how can video games help with problem solving skills

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Can Video Gameplay Improve Undergraduates’ Problem-Solving Skills?

Benjamin emihovich.

University of Michigan - Flint, Flint, USA

Nelson Roque

Pennsylvania State University, State College, USA

Justin Mason

University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

In this study, the authors investigated if two distinct types of video gameplay improved undergraduates’ problem-solving skills. Two groups of student participants were recruited to play either a roleplaying video game (World of Warcraft; experimental group) or a brain-training video game (CogniFit; control group). Participants were measured on their problem-solving skills before and after 20 hours of video gameplay. Two measures were used to assess problem-solving skills for this study, the Tower of Hanoi and The PISA Problem Solving Test. The Tower of Hanoi measured the rule application component of problem-solving skills and the PISA Problem Solving test measured transfer of problem-solving skills from video gameplay to novel scenarios on the test. No significant differences were found between the two groups on either problem-solving measure. Implications for future studies on game- based learning are discussed.

Introduction

Video games are played by more than half of the U.S population and the video game industry generated $36 billion in 2018 ( ESA, 2018 ). Given the popularity and success of the video game industry, game- based scholars are exploring how well-designed video games can be used to improve a wide range of knowledge, skills, and abilities referred to as game-based learning (GBL). Proponents of GBL argue that well-designed video games are grounded by active participation and interaction as the focal point of the learner experience and can lead to changes in behavior and cognition ( Ifenthaler, Eseryel, & Ge, 2012 ; Shute et al., 2019 ). Moreover, well-designed video games immerse players in environments that can provide a framework for learning experiences by promoting engagement and transfer from simulated worlds to the natural world ( Dede, 2009 ).

Current American students are not receiving adequate exposure to authentic ill-structured problem-solving scenarios in their classrooms, and schools need to address the acquisition of problem-solving skills for students in the 21st century ( Shute & Wang, 2016 ). American students trail their international counterparts in problem-solving skills on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) Problem Solving Test. Furthermore, American business leaders complain about recent college graduates’ lack of problem-solving skills. Two surveys conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities of business leaders and students indicated that problem-solving skills are increasingly desirable for American employers, but only 38% of employers reported that recently hired American college graduates could analyze and solve complex problems while working ( Hart Associates, 2018 ).

Researchers of video game studies find that gameplay can be positively associated with the improvement of problem-solving skills ( Shute, Ventura, & Ke, 2015 ; Spires et al., 2011 ). However, current discourse in the field of gameplay and problem-solving skills centers primarily on descriptive research ( Eseryel et al., 2014 ) which can be summarized based on the following premise: video games require players to solve problems, and over time, playing video games will lead to improved problem- solving skills ( Hung & Van Eck, 2010 ). Descriptive research is important to argue that video games support problem-solving skills, but further empirical research is needed to demonstrate whether problem-solving skills are acquired through video gameplay. This research study addressed whether two distinct types of video gameplay empirically affects undergraduates’ problem-solving skills.

Video Games and Problem-Solving Skills

According to Mayer and Wittrock’s (2006) definition, problem solving includes four central characteristics: (1) occurs internally to the problem solver’s cognitive system; (2) is a process that involves conceptualizing and manipulating knowledge; (3) is goal directed; and (4) is dependent on the knowledge and skills of the problem solver to establish the difficulty in which obstacles must be overcome to reach a solution. Unlike the well-structured problems that students face in formal learning settings, well-designed games provide students with challenging scenarios that promote problem-solving skills by requiring players to generate new knowledge from challenging scenarios within interactive environments, while also providing immersive gameplay that includes ongoing feedback for the players to hone their problem-solving skills over time ( Van Eck, Shute, & Rieber, 2017 ). Rules govern video gameplay mechanics and one component of problem solving is the ability to apply existing rules in the problem space known as rule application ( Shute et al., 2015 ). One example of a rule application is found in the well-researched problem-solving puzzle the Tower of Hanoi ( Huyck & Kreivenas, 2018 ; Schiff & Vakil, 2015 ; TOH, 2019 ). The rule application component of problem-solving skill is one of the dependent variables in this study. Rule application refers to the problem-solver’s representation of the problem space through direct action, which is critical to problem solving ( Van Eck et al., 2017 ).

Literature Review

Video gameplay and transfer.

Researchers contend that the hidden power of well-designed video games is their potential to address higher-level learning, like retention, transfer, and problem-solving skills ( Gee, 2008 ; Shute & Wang, 2015 ). Retention is the ability to remember the presented information and correctly recall it when needed, while transfer is the ability to apply previously learned information in a novel situation ( Stiller & Schworm, 2019 ). Possible outcomes of playing video games may include the improvement of collaborative problem-solving skills, confidence, and leadership skills that are transferable to the workforce environment. Recent research on video game training studies and transfer of cognitive and noncognitive skills indicates that gameplay is positively associated with the improvement of attention, problem-solving skills, persistence ( Green & Bavelier, 2012 ; Rowe et al., 2011 ; Shute et al., 2015 ; Ventura et al., 2013 ), executive functions ( Oei & Patterson, 2014 ), and hypothesis testing strategies ( Spires et al., 2011 ). However, other researchers have found null effects of video gameplay and transfer of cognitive skills ( Ackerman, et al., 2010 ; Baniqued, Kranz, et al., 2013 ; Boot et al., 2008 ).

A recent meta-analysis of brain-training interventions found that brain-training interventions can improve performance on trained tasks but there were fewer examples of interventions indicating improved performance on closely related tasks, and minimal evidence that training enhances performance on daily cognitive abilities ( Simons et al., 2016 ). Among those finding null effects, questions were raised about the methodological shortcomings of video game training and transfer studies that are common pitfalls in experimental trials. Some of the pitfalls included failing to report full methods used in a study and lack of an effective active control condition that can expect to see similar improvement in competencies as the experimental group ( Baniqued et al., 2013 ; Boot, 2015 ; Boot, Blakely & Simons, 2011 ). Unless researchers define recruitment methods for participants and their gaming expertise (novice vs. expert), as well as compare active control groups with experimental groups receiving equal training games, then differential improvement is indeterminable ( Boot et al., 2013 ; Shute et al., 2015 ). The recruitment approach is outlined in the Method section.

