How games can help
In the previous publication we were talking about various myths that can discourage you in learning programming. And with this article we wanted to continue our mythbusting theme and destroy another myth that video games can only do harm.
Apparently, games offer more benefits than just vast entertainment. Unexpected turn in the stereotypical knowledge that computer, video and coding games are bad for you. According to the numerous academic studies playing those games has many psychological and even physical benefits. Any gamer will attest that different types of games boost certain skills; shooters will boost your twitch skills, music games will boost your rhythm, coding games teach computational thinking which is a problem-solving skill.
1. They may help dyslexic kids read better
In February a study of the Italian researchers from the University of Padua presented evidence that playing fast-paced video games can improve the reading skills of children with dyslexia.
The children age from 7 to 13 were separated by the researchers into two groups. One group played an action game called “Rayman Raving Rabids”, and the other played a lower tempo game. Then they’ve tested the reading skills of the children. Those who were playing the action game were capable of reading faster and more accurately. The hypothesis is that the action games help kids increase their attention span which is considered crucial to reading.
The Italian team reported in Current Biology that the effects archived in their study were equivalent to more than a year’s worth of reading development.
Dr. Andrea Facoetti, a study leader, said that action video games enhance many aspects of visual attention, mainly improving the extraction of information of a written word more accurately. His team has the idea to look at the effects of video games on the prevention of dyslexia in children before they learn to read.
2. Video games can be as effective as one-on-one counselling
Some studies have shown that video games can be considered as a cure for mental illness.
In New Zealand in 2012 was created a novel way to treat depressed teenagers. The researchers used a video game “SPARX” (the acronym stands for “smart, positive, active, realistic and x-factor thoughts”). In contrast to the traditional counselling it was designed to give therapy to kids in a fun and active way.
168 teens with an average age of 15 took part in a study. All of them previously sought help or struggled with depression. Kids were randomly separated into two groups, one of which was assigned to over five sessions of the usual one-on-one counselling. The other group played SPARX. This fantasy game gives the opportunity to created avatars in order to squash “gloomy negative automatic thoughts” and restore order in the virtual world. With each level players learn basic facts about depression, relaxation techniques and strategies for dealing with intense negative emotions.
The study showed that approximately 44 percent of SPARX players recovered completely from depression when at the same time only 26 percent of the control group were no longer depressed.
3. “Call of Duty” can improve your eyesight
So shooting bad guys in video games can give you better vision. That’s what the study at a University of Rochester states.
Two groups of people participated in a study in 2009. First group consisted of expert action gamers who played first-person shooting games like “Unreal Tournament 2004” and “Call of Duty”. The other group were non-experienced action gamers who played “The Sims 2”. Unexpectedly, the first group experienced a boost in their ability to discern subtle changes in the brightness of an image, in other words, “contrast sensitivity function”.
The researchers believe that gamers’ eyes exercise during the process of locating and aiming at enemies. The players also learn to swiftly analyse the optical data due to the possibility that bad guys can suddenly pop up. Study’s authors maintain the idea that video games, and particularly action games, can be used to correct bad eyesight.
Players playing a first-person shooter game for a month gained a 30 percent increase in their ability to see detail. The effects of cataracts can be greatly reversed as well. The ability to see direction of motion is also a common eyesight-improving benefit from video games. Players often need to adapt to constant changes in their vision during the game. This makes it easier for them to determine the direction of motion in real life as well.
Gamers use an extreme amount of focus in order to catch every detail with the sudden point-of-view changes and nonstop action. This kind of an intense concentration hones the eyes and their muscles.
4. Teen gamers end up better at virtual surgery than real medical residents
It was found that high school- and college-age gamers can be more efficient virtual surgeons than those with medical education.
At the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in November 2012 an experiment was conducted by scientists. The reason for it was to find out who could perform better virtual surgery: high school gamers, college gamers or medical residents. A competition consisted of a series of tasks on a device that replicated real surgeries. It also measured skills in 32 different categories, such as timing, hand-eye coordination and pressure on the controls.
The remarkable results were obtained. The college gamers, who daily played four hours of video games, and the medical residents, who rarely had the gaming experience, all gave way to the high school sophomores, who played video games two hours a day.
Despite these startling findings, a Texas University professor, who helped design the experiment, Sami Kilic, insists that students should still focus on academics, not virtual surgery if they want a career in medicine. Nonetheless, another study showed that surgeons involved in playing video games for at least 3 hours a week made less mistakes during the laparoscopic surgery by 37 percent.
5. Video games can be a pain reliever
The American Pain Society, a multidisciplinary community of scientists and clinicians who work to reduce pain-related suffering, has a study according to which video games, especially those incorporated 3D virtual reality, have proven effective in reducing anxiety or pain caused by medical procedures or chronic illness. The evidence of this was presented in 2010. It was found that people undergoing chemotherapy or other serious treatments reported significantly less stress and fear while immersed in a virtual gaming world. It’s also reported that pain ratings of patients who are being treated from burn wounds decreased by 30 to 50 percent.
Dr. Charles Friedman of the Pain Relief Centers said that the brain busies itself using other senses, like vision and touch, and releases endorphins, a chemical that generally makes us feel good, when playing 3D games in a virtual reality. The virtual experience also helps to produce a numbing response in brain regions associated with pain. Researched state that there are biochemical changes that occur when a patient is in the full virtual-reality environment.
According to Nadine Kaslow, the Emory University clinical psychologist, using virtual reality proving helpful with trauma patients and those undergoing other painful procedures, and even in cases of Posttraumatic Stress Disorderfor overcoming mental pain and anxiety, and for fear of flying. It could desensitize people who anticipate or experience actual pain.
She explained that playing games can serve to distract you and give you a sense of control and some positive reinforcement.
Sarah Rebstock MD, PhD, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C said that due to the concept of neuroplasticity, the notion that experience causes the brain to wire itself in certain ways, and that rehabilitative therapy can essentially rewire the brain. For example, playing a video game may give people with shoulder injuries the opportunity to move their bodies in new ways. The advent of motion-sensing game systems like the Playstation 3 EyeToy, the Nintendo Wii, and the Xbox 360 Kinect has extended the research in this direction.
In accordance with a 2012 study published in the journal Burns child burn victims experienced a significant increase in their range of motion after playing Nintendo Wii or Playstation EyeToy games. Rebstock is trying to adapt the Xbox Kinect so that the games played will focus on specific body parts that require rehabilitation.
But in spite of the fact that playing video games may be enough for some people to get pain relief, others would have to combine the use of videogames and medication, and the rest say it doesn’t sustain them afterwards.
Conclusion
As in any other sphere, there aren’t only black and white territories when it comes to video games and sometimes even coding games and their influence on humans and their physical and mental health. Of course, some studies show the obvious benefits of being a gamer, but let’s not get carried away and overdo it. Sometimes less is more. And in this case, there really can be too much of a good thing.
