Canvideogamesimproveaplayersskillinrealworldapplications?

WilliamFox

FortifyingSkillsThroughVideoGames:
AnnotatedBibliography

Subrahmanyam,Kaveri,andPatriciaM.Greenfield."EffectofVideoGamePracticeon
SpatialSkillsinGirlsandBoys."JournalofAppliedDevelopmentalPsychology
15.1(1994):1332.Web.21Oct.2014.

Inthispapertheauthorsarguethateducationisnotlimitedtoformalschooling.
Theauthorssupporttheirargumentbyconductingastudywherespatialskillsofboysand
girlsweretested,bothbeforeandafterpracticeonavideogame.Thestudyshowedthat
thesubjectsfromtheexperimentalgrouphadimprovedscoresonthespatialtests.The
authorswrotethistoconveytheirfindingsfromtheirstudythepurposeofthestudywas
touncovertheeffectofvideogamesonspatialskills.

Theauthorsargumentandevidencesupportsaprevioushypothesiswhereitwas
suggestedthatvideogamesteachhandeyecoordination,wordrecognition,decision
making,andtheabilitytofollowdirections.Thisjournalisapositiveargumenttowardsmy
essentialquestionandIlookforwardtofindingcontradictoryarticlesorstudiesonthe
negativeeffectsofvideogames.

Trudeau,Michelle."VideoGamesBoostBrainPower,MultitaskingSkills."NPR.NPR,
20Dec.2010.Web.20Oct.2014.

InthisarticleTrudeaudiscussesthebenefitsthatvideogameshave.These
benefitsareincreasedcontrastsensitivity,laserfocus,vision,spatialcognition,andbrain
efficiency.Trudeauusesmultiplestudiestosupportherargument.Onetestshowedthat
playingvideogameswillimproveyourvision.Anothershowedthatpeoplewhoplay
videogamesarebetteratcontrastsensitivity,askillveryusefulfordrivinginthefog.

Trudeaualsoincludedastudyaboutspatialcognition.Accordingtotheresultswomen
testmuchlowerthanmendo,butwithtraininginvideogamestheirscoredimprovedto
themalestandard.Trudeauwrotethisarticletogiveconcernedparentsknowledgeabout
thebenefitsofvideogames.

Trudeausargumentisconstructivetomyresearchabouttheeffectsofvideo
gamesontheplayer.UnlikethespatialskillsstudyTrudeaucompiledmultiplestudies
andresearchandprovidedamuchbroadersourceofinformation.Itisalsoimportantto
rememberthatoneofherstudiesshowedthataninequalitybetweenmenandwomen
wasmadeequalthroughvideogamepractice.

Chaplin,Heather."SchoolUsesVideoGamesToTeachThinkingSkills."NPR.NPR,
28June2010.Web.21Oct.2014.

InthisarticleChaplindiscussesQuesttoLearn,aschoolthatusesvideogamesto
teachitsstudents.Shereferencesthatwhenpeopleareplayingavideogametheyare
constantlylearning.ChaplintalksabouttheschoolsCreepyTown,afictionalplacewhere
studentssolvereallifeproblems.Chaplindissectsoneoftheprojectswherethestudents
aretravelagentswheretheymustbudgetandplantheirtrips.Everyfewweeksthereisa
crisiswhereallthestudentsmustcometogethertosolve.Chaplinmentionsaneconomic
crisisthatthestudentshadtosolve.Thestudentsplannedathemeparktodrawmore
revenue.ChaplincreatedthispiecetodrawpositiveattentiontoQuesttoLearnandshow
thattheirlessonsallowstudentstosolveproblemscreativelyandin21stcentury
technology.

Ireallyenjoyedlisteningtoandreadingthispiece.Ithoughtitwasveryinteresting
thataschoolimplementedvideogamesinsuchimportantrolesandthatitwaspayingoff.
Thestudentsstilltaketheregularstandardisedtests,buttherewasnoinformationon
howtheyranked.Ithinkthispieceisveryimportanttomyargumentthatvideogames
teachimportantskills,andIwouldloveifthisschoolgotmoreattention.Thispiece

directlyrelatestotheTedtalkIsourced.Theybothconveythatvideogamesmakethe
playerswanttolearntobecomebetter.

"DevelopingLearningSkillsWithVideoGames."DevelopingLearningSkillsWithVideo
Games.CreativeTeachingSite,2011.Web.20Oct.2014.

Thissiteprovidestendifferentskillsthatareaffectedbyvideogames.Alongwith
theskillsareexamplesandreasonsonhowexperiencevideogameswillimprovethese
skills.Oneoftheseismapmakingandmapreading,theyprovidetheevidencethatin
ordertonavigatelargegamestheplayermustbeabletointerpretthegamemapsor
maketheirown.Thesitealsolistsprofessionsinwhichgamesorsimulationsareusedto
preparetheworkerstheseincludedastronauts,pilots,andsoldiers.Thesitewasmadeto
counterthestigmathatvideogamesareonlyharmfulandtheydothisbygivingreal
worldthatcoincidewithskillsimprovedbyvideogames.

