ResearchQuestion:Canvideogamesbegoodforyou?

Background:
Videogamescanbebeneficial.Therearestudiesthatshowthatvideogameshelp
ourspatialawareness.Theareasofthebrainthatdealwithspacialawareness/reasoningare
theParietalLobeandtheHippocampus.TheParietallobeisthepartofthebrainthatdeals
withsensoryinformation,numbers,languageandspatialrelations.TheHippocampusisused
informingmemories,soinregardtospace,itallowsyoutorememberwhataplacelookslike
andhowtonavigateit.

Previousstudieshaveshownthatmalesarebetterwithspatialreasoningthan
females.Thiswastestedbymythbustersinanepisodeofmalesvs.females,theydidan
experimentdealingwithspatialawareness,wherethemenaveragedbetterthanthefemales.
Studiesdonewithvideogames,withthesubjectsplayinggamessuchastetris,havealso
shownthatmalestendtodobetterattetristhanfemalesevenifbothhavelimitedvideogame
experience.

ModelOrganism:
Theidealorganismforthiskindofstudywouldbeahuman,theresearchis
noninvasiveandtheactivitiescanreallyonlybedonewithhumans.Thismustbedonewith
humansoveranyotherorganismbecausethestudyisabouthowvideogamescanaffect
spatialawarenessinhumans.Videogamescanreallyonlybeplayedbyhumans

Iwouldtakefiftypeople,twentyfivemalesandtwentyfivefemales,fromagroupof
adultsandagroupofadolescents.Thiswillletmeseeifageorgenderhaveanaffect.

ExperimentalTechnique:
Iwillrunapretest,apracticesessionthenaposttest.Iwillgatheragroupoffifty
adults,twentyfivemenandtwentyfivewomen.ThenIwillgatheragroupoffiftyteenagers,
twentyfivemalesandtwentyfivefemales.Iwillthenadministerasurveyaskingaboutany
previousvideogameexperienceandhowmuchtheyplayaweekonaverage.Thiswillgoto
bothgroups.Thepretestwilltakealargeamountofitemsthatcanfitinsideacartrunkand
backseat.Theywillhavetoputtheitemsinsidethecarinundersevenminutes,afterthe
sevenminutes,thecarwillbedrivenaroundatrack.Tokeepthecarconsistant,itwillmove
aroundonatrolleytrack,withaspeedsettoabout25milesperhour.Whenthecarcomes
back,anyitemsthatshiftedtoomuchorweredamagedpenalizeyouinpoints.afterthistest
happens,thesubjectswillhave5hourstoplayvideogamessuchasTetris.Afterthepractice
withthegames,theywillgiventhesametestfortheposttest,butwithdifferentitems.This
willkeepthemfromlearningfromthefirsttry.

Thetestcouldalsobeadministeredoveraperiodoftime,thiswillgiveusinsightto
howlongittakesforvideogamestoaffectyourspatialreasoning,ifitdoesatall.Bybeing
administeredoveralongerperiodoftime,imeanthatthepretestcouldbegiven,thengivea
weektopracticewithanhouradaytosomepeopleandthreehoursadayforothers.This
wouldalsoseeifamountoftimehasaneffect.

Someofthetestedvariableswiththistestareiftheamountoftimeplayingvideo
gameshasaneffect,ifdifferentgendersarebetterwithspatialreasoning,ifanythingchanges
withageandifpreviousexperiencewithvideogamesmakesadifference.
Totestwhatareasofthebrainareinvolvedinspatialreasoning,thesubjectswillplay
spatialgamessuchastetrisormarblemadness,whilegettinganfMRI.Thiswillshowwhat
areasofthebrainlightupwhiledoingspatialactivities.

Asecondtestthatcouldberuninvolvesthinkingaboutobjectsoutsideofyouspatially.
ThiswouldbeatestofdrivingaRemoteControlCararoundakindofobstaclecourse.Unlike
theothertest,whichchallengesyourabilitytomakeobjectsfittogetherinthebestway,this
onechallengesyourabilitytomoveobjectsinathreedimensionalspace.

SocietalandEthicalImpacts:
Thisstudyisveryethical,itputanyoneatrisk.Italsodoesntrequiresomekindof
surgery.Thestudyisverysimpleanddoesntrequirepeopledoingthingsthatcouldbe
potentiallyharmfultothemselvesorothers.

Thisstudycouldbehelpfultosocietybecausebylearninghowvideogamescanhave
practicaluses,wecanimplementthemintolearningenvironments.Thiscouldalsobegood
becauseifgameshaveapositiveeffectonourbrains,wecouldusethemtokeepourbrain
workingasweageandourbrainsstarttodeteriorate.

References:

Subrahmanyam,K.,&Greenfield,P.(1994,January1).EffectofVideoGamesonSpatial
SkillsinGirlsandBoys.RetrievedMarch2,2015,from
http://www.cdmc.ucla.edu/PG_Media_biblio_files/kaveri_greenfield_1994.pdf

Collier,C.,Perlman,D.,&Fisette,J.(2009,October1).Gettingopen:Gamesthatteach
spatialawareness.RetrievedMarch2,2015.
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