Motivation for Selection of Games

The video games selected for this research study were based on the problem-solving skills players exercise and acquire through gameplay that were aligned with the problem-solving skills assessed on the external measures, the PISA Problem Solving Test and the Tower of Hanoi (TOH). Well-designed video games include sound learning principles embedded within gameplay such as requiring players to solve complex problems which can then be applied to other learning contexts ( Lieberman et al., 2014 ). In this study, the authors examined the effects of playing World of Warcraft ( Activision Blizzard, 2019 ) and CogniFit ( CogniFit, 2019 ) for twenty hours on undergraduates’ problem-solving skills (rule application and problem-solving transfer). The inclusion of CogniFit addresses a main concern of game-based research which is the lack of an active control condition to determine differential improvement ( Boot et al., 2013 ).

Problem-Solving and Video Gameplay Model

The authors have identified observable in-game behaviors (i.e., indicators) during gameplay that provide evidence for each of the problem-solving processes on the PISA Problem Solving Test. The process included playing each video game extensively, checking community forums for solutions to the most challenging problems for each game, and viewing experts’ gameplay video channel streams on YouTube. After generating a list of credible indicators, those selected were based on the following criteria: (a) relevance to the PISA problem solving levels of proficiency and (b) verifiable through gameplay mechanics. Examples of indicators for the PISA problem-solving processes for each game are listed in Tables 1 and ​ and2. 2 . The purpose of developing the problem-solving behavior model is to operationalize the indicators of gameplay that align with the cognitive processes being assessed on the PISA test (i.e., Exploring and Understanding, Representing and Formulating). The PISA Problem Solving Test contains questions representing six levels of proficiency: Level 1 is the most limited form of problem-solving ability such as rule application (solving problems with simple rules or constraints) and Level 6 is the complex form of problem-solving ability (executing strategies and developing mental models to solve problems). The PISA test will determine whether there is transfer of problem-solving skills from video gameplay to novel scenarios.

Examples of indicators for each PISA problem-solving process in Warcraft

Examples of indicators for each PISA problem-solving process in CogniFit

World of warcraft

Massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) require players to manage resources, adapt playstyle to the environment, test new skills and abilities, identify and apply rules to solve problems as well as explore the story of the game through questing. MMORPGs like Warcraft provide gameplay experiences that are analogous to meaningful instruction by offering complex multifaceted problems that require model-based reasoning—understanding interrelated components of a system, and feedback mechanisms among the components to find the best solutions to problems that arise using available tools and resources in a given environment ( Chinn & Malhotra, 2002 ; Steinkuehler & Chmiel, 2006 ). Therefore, if MMORPGs provide an authentic sense of inquiry into solving problems through gameplay, then it is worth testing whether these gameplay experiences transfer to novel problem-solving scenarios.

One specific example of transfer from gameplay in the MMORPG Warcraft to a natural context concerns the problem of reducing travel time. When players enter the game environment, they must account for extended travel time between different activities such as exploration, questing, and combat. To solve this problem, players are given a tool that can be accessed on their user interface by pressing (M) on their keyboard, which opens the map. Listed on the map are designated flight paths (FPs) that act as a taxi service for players. The image in Figure 1 indicates the various FPs a player has unlocked on their world map as well as those that have yet to be discovered ( Activision Blizzard, 2019 ). The flight path is a handy tool because it connects the goal of completing quests as soon as possible to earn rewards with the knowledge that using flight paths greatly reduces travel time between quests. Greatly reducing travel time results in a more efficient way to complete many of the sub goals in the game, and as noted by Shute and Wang (2016) the use of tools and resources efficiently is an important part of problem solving during gameplay.

Player map listing flight path locations in World of Warcraft (2019)

Now, consider one of the questions being assessed on an external measure in the study, the PISA Problem Solving Test. Individuals are given a map that shows the roads between each city, a partially filled-in key that shows distances between cities in kilometers, and the overall layout of the area. The purpose of this question is to assess how individuals calculate the shortest distance from one city to another. To solve the problem, individuals are required to calculate the distance between the two cities of Nuben and Kado using the resources available. This is the same kind of problem that Warcraft players experience during gameplay when travelling between locations to complete quests. Both problem scenarios share the same overlapping components, the ability of the problem solver to use given tools and resources efficiently to find the most direct route that reduces travel time between two separate locations. Figure 2 illustrates this problem scenario on the PISA test ( OECD, 2003 ).

Problem scenario for planning the best route for a trip from PISA (2003)

The brain training game CogniFit claims to have developed a patented system that measures, trains, and monitors cognitive skills like rule application, attention, memory, and visual perception and their relation to neurological pathologies. According to the CogniFit (2019) website the company states there are transfer effects from their mini games to problem solving in the natural world. The brain training game is selected as an active control condition based on this claim as well as repeated practice of rule application embedded into the gameplay experience.

One example of rule application in the brain training game CogniFit occurs in the mini-game Gem Breaker 3D. This mini-game requires players to direct a paddle back and forth across the screen to bounce a ball off the paddle that breaks the gem blocks without letting the ball touch the bottom of the screen. The initial tutorial informs players that improvement of their hand-eye coordination and processing speed skills are emphasized through gameplay with over 100 levels available to master. Feedback is provided to players with a score for each level showing where they can improve. Once all gem blocks are broken the level is completed and a new level begins. However, each player only has access to 4 balls for each level, and if they lose, the game reverts to the beginning. The tutorial shows players how to use the mouse to control the paddle back and forth across the screen while the spacebar launches the ball. Once a gem is broken there is a chance for a power-up to be gained such as shooting multiple balls, explosives, missiles, side quests or power-ups. Figure 3 illustrates the rules of the mini-game in Gem Breaker 3D ( CogniFit, 2019 ).

Rules for the mini-game Gem Breaker 3D listed in the initial tutorial (2019)

Rule application occurs when playing the TOH and requires one to move an entire stack of disks (i.e., a number between 3 and 8) of varied sizes from one of three rods to another. While playing, players are constrained by the following rules: (1) only one disk can be moved at a time; (2) no disk can be placed on a smaller one; (3) only the uppermost disk can be moved on a stack. Rule application is demonstrated by the problem solver in the TOH by configuring the disks and the rods to reach a solution in the problem space. By configuring the disks onto the rods, each move of a disk indicates the problem solver attempting to creatively apply the rules, which is vital to problem solving ( Shute et al., 2019 ). Figure 4 illustrates the problem space in an online version of the TOH (2019) .

