Study Shows Playing Video Games is Good for Cognitive Skills

I’m sure we’ve all heard the concerns about the impact that video games have on children, teens, and even adults.

In the digital age and the growing prevalence of screens and digital media, parents and guardians are understandably concerned about the consumption of different videos, games, and content.

They’re worried about violent video games desensitizing kids to violent acts and increasing the likelihood for aggression or aggressive acts, or giving kids too much or too little screen time.

Interacting with and through the digital world is a near inescapable aspect of our lives. But what if playing video games was a good thing for our development?

What’s the Latest on Gaming and Our Brains?

A study was recently conducted that suggests gaming could improve cognitive skills involving impulse control and working memory in children.

Participants were chosen out of a larger study – Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) – supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and other National Institutes of Health (NIH) entities.

Approximately 2000 children who entered the program between the ages of 9 and 10 were separated into two groups: those who reported playing no video games and those who reported playing 3+ hours of video games per day.

Researchers had participants do specific tasks. Results showed that gamers were more accurate and faster with tasks that involved impulse behavior control and those that utilized their working memory or ability to memorize information.

Still, scientists emphasize that results should not be considered in a straight cause and effect relationship. There is the possibility that children who are better at these things may just choose to play video games.

Bader Chaarani, Ph.D, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont states that these results are “an encouraging finding, and one that we must continue to investigate in these children as they transition into adolescence and young adulthood.”

Are Video Games the Next Trend in Learning?

This isn’t the first – and it probably won’t be the last – time that video games have been considered as one of the latest tools in learning and promoting the development of healthy children and adults.

People have been discussing the benefits of video games for a while, from developing and exercising problem solving skills and creative thinking, fostering social interaction locally and online, utilizing leadership skills, and more.

There was a recent announcement of a new game on the Nintendo Switch featuring the popular childrens’ series, CoComelon. The idea of releasing the game on the Switch was to make the content accessible to younger children by making it easy to play with the combination of buttons and touch controls.

Developers and parents are more optimistic to the idea of using video games as a learning tool, but there’s still more research that needs to be done.

It’s Game Time… In Moderation

The results of the recent study and the growing market of video games aimed at early childhood development and learning is a promising start to incorporating digital media in learning milestones, but that doesn’t mean it’s time for unlimited gaming and screen time.

The study states that “video gaming may provide a cognitive training experience with measurable neurocognitive effects,” but a single study, even if it’s the largest one to date, isn’t enough data to work off of.

Instead, further research needs to be conducted to better understand the impact video games and screen time have, with more specificity such as the types of games or media (puzzle games, shooting games, role playing games, etc.) and their possible effects on development.

The overarching ABCD Study will hopefully allow researchers the ability to conduct similar analyses for these participants over time as they progress into adolescence and adulthood. This will help us better understand the impacts on gaming behavior and how it’s linked to cognitive skills, brain activity, behavior, and mental health.

Games might not be as bad for us as we might have thought, but as with all things, the key is in maintaining a balance between gaming, school, life, and other responsibilities.