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MMO Family: Yes, video games are good for you
The good news continues to arrive for gamers. In the last MMO Family column, we looked at a decade-long British study that showed no connection between playing video games and mental health issues in children. And this week, the American Psychological Association published a report that goes even further, saying that playing video games has tangible benefits. Can video games really be good for you? Let's take a look in this week's MMO Family.
Study links violent games to violent thoughts and behavior
If you're a subscriber to the APA's Psychological Bulletin (and why wouldn't you be?), you'll find something especially relevant to your interests in the March issue. Psychologist Craig Anderson analyzed existing studies of 130,000 people from the U.S., Europe and Japan, and found that exposure to violent video games was associated with aggressive behavior and thought, along with typical accusations of an inability to foster positive social behavior. A rebuttal to the study from another psychologist and ESA chief Michael Gallagher is featured in The Washington Post article on the subject. We're not doctors nor scientists ourselves, so we're not going to try to pick apart Anderson's findings. We, like Gallagher, are just going to point towards the research of two people who don't have such a huge axe to grind (as Anderson so clearly does). As Dr. Cheryl K. Olson and Dr. Lawrence Kutner wrote in their Grand Theft Childhood, "the strong link between video game violence and real world violence, and the conclusion that video games lead to social isolation and poor interpersonal skills, are drawn from bad or irrelevant research, muddleheaded thinking and unfounded, simplistic news reports." Also, we'd ask that Anderson clarify if the tendency toward violent impulses was specifically sparked by playing Modern Warfare 2 online with a bunch of 12-year-old racist homophobes. Because, then dude, yes.
Study: Playing WoW makes you a better surgeon
The American Psychological Association has released a study of surgeons (why they chose surgeons to study, who knows) that says surgeons who play World of Warcraft and other video games can make them a better surgeon overall. Not only does controlling a game character give you better motor skills, but playing an involved and complicated game can, not surprisingly, can make you a better analytical thinker and problem solver. Surgeons who played videogames (though they don't mention how much or how often) were faster at advanced surgical procedures and make fewer errors than surgeons who didn't.So does this mean that playing videogames can replace education entirely? Not so fast, back to schoolers -- apparently playing games also makes things not so complicated seem not so interesting. While leading a pickup group in Karazhan will definitely help your problem solving abilities (though probably not your stress levels), it will make it harder for you to do things like settle down and study a book. As with everything, moderation is the key.
Study finds correlation between violent scripture and aggression, similar to games
See where this is going? Now even the Bible can make us do it, so obviously video games can. Here's the catch: "We're not saying that just in and of itself violent media is uniformly bad but oftentimes there is no redeeming context to it. If one reads the scriptures with an understanding of context, both historical as well as with a (desire) to hear what God is trying to teach us, you can read it in a different way." What BYU professor Robert Ridge seems to imply is that, when taken in context, the Bible ultimately teaches one to pursue peace and love; whereas, he believes most games lack this overarching theme of harmony. Discerning Bible studiers can actually decrease their aggression -- as for active gamers, well, not so much.The new study, which determined "aggression" by how loud a subject chose to blast an obnoxious sound in another subject's ears, is co-written by University of Michigan psychologist Brad Bushman. Bushman was a member of the American Psychological Association's Committee on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media when in August 2005 the group issued a report linking violent games to increased aggression. Hmmm ... smell an agenda?[Thanks, Dave]