Problem space in an online version of the Tower of Hanoi puzzle with 5 disks (2019)

Both video games require players to apply rules to solve problems and rule application is a component of problem solving ( Van Eck et al., 2017 ). As an example, Warcraft players learn that they can only cast certain spells in combat while standing still or that eating and drinking food while sitting down hastens the regeneration of health. Similarly, when playing the mini-game Gem Breaker 3D in CogniFit players use a paddle and a ball to break bricks. One of the first rules players encounter in the game is that they can only move the paddle left or right across the screen or that bonus bricks have special effects like increasing ball speed. The rules are more explicit in CogniFit than Warcraft so brain-training gameplay may promote better performance on solving the TOH. Each move with the paddle and ball is an example of applying the rules, and this is frequently done during gameplay in CogniFit .

However, CogniFit mini-games lack some of the salient gameplay features in Warcraft such as roleplaying gameplay, meaningful interactions with other players, and richly designed problem spaces that GBL scholars suggest are important to the transfer of problem-solving skills from video gameplay to novel contexts measured on the PISA Problem Solving Test. Warcraft gameplay provides players with repeated practice to solve authentic ill-structured problems in rich detailed problem-solving scenarios that may be better suited for transfer to novel scenarios on the test.

Research Questions

After describing the video gameplay conditions of Warcraft and CogniFit as well as reviewing the literature on problem-solving skills, the authors seek to answer the following research questions:

• Is there a change, from pretest to posttest, on the rule-application component of problem solving, after 20 hours of video gameplay, on either a role playing or brain-training video game?
• Does an immersive, collaborative role-playing video game promote transfer of problem-solving skills to novel scenarios better than a brain-training video game for undergraduates after 20 hours of video gameplay?

Setting and Participants

For this study, 91 undergraduate student participants (M Age = 19.32; SD Age = 1.43) were recruited to participate in this study and completed the initial questionnaire for the study, assessing: age, gender, ethnicity, major, and video games played daily. Participants were not invited to participate if they were not students at the data-collecting institution, were not 18–23 years old, or if they reported playing 30 or more minutes of Warcraft or CogniFit . 56 participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group Warcraft or the control group CogniFit , yet only 34 completed the study ( n = 17 per group). Participant attrition for both groups were attributed to lack of time to complete the study or being too busy with schoolwork. Given the nature of our research questions assessing change as a function of training, subsequently presented analyses only include data from the 34 participants (17 males and 17 females) who completed the study (M Age = 19.44; SD Age = 1.41).

The independent variable in this research study is the video game with two levels: a roleplaying video game ( Warcraft ) and a brain-training video game ( CogniFit ). The video games provide players with repeated problem-solving scenarios requiring players to engage in problem-solving processes. The dependent variable measured for this study is problem-solving skill. One measure assessed the component of rule application of problem solving to solve a puzzle which is the TOH. The second measure assessed problem-solving in novel scenarios which is the PISA Problem Solving Test. Both groups were assessed on the TOH and the PISA Problem Solving Test. The TOH was used to assess research question 1 and the PISA Problem Solving Test was used to assess research question 2.

The Tower of Hanoi

Recall, the TOH is a valid and reliable experimental paradigm that can be used to assess rule application, problem solving and transfer ( Huyck & Kreivenas, 2018 ; Schiff & Vakil, 2015 ). Rule application is demonstrated by the problem solver in the TOH by configuring the disks and the rods to reach a solution in the problem space. By configuring the disks on to the rods, each move of a disk indicates the problem solver attempting to creatively apply the rules. Participants played the TOH on a computer from a free website online. The test score (i.e., lower scores are better) for completing the TOH can range anywhere from 31 (which is the minimal number of moves to execute) until it is solved.

PISA Problem Solving Test

The second external problem-solving measure in this study is the (2003) version of the PISA Problem Solving Test. The PISA Problem Solving Test ( OECD, 2003 ) contains 10 novel problem-solving scenarios, and within each scenario there is a range of one to three different questions that must be solved. There are 19 total questions on the test across all scenarios that required students to solve problems. For this study, participants completed five novel problem-solving scenarios for the pretest and the remaining five novel problem-solving scenarios for the posttest. The levels of proficiency for each question are randomized across all problem-solving scenarios. Each problem-solving scenario is independent from one another and each of the 19 questions across all scenarios being assessed in this study are isomorphic from the questions that were implemented in 2003. The scoring for most questions was either correct or incorrect, with some questions allowing for partially correct answers. Participants that answered each question correctly were awarded one point, while partially correct answers awarded participants a half-point.

Participants for this study were recruited via flyers posted publicly on campus and dormitory bulletin boards. Over the course of eight weeks, participants engaged in 10 gameplay sessions that lasted two hours each. Participants had the opportunity to complete these 10 sessions in two-hour time-blocks that were made available Monday through Friday for eight consecutive weeks. Participants completed the experiment in a classroom lab on campus at the university. In this experiment, student participants were randomly assigned to play one of two video games.

Participants in the experimental condition played the popular roleplaying video game Warcraft that promotes learning new terminologies, mastering interrelated skills and abilities, applying rules to solve problems, goal setting, and reflecting on progress. In addition, participants in the active control condition played the brain-training video game CogniFit (2019) . The video game allows players to select various mini-games including Gem Breaker 3D that may enhance cognitive abilities including rule application, memory, and focus. Student participants in this study were guided by discovery learning and provided with in-game tutorials for each condition while learning to solve problems through active exploration, interacting with the game environment and self-direction ( Westera, 2019 ). At pre-test and post-test participants had 20 minutes to complete isomorphic versions of the TOH as many times as possible. All participants successfully completed the TOH once during the pretest and once during the posttest. At pre-test and post-test, participants also had 20 minutes to complete as many questions as possible on The PISA Problem Solving Test. The pretest required participants to answer nine questions and the posttest required participants to answer 10 questions from multiple problem-based scenarios. Each problem-based scenario was unique, and some examples included the following: (1) calculating the distance between two points given a map; (2) developing a decision tree diagram of a library loan system; and (3) calculating daily energy needs for an individual given a set menu.

