Does Technology Make Us Smarter: Video Games

Introduction

“Early video game concepts date as far back as the 1950’s…”. When people play video games, there nervous system is able to remember better, faster, and easier while also being able to build a better and stronger muscle memory. Brains are constantly taking in the environment around them, building templates every time the brain sees something, new or the same it sees everyday, the brain updates it templates and saves it into its memory and builds onto its templates as they see things, anything. Brains are able to look at the word in video games and build a template of the game just like it does in real life situations. Playing video games has been a controversial topic with regards to its effects on human intelligence, but it is worth exploring the question, 'Does technology make us smarter?' in this essay. 

Brian's are able to exceed in spatial reasoning and use image manipulation to remember somethings and have an active imagination, as people grow up they tend to loss there active imagination. Some games require gamers to go negatively into the unknown, meaning gamers go further into new games unknowingly of the outcome, but since the gamers are game smart they can go finish the game with smart intentions. Brain’s are able to predict what would come next, so they are prepaired for what could enivently happen, weather it be in a video game or in real life. Playing video games could improve listening skills, communication skills, driving and surgery skills, surgery skills for surgeons to get some practice, depending if you play the game right and play to learn then you can learn from the game. There are games that you have to listen very carefully to, and to make the right choices, for example to save someone's life in the game or not to save them, to trust someone or not to trust them. There are driving simulation games, and surgery games, that anyone could play and learn from. Games could show us how to be healthier by playing a game that we take care of a character in the game, for example, The Sims in the game you take care of characters in the game by giving them there needs and helping them get there needs fulfilled. Games could help us engage faster and easier into things, in the game or engage into something in real life. Games could help with learning techniques to use for real life, for example in Detroit: becoming human it shows that robots can be kind, and how if you are kind to them they will be kind back, this could be used in real life by being kind to others. The biggest thing that video games help with is learning, they help with learning anything your heart desires and can connect what our brains learned from playing a game and put it into real life and the other way around. Games can have others work together and improve their leadership skills, improve team-building skills and communication skills. There are games of strategy that could help the world of humans build their strategy skills. The kids that play video games, are proven to be more intelligent than kids that play outside, the kids that play video games establish a hand- eye-correlation, faster than the kids that would grow up playing outside. Brains are always developing and growing all the time. Games can help brain’s practice technological literacy.

Gamers brains become faster in resolving conflicts and processing situations. There has been many brain scans that show video games affect the parietal lobe, frontal lobe, and the anterior cingulate, in a good way. Video games are more than just an adrenaline rush, they help improve ranges of tasks. The better learners they are the faster paced action games they can play and understand. Latest research can now show that most parents are thankful that there children are addicted to video games and are excelling in school. Some mental facilities are now starting to develop some moderate gamers in their clinics to help people that they care for. A Harvard neurologist, named Howard Gardner, says that gamers can become picture smart. There are games that have player driven choices, which have consequences to the character and changes the ending of the story based on how the gamer plays. There are games that allow players to customize their character the way they want. There are games that have exercise, empathy, and ethics in them and gamers get to use these skills in real life.

Although, on the flip side there are many people that agree that playing video games make you smarter there are some people that disagree. Do not expect any improvement from playing video games, grades, concentration, driving and other cognitive abilities will not improve. Boot and two other colleges have found various flaws in other studies, and could not replicate there results. Ferguson has concluded that other researchers has concluded there studies before data was put in. Bavelier and Green says that there is no black and white answer. The recent findings has conflicted studies of others, weather it be positive or negative, researchers all agree that they are not done. “Don't sit down and play a game, go for a walk” (Kaczor).

There has been numerous of experiments done in the recent years that show improvement from other research taken in the past. Gaming will increase a brains function, improve problem solving, memory, reasoning, and attention span. A game that improves problem solving for example would be angry birds, while puzzles help improve Brain function. RPG stands for Role Playing Games and they help improve strategy, reasoning, problems solving, and logic. Brains are able to predict what will come next, in game and in real life. Brains learn from video games and games can help improve listening skills, driving skills, communication, and surgery skills. Video games create a challenging and puzzling environment for anyone to learn from. A survey was taken in Australia that agrees with others and says yes to playing video games. They got 12,004 students from 772 schools together online and played together online. The students they survived and got together score higher in math, science, and reading. While these students were getting higher scores, the kids that spent most of their time on social media scored had lower in these same topics (Anderton).

Conclusion

So in conclusion, the benefits out way the negative outcomes.

References

1. Anderton, Kevin. “Gamer Science: Are Video Games Making Kids Smarter? [Infographic].” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 29 Aug. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2016/08/28/gamer-science-are-video-games-making-kids-smarter-inforgraphic/#1fd1f4a55f65
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8. Kaczor, Bill. “Researchers: Video Games Won't Make You Smarter.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 23 Dec. 2011, www.nbcnews.com/id/45768696/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/researchers-video-games-wont-make-you-smarter/.
9. Sun, The. “Kids Who Play Video Games Are Smarter: Study.” New York Post, New York Post, 16 Nov. 2017, nypost.com/2017/11/15/kids-who-play-video-games-are-smarter-study/.
10. Stenis, Paul. “The Game Believes in You: How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter.” Library Journal, vol. 140, no. 4, Mar. 2015, p. 97. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=101041516&site=ehost-live.
11. Suziedelyte, Agne. “Media and Human Capital Development: Can Video Game Playing Make You Smarter?” Economic Inquiry, vol. 53, no. 2, Apr. 2015, pp. 1140–1155. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/ecin.12197