Psychologists give gaming the thumbs up

[SUBMAN1]

When I was growing up, games were a waste of a persons mind!

-S


Psychologists give gaming the thumbs up

By James Sherwood (http://forms.theregister.co.uk/mail_author/?story_url=/2008/08/18/psychologists_thumbs_up_videogames/) [More by this author] (http://search.reghardware.co.uk/?author=James%20Sherwood)
18th August 2008 13:47 GMT

A trio of psychology reports examining the benefits of videogames have unanimously concluded that some titles can have positive effects on their players.

The research, which was released yesterday at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Boston, Massachusetts, found that people of all ages and from all walks can benefit from certain types of videogames, such as brain training and educational games.

For example, one research paper conducted by psychologists Fran Blumberg and Sabrina Ismailer from Fordham University, New York measured the ability of 122 fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade US school children to problem solve while playing a videogame.

The kids had to think aloud for 20 minutes, while playing the title, and researchers assessed their problem-solving ability by examining the types of “cognitive, goal-oriented, game-oriented, emotional and contextual statements” the young gamers made.

“Younger children may show a greater need for focusing on small aspects of a given problem than older children, even in a leisure-based situation such as playing video games," concluded Blumberg.

A separate study, conducted by psychologists Douglas Gentile and William Stone from Iowa State University, found that a videogame requiring spatial skills and hand dexterity used to train surgeons resulted in keyhole surgery being performed “significantly faster” in testing sessions.

“Games are not ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but are powerful educational tools and have many effects we might not have expected they could,” summarised Gentile.

A third study, based on nearly 2000 World of Warcraft players, found that 86 per cent shared their game knowledge, in discussion posts, with other gamers. Roughly 50 per cent also used “systematic and evaluative processes” based on scientific reasoning to overcome in-game problems.

Not all videogames have a positive effect though. Grand Theft Auto has already been claimed to have inspired one group of teenagers to lob Molotov cocktails (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/08/11/molotov_cocktail_gta_bombing/) at cars in their local neighbourhood. And a Thai teen recently admitted to stealing a taxi (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/08/04/gta_ban_thai/) because he wanted to see if it was as easy to do as it is in the game.http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/08/18/psychologists_thumbs_up_videogames/

[Digital_Trucker]

As usual, every ten or twenty years the "popular opinion" reverses itself. What caused cancer 10 years ago prevents it now and what was good for you 10 years ago will now kill you :rotfl:

[Wolfehunter]

:88) duh I didn't need a specialist to tell me that....;) My old man used to say games rott the mind... I always argued it enhanced it. I said Videogames tend to rott the body hehehe.:damn:

[UnderseaLcpl]

Even though history repeats itself, I never get tired of watching it.


Hehe, it even repeats itself more frequently on channel 70. How many more Modern Marvels re-runs do I have to see before something good comes on?:lol:

[SUBMAN1]

That's a good show. Heavy Metal is also entertaining, as is Dogfights!

-S

[Frederf]

This is as dumb as saying "Eating is good for you." Eating good things is good for you and eating bad things is bad for you. Not all food is made equal and not all games are.

[August]

Psychologists are not giving gaming the "thumbs up" :roll:

found that people of all ages and from all walks can benefit from certain types of videogames, such as brain training and educational games.

The important parts are bolded.

[Mush Martin]

Well we didnt all turn into nazis we all do trigonometry
and we definitely use analysis and probablities. we use
our maths to manipulate the odds of success of a random
search for traffic on the largest oceans of the world and
succeed we communicate and investigate methods
and perfections whereever we can find them

in short we are all obsessed with improving our game which
in the case of a "Complexity" based game (nice catchphrase mush)
means we are constantly polishing the cannonball on our intellects.

or at least thats what a day at subsim means to me.
thanks Neal.:up:

[Sea Demon]

Psychologists are not giving gaming the "thumbs up" :roll:

found that people of all ages and from all walks can benefit from certain types of videogames, such as brain training and educational games.
The important parts are bolded.

I guessed they were not talking about the Grand Theft Auto series here. ;)

[August]

Psychologists are not giving gaming the "thumbs up" :roll:

found that people of all ages and from all walks can benefit from certain types of videogames, such as brain training and educational games.
The important parts are bolded.
I guessed they were not talking about the Grand Theft Auto series here. ;)

:D or "The Sims"...

[Mush Martin]

you know ive never actually even looked at the
sims. its bad somehow is it?.

[August]

you know ive never actually even looked at the
sims. its bad somehow is it?.

I had a couple of students awhile back who were big fans. I swear they got dumber every time they played it.

[Reece]

found that people of all ages and from all walks can benefit from certain types of videogames, such as brain training and educational games.
Subsims get the thumbs up!:up:

[Stealth Hunter]

I really don't give a damn. They argue back and forth over this stuff, like their cell phones and brain tumors issue.

I really and truly don't care. I'm going to die someday as is everyone else, and in most death cases, it's natural causes that takes the deceased (that or heart problems... or some sort of cancer) and hardly ever from the things they warn you about.

