Video games get a bad rap. I firmly believe there are benefits to reading and physical activity that you might miss out on if video games completely displace those activities, but the video games themselves are not necessarily as bad* as people tend to think. I’ve noted before that technology is what we make of it. But you might be surprised to know that video games are not merely neutral; they confer benefits of their own.
*Obviously, content still matters, just as it does with books, movies, and other media.
1. Video Games are Good for Eye-Hand Coordination
A study in the Archives of Surgery found that surgeons who played video games regularly and well were also more skilled at laparoscopic surgery. It appears that the practice correlating the information on the screen with the input from the controller in one’s hand translates well to the real-world skill of surgery. Other studies have produced similar results.
Your children may or may not plan to be surgeons, but other research has also shown benefits in the development of “object control” motor skills in preschoolers from interactive video games.
2. Video Games are a Good Stress Management Tool
Video games appear to build resilience and foster a player’s ability to rise to a challenge. Researchers suspect this is due to their tendency to engage the reward/motivation centers of the brain. Depending on the game, and based on our own experience, they can also provide a needed opportunity to feel in control of something when “real life” circumstances are beyond your control. (Previous research has demonstrated that one of the biggest contributors to stress is feeling out of control.)
3. Video Games Provide an Outlet
Perhaps better numbered as “2a,” another benefit of video games also relates to stress. Preliminary research suggests that video games may provide an outlet for pent-up frustration, helping players to re-regulate their heart rate variability and reach a balanced state, minimizing symptoms of depression.
4. Video Games Provide Pain Relief
This may be far-fetched, but in some cases, video games can provide pain relief. The mechanism behind this is simple: distraction. The cause and type of pain probably plays a large role in how effective games are for this purpose, and it may be more effective for pain caused by confused nerve signals.
5. Video Games May Improve Vision
Psychologist Daphne Maurer is known for her research on vision impairment. She and fellow researchers discovered that some forms of vision impairment may be improved by playing fast-moving video games. The forced focus apparently exercises the eyes. (This emphasis on forced attentiveness also suggests the possibility that games could help children learn to focus or pay attention to detail, as well.)
6. Video Games May Improve Dyslexia
Dyslexia is, at least in some cases, rooted in visual disturbance. When this is the case, it seems that video games have a similar impact on dyslexia as they do on vision impairment such as cataracts. The improvements in attention are hypothesized to be related, as well.
7. Video Games Improve Decision-Making Skills
Fast-action video games help train players to quickly take stock of the details of a situation and make prompt decisions. Of course, quick decision-making isn’t always what we want in real life. But having lots of practice assimilating information quickly and making the best decision based on that information is important for decision-making under pressure (as for those in the military on the police force). It also serves as good preparation for making more leisurely decisions. If you can make a decent decision in a split-second, how much more can you make an excellent decision with some time to think through it?
8. Video Games Improve Executive Function
Executive function is the type of mental processing that is impaired in Attention Deficit Disorder. Video games appear to improve certain aspects of executive function, such as reducing impulsiveness (improving the ability to “look before you leap”), better ability to multitask, and better ability to task-switch.
9. Video Games Offer a Non-Threatening Educational Opportunity
This one comes from my own experience. Computer- and console-based computer games have been the source of some surprising educational discoveries for my children. They have learned about science, history, and math, and built or built on reading and typing skills.
All Things in Moderation
As with all things, it seems that moderation matters. Researchers who have looked into this have typically found that gamers who play some (usually under an hour a day) out-“score” their peers who play a lot, on whatever measures the researchers are testing (including just general well-adjustedness). In many cases, they do better than their peers who never play, too! (Including on that adjustedness measure.)
It seems, then, that video games can offer a variety of benefits when they’re part of an overall balanced lifestyle. (This mama also suspects that the very process of teaching a child to play them in moderation, rather than taking an all-or-nothing approach, is beneficial to kids.)
The folks at Computer Planet have put together a great infographic that features the health benefits of gaming. Check it out below.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17309970
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4685909/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/surgeons-may-err-less-playing-video-games/
http://theweek.com/articles/466852/7-health-benefits-playing-video-games
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/video-game.aspx
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201502/cognitive-benefits-playing-video-games
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/08/04/study-finds-that-children-benefit-from-playing-video-games
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24295515
https://web.archive.org/web/20130130191029/http://gamepolitics.com/2012/07/25/research-pre-schoolers-who-play-interactive-games-have-better-motor-skills
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702114.html
http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/24/14648057-groundbreaking-experiment-in-virtual-reality-uses-video-game-to-treat-pain
http://psych.mcmaster.ca/maurerlab/Publications/Jeon_VideoGames.pdf
https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/29/can-video-games-make-dyslexic-children-read-better
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