Abstract:

Gaming is a form of entertainment to have fun. But knowing this, what if video games can teach players something that schools can’t teach? And can it improve your cognitive and problem-solving skills? Video games can be the best at making people learn quick decisions skills and thinking skills, these skills can help them improve their education. There are people that think otherwise because many are afraid that violent video games can influence young players and get them addicted to them. Therefore, parents should watch out for what video games they play.

Paper:

Video games have been around since the 1970s. They evolved from simple arcade machines to highly advanced consoles and PC gaming. This boom in the industry has created a large community of avid gamers, as well as a large community of skeptics. Many fear that kids will grow unhealthy addictions to video games. Others believe young minds may be impacted greatly by violence-based video games. But what if gaming can help players learn something that school can’t teach? Can video games improve your thinking and problem-solving skills? In this paper, we’ll discuss how video games can improve your cognitive skills and how video games can be bad for you. 

In today’s world, there are many violence-based video games. It is too easy for youth to be exposed, as most parents are not aware that certain games they buy depict violence. Playing violent video games as a kid would influence their behavior. In the study, the author claims, “They [results] show that students who played several violent video games changed to become more aggressive across the school year”(Douglas A., J. Ronald 9). According to this quote, from the longitudinal experiment, their first hypothesis was supported by the results that playing violent video games would, “transfer better to cognitions and behaviors than playing fewer” (Douglas A., J. Ronald 7). This is not the only effect it had on students. In the study, the author concludes, “Because we had longitudinal data, we were able to show that students who played multiple violent games actually changed to have a greater hostile attribution bias, which also increased their aggressive behaviors over prior levels”(Douglas A., J. Ronald 11). From the text, hostile attribution bias is the propensity to interpret the behavior of others, in past situations, as aggressive, threatening, or both. This causes more aggressive behavior. The results from the experiment also supported their second hypothesis that “playing violent video games will lead to greater aggressive cognitions and behaviors was largely supported”(Douglas A., J. Ronald 11).

Video games can be violent, but they are also great educators. Playing video games can be another way for kids and adults to learn. According to the study, the reason why the experiment was conducted is, “to argue that video games use at least seven of the pedagogical techniques that educational psychologists know make for excellent learning” (Douglas A., J. Ronald 13) The way how video games teach you the concepts and mechanics is very effective. We should choose games for kids that could help them in their education, quick decisions skills, and thinking skills because video games can often be the best teacher. 

Parents tend to develop a fear that their children will become addicted to video games. This is because being addicted can “lead to excessive irritability and aggression when deprived of it (use of the internet) and as such may decrease the quality of one’s work, social, and family life”(Dagli 2). Addiction, in general, can affect many aspects of your life especially for kids and young adults. In a study by Dagil, the author describes, “evidence exists where excessive computer and internet use addictions negatively affect youths’ social relations and decrease their school success”(Dagli 2). So, what game would make someone addicted the most? According to the study by Dagil, in the experiment, “all participating students’ game addiction tendencies have been concluded to differ according to whether or not they play games. Those who prefer to play online games have higher averages for gaming addiction tendencies. This shows online games can be a critical reason for increasing game addiction for those who prefer to play online games”(Dagli 8). This text demonstrates that people who play online games are more likely to get addicted than people who play single-player games. If parents are worried about their kids getting addicted to video games, then you could limit your kid’s playing time to one or two hours especially if your kid plays online. In addition, the results of the experiment were, “The majority of the students participating in the study area in a good situation in terms of school success”(Dagli 8). This text shows that with limited playtime, the students were able to have steady grades in their school. 

Playing video games over time can improve your thinking skills and decision-making skills. Well, not all video games, but most require thinking before you act like puzzle games, strategic games, and even action/shooting games. In a study by Loh, the author mentions, “Many entertainment and serious games make excellent use of puzzles and obstacles in-game to elicit player engagement, requiring them to pit their wits against the designers’ ‘obstacle course’ to progress the storyline. For example, games like Biohazard, Castlevania, and Plant vs. Zombies require players to avoid incoming enemies but effect attacks to move forward”(Loh et al. 2). This text demonstrates that video game developers can design their game to make the players think and decide on how to get over the obstacle to get to the objective. These video game developers really have to think of how the player think, like how “players become enticed or willing to try different options – e.g., repeating an action until the skill has been perfected, trying different approaches until a workable solution is found, and searching for alternative routes to avoid a ‘defeating’ outcome”(Loh et al. 2) This text shows how video game level design can make a player think different ways to solve the problem. From the journal, the experiment has thirty-one people in total and they have to play a maze game that runs on the Unity3D game engine. The game is first-person and has one big maze. There are two ways to finish the maze. The first way, “route A”, is a path that takes longer but leads directly to the exit. The second way, “route B”, is faster but has a locked door in the way that requires you to press the pressure plate nine times to open it. For the first eight, you have to complete a music note and the ninth is to open the door. This path was designed to “discourage casual gamers who happen upon the pressure plate but should not deter seasoned gamers who are persistent in solving such puzzles”(Loh et al. 5). The goal of the game is to finish the maze as fast as possible. The results of the experiment are that there were seven players that switched routes, eleven players who stuck to their path and found a solution to finish the maze, and thirteen players who quit because they were lost and wasted a lot of time. In the study, the author concludes, “However, this should not be taken to mean that Quitters are poor learners. A majority of the Quitters in this study were non-gamers and five of them dropped out of the study after just 1 round of gameplay”(Loh et al. 11). This text demonstrates that gamers were more successful at the maze game by using their decision and thinking skills than non-gamers. 

Overall, video games can improve your decision-making skills and thinking skills. Whether the game is violent or not, it teaches through pedagogical techniques that experts use for education. Being addicted to playing video games can disrupt many areas of life, but you can control this by limiting your playtime and avoiding playing online games. Video games can make a player think and decide on a workable solution to overcome obstacles. The video games grew with better mechanics and fun gameplay. This is because when video games were evolving, so were the video game developers. The evolution of gaming shows how developers improved on their level designing skills to make players think outside the box.     

CITATION:

Dagli, Zulkif. “An Analysis of the Role of Intelligence Games in Policies Aimed at Fighting Gaming Addiction.” ADDICTA: The Turkish Journal on Addictions, vol. 7, no. 2, May 2020, pp. 129+. Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A660558051/HRCA?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-HRCA&xid=03a7a830. Accessed 18 Oct. 2021.

Gentile, Douglas A., and J.Ronald Gentile. “Violent Video Games as Exemplary Teachers: A Conceptual Analysis.” Journal of Youth & Adolescence, vol. 37, no. 2, Feb. 2008, pp. 127–141. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9206-2.

Loh, Christian Sebastian, et al. “Comparison of Similarity Measures to Differentiate Players’ Actions and Decision-Making Profiles in Serious Games Analytics.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 64, 31 July 2016, pp. 562–574., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.07.024.