Action video games boost learning

Research infers players outperform non-action gamers by using a better brain template.

WASHINGTON: Playing action video games not only improves gaming skills but also learning capabilities, shows a new study. “Prior research by our group and others has shown that action gamers excel at many tasks. In this new study, we show they excel because they are better learners,” said Daphne Bavelier, research professor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester, United States.

“Our brains keep predicting what will come next, whether we are listening to a conversation, driving, or even performing surgery,” she added. She and her team used a pattern discrimination task to compare action video game players’ visual performance with that of individuals who do not play action video games.

The former group outperformed the non-action gamers and the key to their success was that their brains used a better template for the task at hand, found the researchers. The action video games players improved their templates, compared with the control group who played non-action video games.

“When they began the perceptual learning task, action video gamers were indistinguishable from non-action gamers. They didn’t come to the task with a better template,” Bavelier said. Her team is currently investigating what characteristics in action video games are key to boost players’ learning.

“Games other than action video games may be able to have the same effect. They may need to be fast-paced and require the player to divide his or her attention, and make predictions at different time scales,” inferred Bavelier. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2014.

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