Data Structure and Analyses

The full dataset used for all analyses to be presented, contained data from 34 participants. All participants attempted three parallel, computerized forms of the TOH at baseline and at the end of the intervention. Due to the nature of the task’s programming, if participants did not complete a TOH task, the total number of moves attempted was not output to the data file. This will be expanded upon in the results section by utilizing three analyses which included an independent t-test comparing the mean number of incomplete TOH games between the groups, an independent t-test comparing the mean gain score of TOH between the groups, and a multiple linear regression predicting max gain score of TOH by group, by gain score count, and by group, gain score count, and PISA gain. All analyses in sections below were completed in R, version 3.4.3. Packages used for data analysis include: dplyr , for data wrangling ( Wickham et al., 2019 ), and ggplot2 for visualizations ( Wickham, 2016 ), and MASS for stepwise regression analyses ( Venables & Ripley, 2002 ).

Assessing Group differences in Completion

Although groups differed on the overall number of incomplete TOH sessions at pre-testing (N COGNITIVE = 13; N GAMING = 8), an independent t-test of the average number of incomplete games by group, was not significant (p > .05). Furthermore, an independent t-test revealed no group differences for the overall number of incomplete TOH sessions at post-testing (N COGNITIVE = 3; N GAMING = 2; p > .05). A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant time effect, F(1,32) = 13.386, p<.001. However, group, F(1,32) = 1.609, p=.214, nor group by time interaction were significant, F(1,32)=.837, p=.367. On average, participants completed an additional half TOH session (i.e., .47, SD = .53) after receiving either training package (M Pre = .62, SD = .70; M Post = .15, SD = .36). Table 3 shows the means and standard deviations for the pretest and posttest scores participants completed in the experimental ( Warcraft ) and control ( CogniFit ) groups. The mean scores in the table indicate how many moves on average each participant could successfully solve the puzzle per group. For this study, participants had 20 minutes to complete as many questions as possible for the pretest and 20 minutes to do the same for an isomorphic version of the posttest. Table 4 shows the means and standard deviations for the PISA pretest and posttest scores of participants in the experimental ( Warcraft ) and control ( CogniFit ) groups.

Pretest and posttest scores by group on the Tower of Hanoi

Pretest and posttest scores by group on the PISA Problem Solving Test

Quantifying Improvement in Performance

In order to quantify improvement after the intervention, gain scores were calculated by the following formula, for each instance of the TOH task encountered (i.e. three sessions):

Gain scores produced from this calculation can be interpreted as follows: negative gain scores indicating improvement (fewer total moves at post-testing), and positive gain scores indicating a decrement in performance (more total moves at post-testing). As a result of incomplete games not producing the number of moves, for some participants, no gain score calculation was possible. At pretesting, the cognitive training group had three missing gain scores for the second TOH and 10 for the third TOH whereas the game training group had one missing gain score for the second TOH and seven for the third TOH. To account for this, when calculating average gain scores for each participant, averages were weighted by the number of completed games (i.e. averaging by the number of incomplete sessions would result in an undefined calculation, as some participants completed all sessions). Table 5 shows the results of an unpaired t-test on the average weighted gain scores found no group differences in TOH gain scores ( p > .05). Additionally, an unpaired t-test on the average PISA gain scores found no group differences gain scores ( p > .05).

Problem solving performance compared across training groups

Sensitivity Analysis

Due to missing data issues discussed above, the final analysis involves a stepwise multiple linear regression (forward and backward; AIC used for final model variable selection conducted using R package MASS, function stepAIC; Venables & Ripley, 2002 ), predicting max gain score (max of all three potential gain scores) by group membership (WoW or Cognitive Training), total gain score count, and a gain score derived from pre and post measurements on the PISA task (2003). Based on the stepwise regression procedure analysis results in Table 6 , the best fitting, significant, multiple regression model was found to be a model predicting max gain score from gain score count (no predictor for group membership or PISA gain score; F(1,32) = 14.41; p < .001; R 2 = .3104; adjusted R 2 = 0.2889). Participants predicted max gain score is equal to −111.70 + 48.87 (Gain Count), where gain score is in the unit of number of moves. Max gain score increased by 48.87 for every one unit increase in gain score count (more gain scores, closer to 0; less improvement after the intervention). Gain score count was a significant predictor of max gain score (t=3.796; p < 0.001), indicating potential practice effects from repeated exposure to the task. Practice effects will be discussed in subsequent sections.

Stepwise regression model path, analysis of deviance table and the row with the best fitting model, using AIC as criterion, is highlighted in gray

Evidence for Research Question 1

The initial hypothesis regarding the first question was that a brain-training game would help participants improve their rule application component of problem-solving skill better than a roleplaying game after 20 hours of gameplay for several reasons. One reason is that the rules are more explicit during brain-training gameplay and because of claims made by CogniFit that brain-training gameplay will improve its users’ brain fitness or ability to rely on more than one problem-solving strategy. While both games require players to apply rules to solve problems, only CogniFit markets its product as a tool that can help users to solve problems in their daily lives ( CogniFit, 2019 ). This claim also suggests that brain-training gameplay can help users transfer skills learned in-game to novel problem-solving scenarios in the natural world. However, the results indicated that there was no significant difference in gain scores (i.e., in Post - Pre Gain scores) in terms of TOH performance (t-test comparing gain scores: p = .746) between the two gaming conditions (i.e., Warcraft and CogniFit ), though both groups improved from baseline to post-testing assessment, likely attributable to practice effects (see Figure 5 ). Overall, the results contradicted our initial hypothesis for Research Question 1; implications are discussed next.

Average number of moves in the Tower of Hanoi task across (up to 3) sessions per person, per timepoint. The left panel represents scores for the CogniFit (COG) group, and the right panel represents scores for the Warcraft (WOW) group.

Implications of Results for Research Question 1

Solving problems in an immersive game like Warcraft provided players with repeated practice of applying rules and using tools to find creative solutions to similar but varied problems. As players reflected on their choices, they learned how to use the tools by analyzing givens and constraints in unison to achieve maximum character performance and develop optimal solutions to general problems. CogniFit players did not experience immersive gameplay, but instead repeated problem-solving scenarios that were varied but required fewer tools and resources to be solved. Once CogniFit players knew how to use the paddle and the ball in unison, the only additional resources to use during gameplay were power-ups, bonus bricks, and traps. Roleplaying gameplay required players to solve problems using additional tools and resources efficiently which was a more complex task than using the ball and paddle during brain-training gameplay. Strategizing when and how to apply rules through varied but different problem scenarios with multiple tools and resources through immersive gameplay was beneficial for Warcraft participants. Moreover, players in Warcraft could receive feedback with help from other players learning when and how to apply tools and resources to solve problems. CogniFit players received feedback at the end of each level with an overall score and corrected mistakes through trial and error without additional support.

evidence for Research Question 2

The initial hypothesis regarding the second question was that training on an immersive, collaborative roleplaying video game for 20 hours would engender transfer of problem-solving skills to novel problem-solving scenarios on the PISA Problem Solving Test better than a brain-training video game. One reason is that research on MMORPGs including Warcraft indicates that players co-constructed knowledge by challenging and supporting novel ideas to in-game problem-solving scenarios through online discussion forums as well as discovering optimal solutions to in-game problems by combining multiple abilities and resources available to players ( Chinn & Malhotra, 2002 ; Steinkuehler & Chmiel, 2006 ). Efficiently using tools and resources is a component of problem solving and is central to the roleplaying gameplay experience ( Shute & Wang, 2016 ).

