Believe it or not, games makes you more attentive and helps you process information, switch more smoothly and remember better! We need to develop non-violent action games tailored to cognitive problems. For example, games of casino Egypt or (كازينو مصر) sharpen the brain and improve cognitive abilities. It is important to develop non-violent action games tailored to specific cognitive problems.
A Video Game, What Is It?
Today it is difficult to find a household that does not have a computer. Young people and adults spend several hours a day with it. Games are played via mobile phones, tablets or game consoles. Usually, the mindset is not very positive when talking about video games, possibly because there is insufficient knowledge about their benefits. There doesn’t seem to be a general definition of what a video game is. It only points to some of its features. The clearest definition speaks of an electronic game based on video images, in which people communicate with each other by carrying out an assignment. The game is installed or run via a computer, a console or a portable device such as a tablet or mobile phone.
Video Games Make You Stupid? Nope!
The positive effect of flashy shooter games has become increasingly apparent over the past fifteen years. For example, many pieces of research from labs worldwide indicate that playing action games benefits some aspects of cognition.
We found that such games stimulate a wide range of cognitive skills. Those who play regularly can focus better on visual details, which helps to read the fine print in contracts and medication package inserts.
Gamers also perceive more visual contrast. This is useful if you have to drive through thick fog. And they are better at mental rotation, which makes it easy for them to estimate. Multitasking, which helps you to look at the menu while still having a nice chat with your table mates, also works better for them.
Those who regularly play action games also react more easily to events that take place quickly. In experiments, the reaction speed of test subjects improved by more than 10 percent thanks to such games. Gaming can even mean an interesting career move. Like a kind of life coach, it sharpens your ability to make the right decision under pressure. With that characteristic, you are one step ahead of employers who offer an office job.
A study of surgeons specializing in keyhole surgery found that gamers in the operating room outperform their non-gaming colleagues without sacrificing accuracy. In other words, they worked more efficiently.
Video Games As a Learning Tool
That may sound surprising to those who remember how games like Mortal Kombat came under fire in the early 1990s. The recent research makes no statement about possible negative effects such as aggressive behaviour or game addiction. However, that remains a concern.
Now that we understand the effect of some games on cognition, in particular on attention and reaction speed, we can develop similar, non-violent games for people with brain injuries or cognitive impairments. That could be even more effective than mind games like Luminosity.
Brain Boosters
The stereotype of the avid gamer of Call of Duty and other action games is that of an impulsive person who is easily distracted. We got rid of that outdated cliché. In that fast-paced fantasy environment, you can reap significant cognitive benefits.
In many pieces of research, scientists examined the effect of action games on attention, the mental processes by which we notice relevant information in the environment. Attention studies are nothing new. Scientists have been practising them since the early days of psychology as a social science in the nineteenth century. Call of Duty and Gears of War made it to the research labs because they make us more attentive. The player must simultaneously focus on his target and stay alert for possible enemies in the broader game environment. He must constantly switch between “focused attention” and “divided attention“, as it is called in psychology.
The experiments show that players can only stand their ground against the onrushing zombies if they filter out all the distractions. Gamers, therefore, have more eye for targets than non-gamers. And they don’t get carried away by a single event in the fast-paced gameplay. If you spot a zombie, another one will follow, then another, and another. A player who fixes himself on one villain is easy prey for the legions of others who are eagerly waiting in the wings.
Fast, Faster, Fastest!
In addition to sharpened attention, Burnout and Grand Theft Auto provide another cognitive advantage. As gamers become more adept at that flashy fast virtual action environment, they’re going to process information faster and faster. That processing speed is an important indicator of cognition efficiency for psychologists.
Action games are excellent tools to improve them. As a gamer you don’t get much more than a second to determine whether a friend or foe is charging at you, to choose a suitable weapon and estimate where and when to hit your target.
Efficient attention management has a positive effect on many processes in the brain. It helps to notice more visual, auditory and other information, and filter out distractions and disturbing sounds. At the highest neural level of information processing, it can help us effortlessly and quickly shift our attention from one task to another. The benefits are far-reaching. Those who can focus their attention more efficiently, can adapt more easily to new circumstances and usually learn faster.
To substantiate our suspicions, we had to prove that superior attention skills and fast reaction time can be traced back to those kinds of video games. It could also be that they simply attract players who are naturally very strong at that, and precisely because of that innate ability to pay attention, excel in both gaming and in tests that gauge cognitive performance.
Playing the strategy game StarCraft sharpened cognitive flexibility and ability to switch.