Thissiteisveryrelevanttomyargument.Itprovidesmanyskillswhichcangive
memultipletalkingpoints.Thesitealsobacksitsargumentwithrealworldapplications
albeitnotgreatones.Itakethemostvaluefromthissiteinthemagnitudeofskillsthey
saidvideogamesteach.Theskillstheytalkedaboutwillbetestedinmyproductmore
specificallyhandeyecoordinationanddecisionmaking.

Gee,JamesPaul."WhatVideoGamesHavetoTeachUsaboutLearningandLiteracy."
ComputersinEntertainment1.1(2003):20.Web.27Oct.2014.

InthispaperGeelooksatdifferentvideogamesandwhatmakesthemgood.Gee
analyzesthesegamesanddiscussestheimportanceandsignificanceofvideogames.
Hegetshisinformationfromthetutorialslevelsofvideogames.Theselevelsallowthe
playertolearnanewskillandimmediatelyuseandexploretheirabilitythisallowsthe
playertouseitmorecomplexandthoughtfulwaysonharderlevels.Healsoobserved
thatkidsthatplayedAgeofMythologywouldspendtimeresearchingGreekMythology,
createtheirownstories,draworiginalscenes,andreadbooksonthetopics.Iinferred

thatGeewrotethispaperbecauseheispassionateaboutvideogamesandwantsto
provetheirworthiness.

Thisisagreatarticleformyresearchonvideogameskills.Ihavefirsthandexperienced
whathetalksaboutwithAgeofMythologyIenjoyedthegameandIwouldresearch
mythologyandthinkaboutthehistory.Geealsotalksaboutplayerswantingtoplay
challenginggames,thattheywanttolearnandimprove.Thatisextremelybeneficialto
myargumentaboutimprovingskills.Itshowsthatnotonlydovideogamesallowthe
playertogainskills,buttoactivelypursuelearningandchallenges.

McGonigal,Jane."GamingCanMakeaBetterWorld."JaneMcGonigal:.TED,Feb.2010.
Web.28Oct.2014.

InthistalkMcGonigalarguesthatincreasedtimespentonvideogamescansolveworld
problems.Shestatesthat3BIllionhoursaweekarespentonvideogames,butshould
bemorelike21Billionhours.Shesaysthatgamersexperienceoptimism,surprise,focus,
fear,andasenseofurgencywhentheyplayvideogames.Shewantstotaketheseskills
andimplementthemingamesthatwillbenefitsociety.Sherelatesthistoanancient
societythatsurvivedafaminewithdicegamesshehasalsocreatedmultiplegamesin
whichtheplayermustmakerealworldchangestoplaye.g.surviveinanoilshortage.
Thosegameshaveshownthattheplayerswillmakereallifechangesforagame,and
theywillstickwiththeirbetterhabits.McGonigalalsosaysthattheaveragepersonin
gamerculturewillspendtenthousandhoursplayingbeforetheir21stbirthdaythisisthe
roughlytheamountoftimeastudentwithperfectattendancespendsinschoolfrom5th
gradetograduation.

Ithinkthisisthemostcompellingarticlethatrelatestomyessentialquestion.Notonly
doesthespeakergivecurrentexamples,shedrawsuponanancientsocietythatuseda
gametosurviveandultimatelybecometheromanempire.Thisalsorelatestomy
previoussourcesthatwelearnplayingvideogames,butshearguesthatwecanvastly
improvesocietybecausethegamescompelustodoso.Thistalkreallygotmeinterested
inanewtypeofgamethatIhaveneverheardofbeforethathaspeakedmyinterest.


UniversityofToronto."Actionvideogamesbolstersensorimotorskills,studyfinds."
ScienceDaily.ScienceDaily,17October2014.

Inthisarticletheauthorarguesthatvideogamesboostsensorimotorskills.Theauthor
usesfindingsfromastudyconductedbytheUniversityofToronto.Thestudytooka
groupofnongamersandgamersthatplayedafps6hrsaweekfortwoyears.Fromtheir
studytheyfoundthatthegamerslearnedfasterandwereabletofollowthedotmore
accuratelythanthecontrol.

Thisarticlehelpsanswermyessentialquestion.Thestudycontradictedtheideathat
videogamesimprovecertainmotorskills.Thisarticlesuggestedthatthesemotorskills
wereunaffected,butratherthefrequentplayersweremuchmoreproficientatlearning
newmotorskills.Ihaveseenthiswithpeoplewhoswapgamesandquicklyadapttothe
differentcontrols.