However, the results indicated that after 20 hours of gameplay of Warcraft or CogniFit there was no improved performance on the PISA (i.e., comparing PISA Gain Scores; p = .748). Overall, the mean scores for Warcraft participants were slightly better than CogniFit participants on the isomorphic versions of the PISA Problem Solving pretest and posttest - indicating baseline differences between the two groups in terms of performance. Overall, there were no significant differences found between roleplaying and brain-training gameplay on transfer of problem-solving skills (see Figure 6 ). The implications for the results from research question 2 are discussed next.

PISA Scores before and after the intervention. The left panel represents scores for the COG group, and the right panel represents scores for the WOW group.

Implications of Results for Research Question 2

Given that both video game training and “brain-training” did not significantly improve problem-solving skills has several implications. The gameplay behaviors exhibited by players in each condition were aligned with the problem-solving processes on the PISA Problem Solving Test. However, possible reasons for lack of transfer in this study in addition to small sample size include (a) collaborative, immersive roleplaying gameplay may help promote problem-solving skills related to in-game problem solving scenarios but not necessarily to improved performance on external problem-solving assessments, and (b) problem-solving during Warcraft gameplay may be too domain specific to transfer to novel problem-solving scenarios on the PISA Problem Solving Test.

The misalignment between the problem-solving domains of Warcraft and the PISA Problem Solving Test could have hindered the possibility of finding a transfer effect. As an example, Warcraft players must learn how to navigate an immersive environment, use complex tools efficiently and effectively to solve problems during gameplay and interact with both the environment and other characters to solve problems. However, solving problems on the PISA Problem Solving Test is not an immersive experience. It was also a solitary activity; participants did not collaborate or interact with each other while taking the test. The OECD designed the PISA Problem Solving Test to cover more general problem-solving skills to complement domain-specific skills ( Greiff et al., 2014 ). Selecting a problem-solving assessment which is embedded within an immersive environment that requires players to engage in collaborative problem-solving processes (i.e. experienced in video gameplay) using tools and resources efficiently could have been a more viable assessment to measure transfer of problem-solving skills in this study. Further research is still warranted to determine if video gameplay can promote transfer of problem-solving skills to novel scenarios. The limitations of this research study are addressed in the next section.

Limitations

Given time and resource constraints, the sample size of this study is small and lacks statistical significance to make claims regarding the general population. With more available resources, recruitment would have likely continued for an additional semester to raise the sample size for the study. Students that did not complete the study cited time constraints as the main reason they were unable to fulfill the 20 hours of video gameplay requirement. The optimal time to run the study would have been during Fall and Spring semesters instead of Spring and Summer. In Fall and Spring, more students would have been available for recruitment as well as increased scheduling flexibility and time to complete the intervention during the academic year for the participants. Given that the authors monitored participants during video gameplay in case any problems arose, there may have been expectancy effects that impacted participants. For example, participants’ gameplay experiences may have been negatively or positively affected when being monitored. The potential for participants to alter their behavior simply because they are being studied is known as the Hawthorne Effect ( Benedetti, Carlino & Piedimonte, 2016 ). In addition, the inclusion of a more immersive assessment that measures problem-solving skill transfer could have led to improved outcomes when compared to a more traditional assessment like the PISA Problem-Solving Test (2003).

Future Implications

The main goal of this study was to examine the impact of two distinct types of video gameplay; role playing ( Warcraft ) and brain-training ( CogniFit ) on problem-solving skills for undergraduates. Specifically, if video gameplay can improve the rule application component of problem solving and whether problem solving during gameplay transferred to novel problem-solving scenarios. This study addressed some of the methodological shortcomings found in previous video game training and transfer studies that failed to report recruitment methods, define study variables, and provide an active control group in which participants could expect receive equal improvement from competencies ( Baniqued et al., 2013 ; Boot et al., 2013 ). As a result, possible placebo effects are likely mitigated in this experiment improving upon methodological pitfalls affecting other video game training studies ( Anderson et al., 2010 ; Ferguson & Kilburn, 2009 ).

The results from this study suggest that neither a commercially available video game ( Warcraft ) or a commercially available “brain-training” package ( CogniFit ) resulted in improvements in the rule-based component of problem solving (as assessed by the TOH puzzle). Moreover, aside from a lack of improvement in the rule-based component, 20-hours of training did not promote transfer of problem-solving skills to novel scenarios (as assessed by the PISA Problem Solving Task), which is consistent with similar research findings on cognitive training and transfer ( Souders et al., 2017 ). Sensitivity analyses conducted found evidence for practice effects in gain scores, illustrating that rather than improvement due to the training packages, improvement seems related to multiple, closely spaced assessments. Future research can complement this study by increasing the sample size and testing similar immersive well-designed video games on participant knowledge, skills, and abilities, in addition to directly cuing participants to be aware of the strategies (i.e., perceptual and cognitive strategies) they might carry with them from the digital world to the real-world.

Acknowledgment

Nelson Roque was supported by National Institute on Aging Grant T32 AG049676 to The Pennsylvania State University.

Benjamin Emihovich is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology in the Education Department at the University of Michigan-Flint and is the program faculty coordinator for the online Educational Technology (M.A.) program. He currently teaches undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of Instructional Design and Technology as well as curriculum and instruction. His research area focuses on the following; game-based learning, assessments for learning in immersive environments, and emerging learning technologies.

Nelson A. Roque is a NIA T32 Postdoctoral Fellow, at Penn State’s Center for Healthy Aging. Nelson earned his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Florida State University in 2018. Nelson has a strong background in visual attention, focusing on how to reliably measure it, how it relates to individual difference factors (e.g., age, sleep) and translating insights from theoretical work in visual attention to applied contexts (e.g. medication errors).

