A Look at Games and Their Beneficial Effects: Part 1

Several weeks ago I promised an upcoming GIANT of an article. Now, its finally here. This report discusses research into the beneficial effects that games have on children, because lets face it, all the media does is talk about how it is the dearth of our society. Along with my fellow students, who wish to remain anonymous under the names "Yoda's Sister" and "Jessica", this report goes over a lot of things about games I only wish news agencies covered as part of a fair and balanced report. Part 1 of this report contains the abstract (discussing the main topics of our report) as well as a compiled list of out references.


The Abstract

Action video games have long been the bane of existence for parents of avid video-gaming children.  Long thought of as “mind-waste,” negative connotations of video games have generated multiple reports on violence and increased aggression in children.  Here we have sifted through and dug into recent research material that suggest benefits, however, that action video game playing has on children’s social and cognitive development and behavior.  We also discuss how multiple reports on violence and increased aggression have recently been refuted.  Our results indicate that moderate video game-playing fosters tighter family bonds, increases self-confidence, raises GPA scores, improves spatial skills, and quickens reaction times.  In conclusion, moderate video game playing highly benefits children’s overall mental and social development.        

References:

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Durkin, Kevin & Barber, Bonnie.  (2002).  Not so doomed:  computer game play and positive adolescent development.  Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 373-392.  Retrieved 10/2009, from ScienceDirect.

Dye, Matthew W.G. & Bavelier, Daphne.  (2009).  Differential development of visual attention skills in school-age children.  Vision Research.  Retrieved 10/2009, from Elsevier.

Feng, Jing, Spence, Ian, & Pratt, Jay.  (2007).  Playing an Action Video Game Reduces Gender Differences in Spatial Cognition.  Psychological Science, 18, 850-855.

Green, C. Shawn & Bavelier, Daphne.  (2004).  The Cognitive Neuroscience of Video Games.  Digital Media:  Transformation in Human Communication.  Retrieved 10/2009, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.118.6363&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

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Paraskeva, Fotini, Mysirlaki, Sofia, & Papagianni, Aikaterini.  (2009).  Multiplayer online games as educational tools:  Facing new challenges in learning.  Computers & Education.  Retrieved 10/2009, from ScienceDirect.

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