Action Video Games Boosts Overall Learning in Children Email Address By: NeuroNet inShare action video gamesPlaying action video game can improve children’s skills beyond those taught in the game, extending to more general learning capabilities, a new study shows. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, conclude that playing fast-paced action games can help children become better learners. Action games require players to predict what will happen next and what moves will lead to a successful outcome. These type of prediction skills are necessary for everyday circumstances, such as listening to a conversation and driving. Children also need to harness prediction skills in order to navigate the social and physical world. “In order to sharpen its predication skills, the brain constantly builds models, or ‘templates,’ of the world. The better the template, the better the performance. And now we know playing action video game actually fosters better templates,” according to the study’s lead researcher. In the current study, the team of researchers first examined a group of action video game players and non-action video game players’ visual performance. This comparison was conducted using a pattern discrimination task. The results of this experiment showed that the action video game players outperformed the non-action video game players due to their brains ability to use a better template to complete the assigned task. Next, the researchers compared a group of “habitual” players of fast-paced, action video games compared to players with little gaming experience. The habitual players were instructed to play 50 hours of an action video game (the Call of Duty) over the course of nine weeks, while the players with little experience were instructed to play a non-action video game (The Sims). The researchers established a baseline of both groups pattern discrimination ability before the video game play began. The participants were then retested after the nine weeks ended. The results showed that action video game players improved their brain templates compared to the non-action group. Based on these findings, the researchers then investigated how action video games foster better templates in the brain. To do so, the researchers assigned the action gamers a perceptual learning task. The researchers found that action video gamers’ brains were able to build and tweak templates quicker than non-action video gamers. As action video gamers engaged in the task, their brains were able to adapt and develop better templates. Thus, children who play action video games didn’t necessarily start the task with a better template, but rather, their brains were better at predicting and developing appropriate templates for the task at a much faster pace. Furthermore, the researchers followed up with the action and non-action video gamers 3 months later, as well as 12 months later to examine whether the effects were still present. As expected, the action video gamers outperformed their non-action video gamer peers, which suggests they were able to retain their ability to build better templates. So, what does this mean for children and playing action video games? These findings reflect the positive aspects of children who play action video games, such as building predictive skills and improved learning. Although playing video games that require children to plan and execute actions can be a positive stimulus, parents and teachers should monitor the amount of time children spend playing electronic media. Like most things in life, maintaining a healthy balance is always the way to go, so it shouldn’t be any different with children’s screen time and video game play! NeuroNet note: NeuroNet is a research-based learning readiness program designed to help students develop core academic skills and become independent learners. NeuroNet exercises provide structured, sequential exercises for perceptual-motor development which lays the foundation for automating basic academic skills; e.g., handwriting, reading decoding, and math-fact retrieval. If basic academic skills of handwriting, reading decoding, and math-fact retrieval are not automated, it places greater demands on a child’s attentional-resources, which may lead to poor academic performance or behavioral and emotional problems. Learn How our Classroom Enrichment Program can Help Your School! exercises are designed to improve Peer-reviewed journal reference: Bejjanki, Vikranth R. et al. 2014. “Action Video Game Play Facilitates the Development of Better Perceptual Templates.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (early online release). Photo credit: jnd_photography via Flickr CC
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 01:49:18 +0000
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