Justin Mason is a Postdoctoral Associate in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Florida. His research interests include interventions suitable for mitigating age-related cognitive and physical decline in older adults. Additionally, he’s interested in factors that influence older adults’ adoption and acceptance of emerging technologies.

Contributor Information

Benjamin Emihovich, University of Michigan - Flint, Flint, USA.

Nelson Roque, Pennsylvania State University, State College, USA.

Justin Mason, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.

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Playing these 6 video games could help improve your problem-solving skills

Jane McGonigal , a world-renowned designer of alternate-reality games who has a Ph.D. in performance studies, wants to change people's conception of video games as " just escapist, guilty pleasures."

" My number one goal in life is to see a game designer nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize," McGonigal writes on her website . 

She tells Business Insider she wants people to realize that games can be "powerful tools to improve our attention, our mood, our cognitive strengths, and our relationships."

And research is on her side. 

Studies suggest that mainstream games like "Call of Duty" may improve our cognitive abilities significantly more than games specifically designed to do so by designers like Luminosity.

To help spread the truth about common misconceptions, seven neuroscientists from around the world signed the document "A Consensus on the Brain Training Industry from the Scientific Community" in 2014 to say they "object to the claim" that brainteaser games can improve cognitive abilities, as no scientific evidence has been able to confirm such a claim. 

Even better for gamers, research from North Carolina State University and Florida State University suggests that mainstream games geared toward entertainment can help improve attention, spatial orientation, and problem-solving abilities.

In her book, " Super Better ," McGonigal writes that the researchers she talked to about this seeming contradiction offered a simple explanation: "Traditional video games are more complex and harder to master, and they require that the player learn a wider and more challenging range of skills and abilities."

If you want to have fun and stimulate your mind, McGonigal recommends playing one of these six games three times a week for about 20 minutes.

McGonigal says playing fast-paced games like "Call of Duty," a first-person shooter game, can help improve visual attention and spatial-intelligence skills, which can lead to better performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Another fast-paced game, "Forza," a car-racing game, may help improve your ability to make accurate decisions under pressure.

Taking on the role of a criminal in a big city in "Grand Theft Auto" may help train you to process information faster and keep track of more information — up to three times the amount as nongamers, some studies suggest — in high-stress situations.

Strategic games like "StarCraft," a military-science-fiction game, can also improve the ability to solve imaginary and real-life problems, possibly because they teach users to both formulate and execute strategic plans.

Games that require strategic thinking, like science-fiction third-person-shooter game "Mass Effect," also test and refine your information-gathering skills.

Lastly, "thinking games" like "Final Fantasy," a fantasy-role-playing game, can help train you to evaluate your options faster and more accurately.

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Neag School of Education

Well-designed video games can enhance problem-solving skills and make learning more effective.

• May 29, 2013
• Community Engagement

The tragic December deaths of 20 first-graders and six school staff members in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, along with the Boston Marathon tragedy and other recent attacks, have brought the decades-old debate over the behavioral effects of video games back onto legislative floors throughout the nation. Citing the fact that gunman Adam Lanza, 20, played violent video games, members of the U.S. Congressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force detailed their plans to address “our culture’s glorification of violence” through media, and commentary stemming from reports like Katie Couric’s May 2013 video game violence exposé has highlighted the need for greater clarification of how we should read and interpret video game research.

Clearly, it’s a complex and emotional issue further complicated by discussions that focus almost exclusively on the negative effects of gaming. The reality, however, is that there’s little research outlining whether or not violent video games beget actual violence: many existing studies, like one described in a recent edition of the UConn Today , focus on aggression without explicitly acknowledging the complex relationship between cognition, transfer, and real world behavior. This has led to two major problems, the combination of which throws a wrench in the socially and politically-charged rhetoric surrounding violence: 1) the dismissal of other, more influential factors common to violent criminals—biological predisposition to mental health issues, instability at home and/or work, lack of positive role models, having no one to confide in, access to weapons, and in-the-moment opportunity versus need; and 2) neglect for how learning in all types of games—violent or not—actually happens.

While the first problem may better fit sociologists and psychologists who have direct experience with individuals who commit violent crimes, the second is something that we as teachers, administrators, and researchers can tackle head on. There’s general consensus in the educational psychology community that the nature of environment-learner-content interactions is vital to our understanding of how people perceive and act. As a result, we can’t make broad assumptions about games as a vehicle for violent behavior without attending to how environment-learner-content interactions influence transfer—the way learning and action in one context affects learning and action in a related context.

It might help to think of transfer in terms of what we hope students will do with the information they learn in our classes. For example, you might teach geometric principles in your math class thinking that those techniques will help your students craft a birdhouse in shop. However, one of the most well-cited studies of the subject (Gick & Holyoak, 1980) showed that only one-fifth of college students were able to apply a particular problem solving strategy—using ‘divide-and-conquer’ to capture a castle—in another, almost identical context less than 24 hours after exposure to the first. Even with explicit direct instruction explaining how the same strategy could be used to solve both problems, fewer than 50% of students were able to make the connection. Though links between situations might seem self-evident to us as teachers, they usually aren’t as obvious to our students as we think they should be.

This gives us reason to believe that, regardless of subject, students—or in the case of video games, players—are rarely able to take something they’ve used in one context and independently apply it in a totally different one. Put another way, even if violent gaming raises general aggression, increased aggression doesn’t automatically translate to real world violent behavior . Gamers might use more curse words while playing Call of Duty , but they won’t learn to steal a car solely by playing Grand Theft Auto —there needs to be a mediating instructor who can provide well-guided bridging between the game and reality, especially for in-game activities that aren’t isomorphic with real world action (i.e., firing a gun).

This relationship between environment-learner-content interaction and transfer puts teachers in the unique position to capitalize on game engagement to promote reflection that positively shapes how students tackle real-world challenges. To some, this may seem like a shocking concept, but it’s definitely not a new one—roleplay as instruction, for example, was very popular among the ancient Greeks and, in many ways, served as the backbone for Plato’s renowned Allegory of the Cave . The same is true of Shakespeare’s works, 18th and 19th century opera, and many of the novels, movies, and other media that define our culture. More recently, NASA has applied game-like simulations to teach astronauts how to maneuver through space, medical schools have used them to teach robotic surgery, and the Federal Aviation Administration has employed them to test pilots.

