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By India McCarty
A new study has found that there might be some benefits to playing video games, specifically, a positive impact on cognitive abilities.
“The meta-analysis revealed a consistent pattern of statistically significant, yet generally small positive correlations, with the overall effect size varying by study design, but consistently falling within a small range,” the study, published by Acta Psychologica, stated.
The study continued, “The meta-analysis revealed a consistent pattern of statistically significant, yet generally small positive correlations, with the overall effect size varying by study design, but consistently falling within a small range.”
“These findings suggest that playing video games may play a role in enhancing cognitive ability and provides reasonable suggestions for the better utilization of video games,” the study’s researchers concluded.
Related: Are Video Games Really That Bad? One Expert Says…
In an article published earlier this year by Popular Science, Dr. Kurt Dean Squire, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, explained, “Constantly getting new challenges and having to figure out even entirely new systems is good for the brain. You are having to think laterally about ideas, exploring problems from new angles.”
For example, role-playing games often feature descriptive text that can “enhance linguistic intelligence,” as well as in-game challenges that can build problem-solving skills.
“In fact, I personally learned to read while playing RPGs on the Sega Master System in the 1980s,” Dr. Nathan Carroll, a psychiatrist and author of Internet Gaming Disorder, shared. “To engage with them, I needed to learn the words on the screen.”
“Augmented- and virtual-reality games offer many opportunities to develop kinesthetic (bodily/movement) intelligence,” added Carroll. “Great games for this include Beat Saber and Fruit Ninja.”
But these skills could simply have a ‘near-transfer’ effect, meaning “improvements are largely confined to the video game itself or highly similar contexts, with limited evidence supporting the enhancement of ‘far-transfer’ cognitive abilities applicable to everyday life,” Newsweek reported.
Like anything, experts caution that video games are best consumed in moderation.
“We don’t talk about eating time or food time, but there are many healthy eating behaviors and many unhealthy behaviors,” Dr. Linda Kaye, a senior lecturer in psychology at Edge Hill who specializes in cyberpsychology, told Built In. “So when we talk about screen time generally, it seems a bit nonsensical to not distinguish between healthy and unhealthy.”
She added, “Anything where you’re actively engaging, preferably with other people in a healthy way, is going to be the healthiest kind of screen time behavior.”
While video games are best enjoyed in moderation, it looks like there are several cognitive benefits to playing them.
Read Next: Can Video Games Be a Part of a Healthy Childhood?
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