The Issue
The issue of children and teenagers playing video games or
mobile app games is still a very controversial one, with psychologists and
parenting experts still trying to understand what works and what doesn’t. As
recent reports showed, mobile screen time starts early and is detrimental to
toddlers. On the other hand, as the child grows, it is almost impossible to
keep them away from the PC, tablet or smarthphone. In a world dominated by
video and mobile app games as a major source of entertainment for adults and
children alike, one question begged to be asked: “do video and mobile games
have a positive impact on peoples’ cognitive skills, or do they indeed melt
their brains?”
The positive impact of games on children’s intellectual
development is not a new theory, as since kindergarten children are encouraged
to play all sorts of games. Based on Piaget’s theories, group games are an
important part of kids’ activities since the early age. Learning games, board
games and individual play make the foundation of every child’s healthy
development. The educational value of games has always been connected to
cognitive skills development (memory formation, spatial navigation, strategic
thinking, fine motor skills, attention, language development and so on). In
other words, if games are an essential component in a child’s brain
development, why can’t video and mobile app games play the same role?
The Science
Recent research showed that children and teenagers playing video
and mobile app games have a better shot at neurogenesis (the growth of new
neurons in the brain) and neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to develop new
connections, as it is malleable and sensible to changes). In other words, kids
who play video games are more likely to develop new brain cells and have an
increased connectivity between different brain regions, usually associated with
memory, language, attention, spatial intelligence and fine motor skills (Video Gaming Can
Increase Brain Size and Connectivity, Psychology Today, 2013).
In 2014, the American Psychological Association published an
article looking deep into the connection between dyslexic children and video
games. Dyslexia experts teamed up neuroscientists to develop together
“neuroplasticity-based computerized video games that can "rewire" the
brains of children with this form of dyslexia and activate those areas of the
brain critical to reading skills.” (Undoing Dyslexia via
Video Games, APA, 2014). This type of “rewiring” is in full accordance with the
neuroplasticity theory: our brains are capable to change the way they work,
find new connections, link different brain areas together in order to adapt to
a new challenge or a new environmental change.
The open-source article in Nature (2015) – Enhanced
functional connectivity and
increased gray matter volume of insula related to action video game playing –
makes another valid point: since distinct brain regions are associated with
particular neural networks which are in turn connected to particular brain
functions, playing a video game which addresses these particular cognitive
skills leads to the facilitation and the enhancement of neuroplasticity in the
afferent brain regions and neural networks.
In other words, by learning and practicing challenging skills,
our brains can remain in better shape and even grow. Therefore, the 86 billion
neurons that are part of the brain can survive for longer periods of time if
kept active by reducing cognitive decline. These cognitive tasks are made of
spatial perception, perceptual discrimination, visual search, recall and
recognition.
So how can one keep his mind sharp? How can we improve our
memory, attention, language skills, critical thinking, strategic planning and
problem solving with the help of video or mobile app games?
A Tower Defense video game has been found to have a positive
impact on children’s Math skills development in an innovative manner. This game
allows people to test mathematical theories and work with variables.
Introducing such video game in the classroom brings a new level of novelty in
teaching and attracts children and teenagers to see a Math lesson not as a
tedious and hard course, but a fun, brain-developing one.
But what about those controversial games such as shooters and
action games? In 2015, WebMD and Business Week reported that a new study
published in Current Biology shed some light on the importance of playing
action video games in the development of advanced cognitive skills. Scientists
found that games like Halo, Call of Duty, League of Legends and other similar
ones help people make fast and out of the box decisions.
In action video games, quick and correct problem solving, decision
making and strategizing are the winning conditions. Researchers found that
people playing Halo and other such games develop an important skill called
“probabilistic inference” which is the manner our brain works, reconnects,
rewires and uses already stored information in order to make a fast and correct
decision. And since our entire adult life revolves around decision making and
problem solving, we cannot but agree that a game of Halo or Call of Duty may
keep us entertained and push our brains to “think differently” which, in turn,
stimulates neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. In the words of the study leader,
Dr. C. Shawn Green, “The games are teaching them [players] to learn how to
learn, to learn how to solve new tasks rapidly.”
The Teaching Experience
When it comes to mobile app games, things are even simpler. All
kids nowadays have a smartphone or a tablet and teachers don’t need to install
heavy PC’s and buy video games for the classroom to keep the little ones hooked
to problem solving games or creativity stimulating ones.
