A new study from Glasgow University has found that playing video games might help to reap some positive rewards later in life, like the possibility of helping to boost key skills such as problem solving and critical thinking. Playing just two hours of video games per week, the study found, could even help to make an individual more employable.
The study was pretty small, as it involved only 36 undergraduates. The undergraduate participants were divided into two separate groups. One was the control group and the other, with 16 students, were the game-playing group and they were asked to play 8 video games under certain conditions.
The games they were asked to play: Borderlands 2, Lara Croft, and Minecraft.
The participants in the study logged roughly 14 hours of playing time in the period of about 8 weeks for the study. Prior to and following the experiment, the participants were required to fill out a survey and this survey measured a variety of skills.
They found that the game-players improved with respect to adaptability, resourcefulness, and communication; compared to the control group.
The study suggests that there is a variety of positive effects to be reaped from playing hours of video games, aside from the entertainment and pleasure aspect alone. These games also have the potential to reap rewards for individuals, in the way of improving life skills such as those mentioned above which were assessed in the study.
Other studies have suggested that playing games can make you smarter, slow the aging process, help to improve medical recovery, offer pain relief, improve eyesight, and more.
The worldwide game industry at the moment is estimated to be around $91 billion with the majority of gamers playing on their mobile phones; thanks in large part to Pokemon Go.
When or if researchers replicate this study in the future, it would be interesting to see the results if:
- more participants were included
- what results might be for other games
- there was an adjustment in their observation of the amount of time played and if that has any impact when adjusted (2 hrs a week isn't much).
Pics:
Pixabay
Giphy - via giphy.com/gifs/lara-croft-Y5DdT0nNHzPZS
All material on this post is provided for information purposes only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction, diagnosis, or treatment. If an individual has a medical concern, no action or inaction should be taken based on the information provided in this post. He or she should always consult with their own appropriately-licensed physician or other health care specialist.
Sources:
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/playing-video-games-can-help-13140592
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/05/playing-two-hours-video-games-week-makes-employable-glasgow/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/video-games-good-for-us_n_4164723.html
http://www.scotsman.com/news/education/playing-video-games-can-help-young-people-succeed-at-university-1-4466874
https://venturebeat.com/2016/12/21/worldwide-game-industry-hits-91-billion-in-revenues-in-2016-with-mobile-the-clear-leader/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160308084925.htm
Great!
Now we just need to discover the health benefits of eating potato chips!
lol!! just give it time.. and the right funding ;)
Now I can just play games and not worry about wasting my life. Great! :D
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@doitvoluntarily
That being the case, then my cousins ought to be the healthiest dudes around.... They love their video games! 😎
I have so many games, I enjoy it as a hobby especially league of legends, has anyone heard of it? Its a really popular game.
I used to love playing video games...
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@pocketechange
Great write up.
Only a noob play for 2 hours a week
i play for 2 hours per hour
Now i know why those gamers in my highschool class are so smart😊
I think the health benefits being on Steemit is HUGE! Just need a study about it ;)
Very informative post, thanks :)
i knew it, they do more than just vent stress!
Thats really cool stuff, i used to play a lot when i was younger, maybe thats why i am the way i am now ;) hahah
I stick to playing Fifa in my free time. It definitely acts like a mood booster.
Awesome no wonder i am looking so young :-)
cool stuff i like the article.
Like....
You're inspiring me to dust off the old ps3 and finally beat uncharted 2. However, I'm not quite ready to leave the boardgame phase I'm in...
Love me some LoL!
Well, I'm pretty succeeding in being a student. I guess it's because I play so many hours a day on my PS4 :D
Thanks for sharing this great post, @doitvoluntarily!
They say that games might also help fix lazy eye by helping with depth perception!
I wonder what the results would be between players of different games.
To this day I swear Quake 3 layed the foundation of my above-average sense of direction.
Diablo 2 made me a HODLer (great skill in the land of crypto) and Gothic increased my appreciation of tiny beautiful details in nature and my urge to discover.
I fully agree with that.. we started to implement it here.
Too bad I suck at all sports, games and anything competitive .
The type of game you play definitely makes a difference in how it will positively impact you.
I always knew this and it has been confirmed by researchers also. Resteeming it.
It seems like a great study but can see a few design flaws. Firstly were the students matched on academic ability and IQ. Alsi how could they rule out other environmental factors such as the subjects studied by the students and how they could have affected the results. Also things like the amount of stress put on the individuals, such as exams etc..... a great study though.... all those years mastering tiger woods were beneficial after all!!!!! Xxx
IQ is certainly flawed method in the way of truly or accurately assessing an individual's intelligence :) but good points aside
Would tend to agree with you about IQ testing...... not a true test of intelligence but does give a representation of natural problem solving ability........ intelligence does present itself in many different ways..... I've met some scholars who have absolutely no common sense, and some who barely mafe it through school who have accomplished massive success..... would be great if this study could be considered for further development.........
exactly, creative intelligence esp is very hard to assess with such a tool
College offers athletic scholarships to video gamers
wAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!! this is crazy!! lol thanks for sharing this!:)
what's your opinion about sports game???
that would be a good idea for them to study because those are some of the most popular games out there
Great article, especially for all of us gamers out there! One thing that wasn't mentioned that I have found personally is that gamers are more persistent when faced with a challenge and are able to realize that it takes time to master some skills!
Some games require that you just to play. so it the same process.
yes yes i love patoto my dear
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My 34 year old son was once an 8 year old ADHD child who couldn't sit still long enough to watch a cartoon on TV. Thankfully he was always involved in sports and this wore him out often. But to get his brain to work on concentration skills, gaming was the best thing! Granted it was the classics; Duke Nukem, Wolfenstein, Return to Zork and the Need for Speed on the PC and on his Nintendo of course; Mario Bros was his favorite. He now is able to sit and produce music with three screens running different applications, a keyboard, an MPC machine, and other bits around... and he does this for hours. He still can't sit still for long enough to watch a movie - but he has the ability to apply his concentration for hours on his work. We have discussed this, and he feels strongly that gaming helped. I resisted all medication for him, and tried diet, bought him car magazines to encourage reading and yes, plied him with video games.