that gamers get less distracted by what came before and by events in their surroundings. Gamers are able to detect new information coming at them faster than non- gamers. Studies found that gamers do not activate as much of their brain to do very complicated things with their hands, which people need to be able to do. Non-gamers have to think a lot more and use a lot more of the workhorse parts of their brain for hands-eye coordination, where as gamers really did not have to use that much brain at all, and they just use these higher Cognitive centers to do it. Studies show that people who play action based vid... ... middle of paper ... ...llzone" and "Grand Theft Auto" behaved more aggressively against their gaming opponents. Does video game improve the abilities of humanity, I would say yes from this research, as it shows improvement in physical and mental skills. The real question is can video games change the way of training, studying, and school. Can it help produce an evolved a super human? Works Cited http://www.lucydanielscenter.org/page/do-violent-video-games-affect-children http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203458604577263273943183932 http://www.npr.org/2010/12/20/132077565/video-games-boost-brain-power-multitasking-skillshttp://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/02/how-parents-and-policymakers-handle-violent-video-games.html http://www.pamf.org/parenting-teens/general/media-web/violentgames.html http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20067918-10391704.html
In “Can You Build a Better Brain”, the author, Sharon Begley discusses how the cognition processes better. He starts by presenting some experiments that prove nutrition did not support the brain smarter. According to the article, he believes that the “cognitive capacity” can be amended by concentration in people’s behavior. He further believes that people’s intelligence do not depend on own skills; however, as long as people peceive new things, their synapses and brain systems will
The introduction to the article was interesting, “What has billions of individual pieces, trillions of connections, weights about 1.4 kilograms, and works on electrochemical energy? If you guessed a minicomputer you’re wrong. If you guessed the human brain, you’re correct!” I did not know the brain had quite this many connections. After reading our chapter I really started to grasp the complexity of the human brain and the amount of energy it expends. I felt that the article lacked facts like these further in. There was very little empirical numbers offered by the author Eric Chudler.
In 2008, 97% of twelve to seventeen year olds in America played video games, thus fueling the domestic video games by $11.7 million. Ten out of the top twenty best-selling video games contain violence. Many of these violent video games have been accused of incidents that include crime, bullying, and behavior problems. As the popularity of violent video games increase, more people become victims of behavior problems such as depression, aggressiveness, and addiction. Although video games were intentionally created for entertainment purposes, through studies and experiments it has been established that they are factors of behavior problems because of the active interaction people demonstrate while playing video games.
Video game effects are relatively new in modern society. Even though these games are often entertaining, the content of the game has been increasingly more and more violent as technology becomes more prevalent. The popularity of violent video games has caused an increase in controversy. Parents and experts feel that some games are just too violent and they demand the government to regulate the sales of these games. However, violent video games do not cause an increase in aggression, in adolescents. The forceful plan by the government is caused by an exaggeration of the effects of violent video games and this plan are indeed pointless.
Videogames are looked down upon by parents who see them as a waste of time and experts on education who believe that games corrupt the brain. Many say violent video games are to blame for young people being so violent. Psychologists and scientists believe that videogames have a lot of benefits. One benefit being that it make kids smart and cause them to use high-level thinking skills. Video games requires many skills that aren’t taught in school but, also enhance skills that the gamer already has. Skills that are enhanced by video games include following instructions, problem solving and logic with games like angry birds and cut the rope. Hand eye coordination, fine motor skills and spatial skills used in shooting games. Research has shown enhanced skills in surgeons and fighter pilots. Planning resources management and logistics encouraged by the game SimCity.
Have you ever wanted to know the amazing history of video games, how they started, big brand producers of consoles and the smaller consoles/arcade systems over the long years? Also, have you ever wondered about how the consoles worked? Did you know that they never even sold discs at the beginning just a programmed game console! If no than my informational text would be categorized for you.
Recently, there have been many active video games that have become popular amongst children that can encourage exercise. Video games such as the Wii and the Xbox connect engage children in a whole new way in which the whole body is actively involved. The scientific journal JAMA Pediatrics conducted a study to evaluate the effects of active video gaming on the physical activity and weight loss in children. The research group conducted a 16-week study on seventy five overweight or obese children that were enrolled into a community-based weight management program. The average age of the participants was 10 years old, the average BMI score was 2.15 and the percent of overweight form the median BMI was 64.3 percent. The participants were broken down into two groups to assess the effects that active video gaming could have on weight loss; however both groups received the family-based pediatric weight management program Join for Me. The participants in the program and active gaming group received a game console and motion capture device and one active game at their second treatment session. They also received a second game in week nine of the program. Participants in the program only group were handed the hardware items and two games at the completion of the 16-week program. The results of the study concluded that the participants in the program and active gaming group exhibited a great increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity but the program only group saw a decline or no change in their physical activity levels. In both groups, participants exhibited significant reductions in percentage overweight and BMI scores but the program and active gaming group exhibited a significantly greater amount (JAMA Pediatrics, 2014, p.1). This...