To be clear, this is not a call for K12 educators to drop everything and immediately incorporate violent games like Doom or Mortal Kombat into their classrooms. Instead, it’s a call to consider how we can take advantage of game affordances (including those of violent games) to extend beyond predictable multiple-choice materials that leave students wishing they could pull out their smartphones. It’s a call for legislators to give greater consideration to the role of transfer before passing sweeping bans on violent video game play. It’s a call for all of us to use games as a vehicle to talk about racial, social, gender, and other inequities that are very much a part of the world we live in.

It’s a bold idea that can feel scary, but the potential benefits are beyond exciting. Research generated by people like Kurt Squire, Sasha Barab, and James Paul Gee suggests that interactive games can be used to teach children about history, increase vocabulary, challenge them to set and achieve goals, and enhance their ability to work in teams. They expose students to culturally diverse casts of characters in addition to providing instant feedback about goal-oriented progress. Most importantly, perhaps, they can be powerfully engaging, giving students a reason to pursue learning beyond the classroom.

To maintain a positive trajectory, teachers looking to make the most of the instructional affordances of video games should keep an eye out for games they feel comfortable playing alongside and discussing with their students, take advantage of opportunities to participate in university game-based learning research studies, and remain open to modifying their instructional approaches. Parents should connect with teachers for up-to-date research coming from organizations like Games+Learning+Society and have their children reflect on material they’ve been exposed to during play—for example, social and cultural stereotypes, gender roles, and ways of thinking presented in each game. Legislators should consult university researchers in both communications and educational psychology to get a wider perspective on how play and learning merge to generate behavior in the real world.

Our collective understanding of game-based learning is evolving at lightning speed, and we need to dispel false information that ignores how games actually affect player thinking and action. More work, involving teachers, administrators, researchers, designers, parents, and politicians, is needed. The next step is to enhance our collaboration by working to create multi-disciplinary games that incorporate not just academic content but educational practices that lead to broader critical thinking and problem solving. Though far from complete, our combined effort has the potential to move beyond the swamp of video game violence and excite kids about school before they say “game over.”

Stephen Slota is doctoral candidate in educational psychology at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education as well as an unashamed gamer. An educational technology specialist and  former urban high school teacher, he has a bachelor’s in molecular and cellular biology and Master’s in curriculum and instruction. His research interests include the situated cognition underlying play, the effects of gaming on student achievement, and prosocial learning through massively multiplayer online role-playing games ( MMORPGs).

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accredits the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Read more about CAEP Accreditation, including the programs covered and the accountability measures .

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Your Gaming Skills Can Help You Shape Your Career

• Igor Tulchinsky

Video games are fast-moving, dynamic, and anything but static. Your career can be too.

Studies have shown the benefits of gaming — whether it’s better spatial awareness, faster cognitive processing, or improved mental health, social skills, and decision-making capabilities. Here are some ways you can harness the unique skills and lessons gaming has taught you to shape your future working life.

• Don’t settle. Video games are fast-moving, dynamic, and anything but static. Your career should be too. Every job requires some combination of problem-solving, strategy, and teamwork — just like every video game. But not every company you encounter will be as solutions-oriented, innovative, or collaborative as you might desire. Aim to find an organization that will value you and your skills.
• Challenge your beliefs. How often have you written off a video game before even playing it? We all have internal biases that can alter our perception of the world. The same is true for our careers — you likely have personal beliefs about certain companies, industries, and job titles. Just like you shouldn’t judge a game by its popular presentation, you shouldn’t with jobs either. Instead, take the time to speak to people on the inside.
• Try again. Fail again. Fail better. We’re often too afraid to fail in real life because we believe we won’t get a second chance. In some ways, that’s true — there are no extra lives here. But just like in video games, we can test hypotheses, experiment, process variables, and establish new ways of understanding our world.
• Have patience. Video games can be repetitive. The same can be said for work, and our lives in general. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The patience and hard work are what make the glorious cut scenes, rare achievements, and final fights worth it. In your career, the work you put in now will pay off long-term, too.
• Think like a creator. Game developers often employ transformational creativity. This is when designers, often drawing on leaps forward in technology, drive revolutionary changes in the entire video game ecosystem. One way to cultivate transformational creativity in your work life is to embrace adjacency. If you’re struggling to come up with new ideas or find yourself making the same errors when addressing a task, try thinking about how other, adjacent disciplines might approach a similar problem.

Growing up in the golden age of video games, it was hard not to feel like you were living two lives at once.

• IT Igor Tulchinsky is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of WorldQuant, LLC, a global quantitative asset management firm. He was previously a portfolio manager at Millennium.

Partner Center

• Posted June 29, 2021
• By Emily Boudreau
• Learning Design and Instruction
• Technology and Media

Parents and educators alike may wonder why a child can spend hours playing Minecraft but can’t engage with an app that runs through multiplication facts with the same focus. Why are some games more “fun” than others?

“What’s really motivating about a good learning game is the learning,” says Louisa Rosenheck , researcher at MIT’s Education Arcade Lab and a an adjunct lecturer at HGSE. “Humans like to learn, and we like to get better at things.” But, she observes, many games used in classrooms or that are deemed “educational” tend to focus on content and procedural skills, and don’t necessarily encourage learning that sparks intrinsic motivation and genuine engagement.

With this in mind, Rosenheck and a team of other researchers at the Education Arcade Lab developed a series of design principles that inform the development of what they term “ resonant games ” — games that are open ended, exploratory, allow learners to make connections to bigger systems and concepts, and promote deeper learning overall.  

Choosing a Good Learning Game

Parents and educators need to be able to navigate a tremendous amount of content and options when selecting games that will engage children in authentic learning. While not an exhaustive list, Rosenheck notes that good games will:

• Give players agency or choice in the way they play or their goals in the game.
• Spark curiosity, making players ask more questions and wonder how things work.
• Provide “hard fun” — an appropriate level of challenge that is engaging and satisfying.

Importantly, games with structures that promote these features avoid the trend of “gamification” — a superficial way of spicing up a learning task with extraneous elements like points, badges, and leaderboards. But these features are often separate from the learning experience, serving to “trick” kids into learning. Instead, games that put authentic learning first focus on deeper concepts, exploration and experimentation, and developing a sense of accomplishment by building skills and applying them to real-world contexts by:

• Spending time on playing and figuring things out for themselves, rather than instruction or explanation. 
• Providing feedback to a player so they can form their own understanding of the game’s systems.
• Helping players make connections with real systems and authentic problems — for example, focusing on conceptual math, rather than drilling addition facts.

