MSGID: 1:317/3 63e32571   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Video game playing causes no harm to young children's cognitive   
   abilities, study finds    
    Research also saw no measurable benefits from video games that claim to   
   help kids' development    
      
     Date:   
         February 7, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Houston   
     Summary:   
         Despite old fears that bad effects follow excessive video game   
         playing or questionable game choices, researchers found those   
         factors mattered little, if any, in children's brain health. The   
         bad news? Video games assumed to be effective learning tools showed   
         no meaningful effects, either.   
      
      
         Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email   
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Parents: It might be time to rethink your family's video-gaming rules.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   New research findings challenge the fears parents have been hearing   
   for years that children who spend hour after hour playing video games,   
   or choose games of certain genres, would manifest unhealthy results in   
   their cognitive ability.   
      
   "Our studies turned up no such links, regardless of how long the children   
   played and what types of games they chose," said Jie Zhang, associate   
   professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Houston   
   College of Education and a member of the research team. The work is   
   published in the Journal of Media Psychology.   
      
   In reaching the conclusions, researchers examined the video gaming   
   habits of 160 diverse urban public-school preteen students (70% from   
   lower income households), which represents an age group less studied in   
   previous research.   
      
   Participating students reported playing video games an average of 2.5   
   hours daily, with the group's heaviest gamers putting in as much as 4.5   
   hours each day.   
      
   The team looked for association between the students' video game play and   
   their performance on the standardized Cognitive Ability Test 7, known   
   as CogAT, which evaluates verbal, quantitative and nonverbal/spatial   
   skills. CogAT was chosen as a standard measure, in contrast to the   
   teacher-reported grades or self- reported learning assessments that   
   previous research projects have relied on.   
      
   "Overall, neither duration of play nor choice of video game genres had   
   significant correlations with the CogAT measures. That result shows no   
   direct linkage between video game playing and cognitive performance,   
   despite what had been assumed," said May Jadalla, professor in the School   
   of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University and the study's   
   principal investigator.   
      
   But the study revealed another side of the issue, too. Certain types   
   of games described as helping children build healthy cognitive skills   
   also presented no measurable effects, in spite of the games' marketing   
   messages.   
      
   "The current study found results that are consistent with previous   
   research showing that types of gameplay that seem to augment cognitive   
   functions in young adults don't have the same impact in much younger   
   children," said C.   
      
   Shawn Green, professor in the Department of Psychology at the University   
   of Wisconsin-Madison.   
      
   Does this mean the world can play on? Maybe, the research suggests. But   
   the experts also caution that gaming time took the heaviest players' away   
   from other, more productive activities -- homework, to be specific --   
   in a process psychologists call displacement. But even in those cases,   
   the differences were slight between those participants and their peers'   
   CogAT measures of cognitive abilities.   
      
   "The study results show parents probably don't have to worry so much about   
   cognitive setbacks among video game-loving children, up to fifth grade.   
      
   Reasonable amounts of video gaming should be OK, which will be delightful   
   news for the kids. Just keep an eye out for obsessive behavior," said   
   Zhang. "When it comes to video games, finding common ground between   
   parents and young kids is tricky enough. At least now we understand that   
   finding balance in childhood development is the key, and there's no need   
   for us to over-worry about video gaming."  The study was funded by the   
   National Science Foundation.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Child_Psychology # Child_Development # Intelligence   
             o Computers_&_Math   
                   # Video_Games # Educational_Technology # Math_Puzzles   
             o Science_&_Society   
                   # STEM_Education # Popular_Culture # Poverty_and_Learning   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Computer_and_video_games o Full_motion_video o   
             Pac-Man o Computer_and_video_game_genres o Game_theory o   
             Computer-generated_imagery o Massively_multiplayer_online_game   
             o Morphing   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Houston. Original   
   written by Sally Strong.   
      
   Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. May Jadallah, C. Shawn Green, Jie Zhang. Video Game Play. Journal of   
         Media Psychology, 2022; DOI: 10.1027/1864-1105/a000364   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230207191554.htm   
      
   --- up 49 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 226/30 227/114 229/110   
   SEEN-BY: 229/111 112 113 114 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 292/854   
   SEEN-BY: 298/25 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426