One of the long lived brain myths is one that states the average person only uses 10% of their available brain power.
Tommy scuffles through the front door, drops his book bag on the floor and plops down on the couch with a scowl across his face. As his PlayStation fires to life, he replays scenes from the day in his head of being shoved into the lockers by Billy, unable to form the words to impress Sussie, and sitting alone at lunch listening to the popular kids laugh and joke, ignoring him as if he did not exist. No one understands him. No one cares about him, because he is not strong, charming, or popular. All that is soon avoided as Tommy dives into a world where he controls everything and everyone either fears or loves him. If he fails, all he must do is reset. Here he can be anything he wants, and he can do and have it all.
“As video games have become more violent and more sophisticated and the sales of video games has skyrocketed in the last few decades, youth violence has plummeted,” Ferguson says, citing evidence compiled by various federal agencies (Adams 3). Violence in video games is not a new issue. It has been debated and argued since the release of the first violent video game. As time has progressed, so has the evolution of violence and strong language within video games. Ratings have become more relaxed, and the lines between T (Teen) and M (Mature) rated games has gotten closer together. Violent games are becoming the normal and accepted of all games, and are being demanded by the gaming industry more heavily. Parents have always shied away from these games for their children, regardless of age. However, kids are getting these games whether they are the correct age (17+) or not. Young kids, less than ten years of age are playing horribly violent games and parents are fearing the repercussions. But video games are not to be blamed for child violence. Violence in video games does not cause children to become violent people later on in life.
There are several negative stereotypes associated with video games and those who play them; some of these may often hold true. However, there are plenty of learning opportunities in video games. While the direct purpose of some games is to educate or train, other games that do not directly have this purpose can still become a learning experience for the player. As Ntiedo Etuk, president of the educational video game company Tabula Digital said, “The traditional view of video games has been that they are distractions from the task of learning” (Electronic Education Report 1). Video games are an effective tool for learning and retaining skills both inside and outside the classroom environment. The basic cycle of game play--the introduction to the game, game play, collaboration, improvement of these between each round, and evaluation at the end of the game (Klievink and Janssen 159)--are nearly parallel to the traditional classroom learning cycle of reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, taking a quiz, studying, focusing on items missed on the quiz, and taking a test or exam. Within this cycle, there are many opportunities to develop and perfect both educational, life, and occupational skills.
Nowadays, video games are frequently accused of having detrimental effects on children and adolescents. The main arguments against video games are that they lead to addiction, that they provoke violence, and that they impair social development. Whether or not such claims are true has not been determined with certainty as scientific studies have produced contradictory results. Nevertheless, video games also have beneficial effects, which tend to be underrated, as they do not receive the same level of media coverage that adverse ones do, and are thus unknown to the general public. Some of the positive effects of playing video games on mental development include: stimulating analytical thinking, improving concentration, and encouraging planning and anticipation (“Video game controversies”).
for 3 hours a week, while the other set played none. The set who played the
Video games have been argued about for decades. Some people have argued that video games are linked to violence. However, new research shows that video games can be used for therapeutic purposes, exercise, stress relievers, positive interactive learning, hand eye coordination, and different types of patient treatment for people all around the world.
Since the industry of video games has been around, people have been skeptical about video games and their effects to our society. People are so used criticizing video games, claiming that they only corrupt our families, ruin our social lives, and make us and our children more violent. People that are against video games also claim that spending your time reading books is a better and more beneficial alternative. But to blindly claim these things while there are so many benefits for playing video games is really absurd. In the essay “Games” written by Steven Johnson he talks about multiple advantages that there are to playing video games over reading books. Shigeru Miyamoto, a renowned video game designer, once said in response to critics “Video games are bad for you? That’s what they said about rock-n-roll.” Video games are an important developmental tool for young people because they enhance hand-eye coordination, teach problem-solving skills and strategy, relieve stress, and build team work, things which you would usually not find in reading books. Video games can be proved just as useful as reading books by statistics and studies, as well personal experiences from people who read, or play video games, or both. One doesn’t simply restrict themselves to one or the other and receive the qualities of both.