video games, are they good?

Video games, are they good?

Are video games a distraction or an angel in disguise? New studies show that video games are actually really good for you. Playing video games can increase eye hand coordination, decision making, and self-confidence. Dr. Daphne Bavelier, a neuroscientist at the University of Geneva, has conducted research on the effects of video games on the brain. Her research shows that video games actually help gamers focus (and maintain focus) better than non-gamers - more so the so-called violent, shoot 'em up variety. Dr. Bavelier's research has also effectively busted some video game myths. Fact: games do not have an effect on a player’s vision; they actually seem to make players' vision better. For example they are particularly good at "distinguishing between different levels of gray, like when driving in fog." says Dr.Bavelier,She hopes this finding will lead to games that help people with poor eyesight “re-train” their brains to improve their vision. Fact: gamers do not have the attention span of goldfish; they are really good at tracking data, meaning they are better than non-gamers at quickly parsing though mass amounts of information to identify specific data points. Now if you're not a gamer but think that your own technological multitasking (constant switching from a computer to an IPhone, all while answering instant messages and listening to the latest Grizzly Bear album) is similar to gaming, you would be wrong says Dr.Bavelier. There's been a study on that (multitasking), and researchers concluded that while multitaskers think their modus operandi allows them to get more done (and more productively), it actually prevents them from accomplishing tasks quickly and well. "When they're in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory. They’re not able to filter out what's not relevant to their current goal,” said Dr. Anthony Wagner, an Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, who worked on the study. "That failure to filter means they're slowed down by that irrelevant information." Video games have been a help to people and their social development. Studies show that video games can improve social development with Autistic children. Playing video games can teach them how to respond to visual and verbal queues, greatly improving social responses. The assumptions about kids without autism who play video games are often subject to social withdrawal and may develop an addiction. Studies prove the opposite, that when introduced to games at a young age, in a group, video games can be a great source of social interaction. Gaming at a young age can help develop critical thinking skills, in other words, kids who pay attention to a string of events in a video game are able to apply this to their real lives later on. At an older age, there are of course kids who are introverted and shy in nature. Playing games in groups or online has proven to be a great way to connect with others in similar situations and with similar interests. In fact, most teens in this day and age are playing their games online, in large interactive groups. Video games are proven to improve eye hand coordination (much like the way sports do), greatly benefiting many jobs and professions. First person shooters especially account to this. Paying attention to enemies in cover, keeping your eye on the target, being able to see enemy equipment like C4 or claymores, can translate into many real life (beneficial) situations. These games also can lead to an overall increase in concentration, Action gamers in general have been shown to be much more aware of their surroundings and are able to pay much more attention to the task at hand, being quite immune to distractions. Then there are those suffering from strokes. Video games have been proven to help rehabilitate stroke victims. Playing video games can help them gain back their motor skills. I have noticed that playing video games helps me control my (ADD) I mainly play Call of Duty and I have been playing it for around 4 or 5 years. Call of Duty is a first person shooter and there are a lot of things going on when you're in the game. I like to play a game type called Search and Destroy the object of the game is one team gets a bomb and they have to plant the bomb at one of two locations on the map but if you die you don't re-spawn (come back to life) until the next round, so you have to play smart so you can stay alive and get kills so your team can win. I have made quite a few friends while playing Call of Duty, I have a friend his name is Allan and we talk all the time not just about call of duty but also about life and school, that would be an example of video games creating a better attention span and an social structure. Video games have been known as a healthy outlet of aggression, or as an overall stress relief, despite their reputation stating otherwise. Much like books or movies, video games allow a sort of “escape”. Playing games has been a help to many in stressful and traumatic situations.
According to a study unveiled in 2010 by the American Pain Society, video games and virtual reality experiences can be as helpful as pain relievers in children and adults.The study showed that, when immersed in a virtual environment, participants who were undergoing serious procedures like chemotherapy reported “significantly less stress and trepidation”. Patients' pain ratings decreased by 30 to 50 per cent.“Virtual reality produces a modulating effect that is endogenous, so the analgesic influence is not simply a result of distraction but may also impact how the brain responds to painful stimuli,” said Jeffrey I. Gold, director of the Pediatric Pain Management Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. “The focus is drawn to the game not the pain or the medical procedure, while the virtual reality experience engages visual and other senses.” Boys and girls who play video games tend to be more creative, according to findings by Michigan State University researchers. The results, published in November 2011, found that the more kids played video games, the more creative they were in tasks such as drawing pictures and writing stories. The researchers surveyed 491 12-year-olds and assessed how often the students used different forms of technology. Measures were obtained for general computer use, internet use, video game playing and mobile phone use. Participants were also asked to indicate their favorite video game. The use of mobile phones, the internet and non-gaming activities on computers were found to be unrelated to creativity. However, regardless of gender, race or even the type of game played by the students (violent or nonviolent), the study found a relationship between video game playing and greater creativity. Video games have definitely helped me be more creative and express many different ideas. There are a lot of games that are more like puzzles but they test your ability to create ways to achieve the goal in more ways than one. A great example is a game called Portal it involves using teleporters to get from one area to another and also trying to teleport blocks on to buttons that will act as a switch to open a door so you can continue on to the next level. Researchers gauged the kids’ creative credit with what’s known as the Torrance Test of Creativity – Figural. The first stimulus took the form of an egg shape on a blank sheet of paper; the kids were required to think of a unique picture they could draw with this shape as part of it, and write a story about what they drew. The second stimulus was a picture of an elf lying in front of a small pool of water, staring at its reflection, which the kids had to answer a series of hypothetical questions about. A unique game that will test the ability to look at a big picture and create something that involves that picture would be Minecraft. Minecraft is a huge pixel world filled with hills and lakes that are made entirely of blocks like dirt or grass, stone, wood, leaves; there are also blocks of gold, diamond, and coal. The object of Minecraft is to use your creativity to build anything you want, for example a giant mansion filled with lots of rooms, or a subway going from one house to another, a modern city with huge skyscrapers. Before you can start turning your ideas into beautiful creations you have to clear out all of the hills and make all the paths you need to build your creation. In February 2011 researchers from Utah-based Brigham Young University’s School of Family Life published the results of a study on video games and children between 11 and 16 years old. They had found that girls who played video games with a parent were better behaved, had stronger connections with their family and enjoyed overall better mental health. Playing with a parent wasn’t a statistically significant factor for boys in any of the outcomes measured (positive behavior, aggression, family connection, mental health). However, for girls playing with a parent (in most cases, their father) accounted for as much as 20 per cent of the variation on those measured outcomes. “We’re guessing it’s a daddy-daughter thing, because not a lot of moms said yes when we asked them if they played video games,” explained co-author Laura Padilla-Walker. “Co-playing is probably an indicator of larger levels of involvement.” “Any face-to-face time you have with your child can be a positive thing, especially if the activity is something the child is interested in.” With me being a guy I never play video games with my parents. They also are not interested in them so they will not play them. The study about daughters who play video games with their parents does seem like it improves their relationships.