Many people already know what Lumosity is. This suite of games
aims at improving a person's memory, attention, speed, mind flexibility,
problem solving and of course logical thinking. The game was designed by
neuroscientists specialized in neruplascticity. The app offers more than 40
games, including a quiz game, each with their own level of difficulty. They do
not aim to become tedious brain training activities, but rather create a fun
and helpful environment.
Games in the Lumosity suite can be chosen depending on
children’s age and interests and can be turned into a group game for instance
if the kids are too young to play the games individually. A cognitive test such
as the Speed Pack is great to challenge visualization skills, while the Robot
Factory, based on the go/no-go principles is a great tool for any teacher to
test impulse control.
Another interesting game specialized at helping logical thinking
is 399 games. Puzzles & Trivia Challenges. The game was created by Nancy
Linde, who aimed at improving neurogenesis. As we said above, neurogenesis is a
process of creating new brain cells. This is done by always engaging your brain
in mental activities that help it find new solutions. So by thinking in broader
ways, creating new neural pathways between brain cells and improving memory,
neurogenesis is applied in these games. The games aim at improving the six
cognitive functions that become affected with aging. Some of the cognitive
functions are attention, language and logical thought.
Little Alchemy works great in class, as it is a free game which
uses the science of Combinatorics in order to develop kids’ interest in science
and push their creativity out of the box. Little Alchemy is a creative
sandbox-type of game which challenges the players to combine elements in order
to create other elements. While children can successfully obtain “steam” by
combining “fire” with “water”, the more they advance into the game, the more
mind-blowing the tasks become. This game works both as a test for the teacher
to see how children make connections, create, think and solve problems, but
also a very powerful educational tool which sparks the love for science and for
problem solving. The game can also turn into a competition group game between
teams. The first team to get all the 530+ possible Little Alchemy combinations
wins. This stimulated collaboration, team work, communication and brainstorming
in young children. Of course, the teacher can always keep track of the results
by using the official alphabetically ordered Little Alchemy cheats – found on a logo quiz answers online walkthrough – to record
every group’s progress.
Critical Thinking Trivia Game is a great addition for a child,
teenager or adult to test and improve his logical and critical thinking
abilities. Not only does it test how knowledgeable you are, it also tests your
memory, intelligence and quiz taking abilities. The questions are timed and
it’s imperative to spell the answers correctly to win the points. The more
correct answers you provide, the more points you are given. Points can also be
taken away if the answers are incorrect. So to answer these tricky questions it
is important to think the answers thoroughly. This game especially tests a
person's memory, as it makes people recall about things learned a long time
ago.
Trivia games, as many other games, can improve a series of
skills a person can posses. They are useful in keeping our brains in tip top
shape as it goes through the aging process. A
study conducted
at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in 2013 suggested that
playing video and mobile games can also have a therapeutic impact upon the
adults suffering from psychiatric mental disorders. Since video games and
mobile games have the role of “rewiring” the brain and stimulate the
connectivity between different brain sub-regions, with the formation of new
neural networks, they infer that people playing such games may surpass some
mental disorders induced by altered or reduced brain areas (Alzheimer’s dementia,
schizophrenia, PTSD and so on).
The Future Questions
Going back to teaching and child development, the issue of
playing video and mobile games should be seen from another perspective. The
question is not if such games have a negative impact on the brain development
of a child, as science and teaching practice clearly show that they are
beneficial to neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. The problem we all should
consider, from teachers to parents, and from neuroscientists to game developing
companies is “how much is too much.” Video game addiction is a real problem and
it shouldn’t be swept under the carpet in the light of the new research. The
issue is when we all should draw the line between “playing games for fun and
brain development” and “playing games because we are addicted to them.”
Neuroscience and educational sciences have still a lot of work to do in this
regard.
In
conclusion, a person's ability to critically and logically think can help that
person in day to day activities at school or work. In other words, these games
do not only help us fight off the aging process, but also help us perform
better in our daily lives. The fact that more and more practitioners in the
medical fields such as neuroscience recommend us these games means that their
benefits are not shorthanded. The next logical step would be to find out to
which extent we can use video and mobile games in the classroom or home to be
beneficial to the child (or adult for that matter) and not push them to fall on
the dark side.
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