I'll take my chances with video games just as I will take my chances with cell phones and cheeseburgers. Live and let live.

[kiwi_2005]

When I was growing up, games were a waste of a persons mind!

-S


Psychologists give gaming the thumbs up

By James Sherwood (http://forms.theregister.co.uk/mail_author/?story_url=/2008/08/18/psychologists_thumbs_up_videogames/) [More by this author] (http://search.reghardware.co.uk/?author=James%20Sherwood)
18th August 2008 13:47 GMT

A trio of psychology reports examining the benefits of videogames have unanimously concluded that some titles can have positive effects on their players.

The research, which was released yesterday at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Boston, Massachusetts, found that people of all ages and from all walks can benefit from certain types of videogames, such as brain training and educational games.

For example, one research paper conducted by psychologists Fran Blumberg and Sabrina Ismailer from Fordham University, New York measured the ability of 122 fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade US school children to problem solve while playing a videogame.

The kids had to think aloud for 20 minutes, while playing the title, and researchers assessed their problem-solving ability by examining the types of “cognitive, goal-oriented, game-oriented, emotional and contextual statements” the young gamers made.

“Younger children may show a greater need for focusing on small aspects of a given problem than older children, even in a leisure-based situation such as playing video games," concluded Blumberg.

A separate study, conducted by psychologists Douglas Gentile and William Stone from Iowa State University, found that a videogame requiring spatial skills and hand dexterity used to train surgeons resulted in keyhole surgery being performed “significantly faster” in testing sessions.

“Games are not ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but are powerful educational tools and have many effects we might not have expected they could,” summarised Gentile.

A third study, based on nearly 2000 World of Warcraft players, found that 86 per cent shared their game knowledge, in discussion posts, with other gamers. Roughly 50 per cent also used “systematic and evaluative processes” based on scientific reasoning to overcome in-game problems.

Not all videogames have a positive effect though. Grand Theft Auto has already been claimed to have inspired one group of teenagers to lob Molotov cocktails (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/08/11/molotov_cocktail_gta_bombing/) at cars in their local neighbourhood. And a Thai teen recently admitted to stealing a taxi (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/08/04/gta_ban_thai/) because he wanted to see if it was as easy to do as it is in the game.http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/08/18/psychologists_thumbs_up_videogames/
:rock:

A third study, based on nearly 2000 World of Warcraft players, found that 86 per cent shared their game knowledge, in discussion posts, with other gamers. Roughly 50 per cent also used “systematic and evaluative processes” based on scientific reasoning to overcome in-game problems.
Ive met players in wow that will chat with you for hours happy to explain the game to newbies like myself one time. When i raid with my Guild we go to great lengths in setting up a stragedy plan for the next raid - ie what traps i lay, which boss we taking out, so and so will be protecting the healers tonight, who's tanking etc., Many times after some very serious planning we will head into the raid only to be wiped out within the first 10min:rotfl:But its still fun.

[Skybird]

In good and bad, depending on quantities and opposite input: your thinking becomes what you put into your brain. the eudcation you get from only reading comics does not compare to the one you get from going to university and reading world literature. Some games may be able to train you let's say systemic thinking and understanding of networks and complex interrelations. Others may train your reflexes only, or your eye-hand-coordingation. Obviously, you need to look closer. You could call SH3/4 a historic game, but you won't get any relevant historic education from playing it, you won'T win the intelletcual ability to analyse the conflict and form an educated opinion about how it emerged, why, and what came as a consequencesfrom it after WW2. So, the educational value of SH3/4 nevertheless is almost nil.

To assume games do no effect cognitive functions and behavior in different ways, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, is illogical.

But possible that the subject itself does not even get a clue on how it has changed in personality, and thus will reject the possibility alltogether. But the experts to assess that are not the effected individuals in this case, but the outside observers.

[Mush Martin]

Retracted by author

M

[Skybird]

Aren't you a bit obsessed with hairsplitting here, and focus on an issue that is no issue at all? I was comparing two examples. what is so difficult in seeing that? ;)

[Frame57]

I actually saw an add where Cigarettes were advertised as being "Healthful". It was an old nostalgia thing. I thought how funny that if Rob Reiner saw the add he would have a coronary himself.

[Platapus]

I actually saw an add where Cigarettes were advertised as being "Healthful". It was an old nostalgia thing. I thought how funny that if Rob Reiner saw the add he would have a coronary himself.

In the 1920's and 1930's there was something called an "Asthma Cigarette". You were supposed to smoke this special cigarette when you had an Asthma attack. :doh:

I wonder what medical genius came up with that winner. :nope:

[Digital_Trucker]

In the 1920's and 1930's there was something called an "Asthma Cigarette". You were supposed to smoke this special cigarette when you had an Asthma attack. :doh:

I wonder what medical genius came up with that winner. :nope:

Probably related to the wanker that thought leeches sucking your blood was therapeutic (yes, I know, someone is going to explain how they really were helpful:))

[Platapus]

In the 1920's and 1930's there was something called an "Asthma Cigarette". You were supposed to smoke this special cigarette when you had an Asthma attack. :doh:

I wonder what medical genius came up with that winner. :nope:

Probably related to the wanker that thought leeches sucking your blood was therapeutic (yes, I know, someone is going to explain how they really were helpful:))

Who knows, in about a hundred years will future people be saying: I wonder what medical genius came up with that "exercise is good for you" crap back in the 20th century. What a jerk!
:up:

[Frame57]

I actually saw an add where Cigarettes were advertised as being "Healthful". It was an old nostalgia thing. I thought how funny that if Rob Reiner saw the add he would have a coronary himself.

