Blog Task #8
Monday, November 16, 2015
Topic 3 - Playing video and computer games has been a blessing rather than a curse on a child's cognitive and social development. True or False?
Assassin's Creed
Minecraft
Video games are everywhere. It is no longer an assumption, an over-exaggerated point stated by fanatical gamers trying to convince others to enter its realm. It is now a real, blatant fact. Walk into a bookstore and one would see various titles, from the stealth-based series Assassin’s Creed to the science-fiction Starcraft to the simple yet groundbreaking Minecraft. Scroll through film websites and one would see familiar gaming titles such as Tomb Raider, Prince Of Persia, Need For Speed and Hitman and even future names that are soon to hit cinemas such as Uncharted, World Of Warcraft and also Assassin’s Creed. They are most definitely everywhere. The video gaming phenomenon that is taking the world by storm is somewhat new in present day’s society. Gaming, a stereotype typically associated with only males, is now famous among the fairer sex. To support this, a recent study done by the Pew Research Centre showed that 42% of gaming console owners are women, compared to the 37% belonging to men. Despite all this, video games have gained harsh criticism by many, especially worrisome parents. As technology becomes much more advanced, so does the content. No longer are they just about a simple plumber saving the damsel in distress or figuring out which piece fits to eliminate a line. Now, games these days consist of mature themes such as gory violence, explicit sex scenes and profanity. Parents cite all this as crucial reasons to blame video games for creating a much more aggressive and isolated future generation, calling for bans and discontinuations of some popular but controversial series such as Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto. However, many people do fail to see that video games provides many benefits to a child’s cognitive and social development. It is no curse, but a blessing.
Grand Theft Auto 5
Firstly, society, especially parents may feel that children would become socially isolated and socially-impaired when spending too much time playing video games, thus, rendering them friendless. They would also view video games as a liability in social gatherings and activities between other family members and friends and could even loosen the bond between parent and child. However, video gaming is an activity that helps children communicate with peers and even their own families. According to Psych Central, video games often allow players from around the world to work together to solve problems or complete tasks to advance the next stage. Furthermore, some games are mostly multiplayer-based, such as Elder Scrolls Online and Battlefield Online, encourage teamwork between players to defeat opponents and even progress story-wise to finish a campaign. Other games usually have a multiplayer feature, encouraging single-players to venture out of their comfort zone and try to play and communicate with fellow gamers. Principally, this is true in children with autism. Playing video games can teach autistic children or an autism spectrum disorder how to respond to visual and verbal queues, thus, refining their social responses. Usually, video games are highly motivating for children with autism as this form of entertainment offer various possibilities for successful learning and a demand-free opportunity to enhance other skills such as planning, organization and self-monitoring. Reinforcement of desired behaviors is given without the need for direct and facial interaction, which can be taxing for autistic children. Overall, parents should not feel that their children are not actively seeking interaction face-to-face because their eyes are glued to a screen and fingers to a controller or a mouse and keyboard. There is no doubt that there are online predators at any corner of the internet, and online gaming platforms are no stranger to them. However, some people have met people who would go to become their best friends through online gaming. If parents still feel neglected by their own children, they could always try their hand in playing video games with their child, even helping them through difficult obstacles.
Additionally, video games are also educational for a child. While many parents view video games as mindless, this is proven to be untrue. According to an assistant professor at Michigan State University named John L. Sherry, educators are increasingly using educational games in the classroom as a motivational tool. Choosing the right kind of video games help children in mastering everything from basic language structures to complex mathematics without the dreary old-school flash cards. Some games require children to anticipate movements while three-dimensional video games also require players to manipulate objects through a similar dimensional place, improving spatial-relationship skills. Moreover, it can provide elements of interactivity that may empower a child’s learning. While playing video games can also expose children to state-of-the art technology, it can also help those with technophobia to overcome their fear. Some games requires multitasking, requiring the young players to juggle various objectives while keeping track of all the changing components and associating thoughts. For example, games such as Fire Emblem and Advanced Wars are tactical strategy games require players to take on the roles of several characters to defeat the enemies they encounter. These games are very similar to Chess, whereby when the player makes a move, the enemy does after and the player must analyse and figure out a countermove. On top of that, video games are educational research tools as playing video games can assist children in setting goals, providing feedback and maintaining records of behavioral change.
Advance Wars
Cognitively, it is also beneficial to a child, improving especially on the aspects of attention and vigilance. Action-oriented games such as The Last Of Us and Fallout are usually crucial in this. Playing action games can reduce the impulsiveness of a child as his or her’s ability to refrain from responding to non-target stimuli would improve. Additionally, action games enhances a child’s ability to stay focused when concerned with an arrangement of moving articles that are visually identical to other moving objects in a visual field. Furthermore, it was concluded by a research team that playing action games in moderation can reinforce psychological capacity and facilitate the brain’s ability to interpret situations. On top of that, the researchers also found that gameplays has long-term benefits on the child as these cognitive improvements lasted months after the experiments. In a separate study, it was found that action video gaming improves a child’s performance on the ability to locate, quickly, a target stimulus in a field of distractors – a test that has been found to be a good predictor of driving ability. Moreover, video gaming helps dyslexic children. A study showed that as little as twelve hours of video gaming increases dyslexic children’s scores in tests based on reading and phonology. As a result, the change was as astounding as or more prominent than that was achieved by training programs that intended to treat dyslexia.
In a nutshell, video games are not what many perceived them to be – a waste of time, money and space and a fast way to brainwash a child to transform into the ultimate killing machine. It is more than that. It is a place where children could create bonds with others their age, educate children and improves their basic mental abilities. Above it all, video games take players to places that only the mind could conjure, become people they could only dream of being. A fortune hunter in search of a fabled city? A dragon slayer travelling to the Heavens to down the greatest dragon of them all? A broken smuggler and a young teenager relying on one another for survival in a post-apocalyptic universe? The ideas are limitless. Furthermore, it is obvious that movies, books and video games have similar characteristics. With these three types of media, audiences would watch various characters develop and blossom over the course of their journey. Audiences would laugh, cry, hurt, bleed and smile with them. But with video games, players embody the characters, his or her traits and spirit. Thus, it leaves a greater emotional impact on gamers because a much more real (to a certain extent) and better connection is established. These animations become more than just fiction. They become real people with humane feelings and actions. They could even be considered friends. Also, it is bittersweet when players reach the end of the game. On one hand, players feel happy and accomplished. After all, they finally completed the game. But then, it is sad because they have to say goodbye, to the people they have met and places they have seen. While others tend to scoff at the idea of being upset over a video game, citing the words ‘it’s just a game’ continuously, it is different for the rest. Just because something is fiction, does not mean the feelings you felt should not be less than real. They should not be disregarded at all. After all, they are like movies and books. Movies and books are known to evoke various emotions in people. With video gaming, it is no different. People have come to accept movies and books, so why cannot they do the same with video games?
Writer: Yin Wei, Jasmine
Researchers: Yin Wei, Jasmine
Editors: Yin Wei, Jasmine
References:
http://webspace.ship.edu/jacamp/psyberpsych/videogames/Page1.html
http://learningworksforkids.com/2013/09/improving-social-skills-in-children-with-autism-and-adhd-2/
http://www.gentside.com/gta-5/wallpaper
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/minecraft-ps3/
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/28261/20150123/reboot-this-advance-wars.htm
http://www.goppca.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/dyslexia.jpg
http://www.gentside.com/gta-5/wallpaper
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/minecraft-ps3/
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/28261/20150123/reboot-this-advance-wars.htm
http://www.goppca.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/dyslexia.jpg
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