In the 1920's and 1930's there was something called an "Asthma Cigarette". You were supposed to smoke this special cigarette when you had an Asthma attack. :doh:

I wonder what medical genius came up with that winner. :nope:yeah it is weird. I was watching an old Hitchcock movie, and damn if everyone in that movie smoked like a chimney. I remember getting mini packs of smoke in my C-rations in the late 70's. Still trying to kick the habit. Definitely not healthy.

[August]

Still trying to kick the habit. Definitely not healthy.

Monday will be one whole year since my last cigarette after smoking a pack a day for 36 years.

[Frame57]

Still trying to kick the habit. Definitely not healthy.

Monday will be one whole year since my last cigarette after smoking a pack a day for 36 years.Congrats! I just had gall bladder surgery and have not craved one for 8 days. But damn it, I went back to work yesterday and lit up... I am gonna try the gum and see if it help thwart the craving.

[August]

Still trying to kick the habit. Definitely not healthy.
Monday will be one whole year since my last cigarette after smoking a pack a day for 36 years.Congrats! I just had gall bladder surgery and have not craved one for 8 days. But damn it, I went back to work yesterday and lit up... I am gonna try the gum and see if it help thwart the craving.

The gum or the patch only address the physical cravings which are far easier to beat than the psychological cravings. Unfortunately i'm finding out those can last for years.

IMO the number one anti-smoking move you can make is to make a firm and final commitment to quitting.

[Digital_Trucker]

The gum or the patch only address the physical cravings which are far easier to beat than the psychological cravings. Unfortunately i'm finding out those can last for years.

IMO the number one anti-smoking move you can make is to make a firm and final commitment to quitting.
Well said and so true. I had my last one in 1999 after 26 years of a pack or more a day, and I still occasionally get the urge. In fact, this dicussion is making my chest tighten up as we speak:rotfl:

[Reece]

Originally Posted by August
The gum or the patch only address the physical cravings which are far easier to beat than the psychological cravings. Unfortunately i'm finding out those can last for years.

IMO the number one anti-smoking move you can make is to make a firm and final commitment to quitting.
I gave up about 12 years ago & can say that the cravings are gone totally now, but had persisted for quite a few years. I started when I was 17 gave up when I was 44, one of the main things to do is disassociate smoking from various things like coffee, I always lit up when I reached for a cup of coffee, so when I first tried my attempt failed, so I went a month having coffee without smoking before giving it up, it worked! that and patches.:yep:
I used to have a bad cough & gasped a lot, I went to the doctor & he told me I was in the early stages of COPD, if I didn't give up soon I would die a slow death gasping for air, that was probably one of the reasons I was able to quit as well!!:lol:

[Platapus]

IMO the number one anti-smoking move you can make is to make a firm and final commitment to quitting.

The number two anti-smoking move you can make is to change your habits. Rearrange the furniture. Change the layout of your desk. Make as much of your life and actions different from when you smoked.

One of the problems is that you sit at the same ole desk, look at the same ole stuff, reach for the same ole cigarette.

Breaking the smoking habit can be helped by breaking your other habits that lead to your smoking.

The Frau was a three pack a day smoker for 25 years when we met. When she decided to quit, we changed everything in her life. That way everything she did she had to do differently. That helped her break the physical habit of reaching for a cigarette.

My Mother was a long long time smoker. One of her hardest habits was smoking while driving. She could not start the car without reaching for a cigarette. Her solution? Sounds stupid but it worked for her. Every time she got in the car, before starting the engine she would unpack the glove compartment. After starting the car, she would put the stuff back in the glove compartment.

It forced her to break her normal habit of getting in the car, starting the car, reaching for a cigarette.

Just something to think about.

[August]

Good advice Platapus.

In my case though I found that i just had way to many triggers to change even a small portion of them! Getting up in the morning would be a trigger, getting ready to leave for work. Picking up coffee, getting close to work, morning break, start of lunch, just before the end of lunch, when i wanted a moment to consider something, when i ate a good meal, while i was waiting for dinnertime - I'd work through it and it'd start getting easier but then the season would change and all the old triggers would come back. Apparently waiting for dinnertime in the winter is a different smoking trigger from waiting for dinner in the spring, summer, or the fall.

So quitting smoking, i think, tests ones stubbornness more than anything else. The jones has been like that scene from the Simpsons where Bart and Lisa pester Homer with "Can we have it?, can we have it? can we have it?" over and over until he cracks and gives in. Continuing to ignore it, apparently for years, takes serious commitment but I believe the end result is worth it. So far i've been right.