Going Beyond Entertainment

Many adults have a tendency to truncate or limit game time, but it’s important to understand that fun and learning can often be one and the same. Instead, the challenge may not just be to find a high-quality game, but to find ways to support kids in making meaningful connections between their play and the world around them. Adults can also add structure and depth to games by providing opportunities for reflection and conversation. To better support game-based learning, educators and caregivers can:

• Talk to kids about what they’re playing on their computers. A great starter question is “what have you figured out?”
• Emphasize skills like persistence or working through frustration. Games provide a valuable opportunity to reinforce social emotional learning in addition to academic competencies. 
• Recognize that these games provide children with a chance to build social connections and that during the pandemic, online games have been a major social support. Cutting out computer time isn’t just cutting back on screen time but could also limit social interaction.
• Let go of some control. Instead of devoting time to explaining how a game works, let kids explore and carve out time for reflection and sharing instead. 

Key Takeaways

• A good game puts the learning first and doesn’t rely on bells and whistles to motivate kids to engage with its content.
• Leave room for kids to explore and solve problems independently, as figuring out the rules is half the fun. The teacher or caregiver shouldn’t feel they must have all the answers.
• Encourage conversation and reflection to connect the game with the real world. This could take the form of parents talking to their kids or kids talking about the game with their own social networks. 

Additional Resources

• Games from MIT’s Education Arcade
• A Curious Mind: How Educators and Parents Can Encourage and Guide Children’s Natural Curiosity — in the Classroom and at Home
• Harvard EdCast: What It Means to Learn Science
• Thinking Lessons
• Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of a Video Game
• Cultivating Early Literacy Apps

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Video games on the Brain

Technology has expanded the canvas upon an artist’s ability to express their stories. Videogames prove to be an art form that can solely exist in the digital space and demonstrates a collision of art and science. Our brain interprets these artists’ creations in many ways, both presenting itself as beneficial, yet also damaging to the brain. Video games have both positive and negative effects on the brain, as they can be used for education purposes or can have more drastic consequences. 

When overviewing the positive effects of videogames on the brain there are some main areas of the brain to focus upon: premotor and parietal cortex, prefrontal cortex, dopamine and grey matter. Cognitively, all video games are proven to improve one’s problem solving ability as well as reasoning capabilities. 

Different types of video games develop different skills as well as activate different parts of the brain. More broadly speaking, games that require team efforts help develop collaboration abilities. Other action focused video games have the ability to increase brain activity in the premotor and parietal cortex, where motor skills, quick thinking, and control of sensory movements are required. These same video games have the ability to physically improve one’s peripheral vision as well as hand-eye coordination. Examples of these types of games include Space Invaders and Halo. Games that require more logical thinking, such as Tetris, display an increased use of the prefrontal cortex, where decision-making is controlled. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is released when learning and activates sensations of reward. In the context of playing video games, dopamine is released in the brain’s striatum, invoking senses of pleasure and addiction. 

For the sake of this post, I’ll be emphasising my focus on experiments regarding grey matter. Grey matter helps process information in the brain, by more specifically processing signals that are generated by other sensory organs in the body or other areas which contain grey matter. This grey matter serves to move motor sensory stimuli to nerve cells in the nervous system. There, synapses produce a response to the certain stimuli. Hippocampal grey matter, more specifically, is crucial for the maintenance of healthy cognition. One experiment demonstrated how playing video games has the potential to increase hippocampal grey matter in young adolescents. This experiment tested the influence of the video game Super Mario Kart on the grey matter in the hippocampal and cerebral region of adolescents. 

Figure 1: Demonstrates the increase of grey matter in the hippocampal region.

As seen in the brain scan it is apparent that there is a great increase of grey matter in the brain of the adults immediately after playing the video game. 

Though there are positive effects apparent when playing video games, some of the negative impacts outweigh those of the positive. More broadly speaking, some of the negative effects that videogames can have on the brain is that of the “video game brain.” This effect occurs when one has dedicated so much time to video games that the underside of the frontal lobe begins to shrink, leasing to other symptoms such as mood alterations. With more frequency of playing video games, a visible decrease in activity in the prefrontal lobe is apparent. This is known to lead to symptoms such as increased moodiness, anxiety, and aggressiveness, which may occur even after the conclusion of the game itself.

For the sake of this post, I will be focusing the spectrum of my research to the cingulate cortices. Studies have demonstrated that even one week of violent video gaming can lead to a decreased activation of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala, during both numerical and emotional tasks. Both of which areas are utilized in solving and controlling emotional confliction. This frequent play of violent aggressive video games lead to symptoms such as players being relatively more anxious, spike in increases of violent-related and aggressive behaviors for the short and long term period. In the study, it was noted that when players shot and fired a weapon in violent video game play, there was a suppression of emotional response in these areas to cope with their actions afterwards. This is seen in the posterior cingulate cortex, which serves for motor control, cognition, and planning activated by emotions, or in this case weapon usage. Some video games that can demonstrate these effects on humans are Fornite and Call of Duty.

“Choosing to attack is associated with greater activity in the posterior anterior cingulate cortex, while choosing to defend was associated with activity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex .” As demonstrated in the figure above, specific brain regions are active when choosing an attack or defend strategy. 

One of my favorite video games to play at the moment is Among Us. Among Us is a Social Deduction Game where one imposter tries to kill all the crewmates on board without exposing their identity. If seen killing, crewmates can report the killer and vote out the imposter. The crewmates are responsible for finishing as many simple tasks as they possibly can. Some of the brain functions involved in the game vary depending on the position you are assigned at the beginning of the game: crewmate or imposter. 

When playing the game Among Us strategies of how to operate are required, utilizing the frontal lobe to map out one’s judgement and impulse control. Controlling sensory movements in this action-filled game is crucial. Secondly, there is violence present in this game. So those in the positions of imposters will experience different activities in their brain than those who are crewmates. After the killing of a crewmate, the person playing the imposter will experience a suppression of emotional response after their killing, more specifically suppressed in the rostral angular cortex and the amygdala. Whereas the crewmate on the opposite hand, will feel emotions of reward and pleasure upon completion of their tasks and calling out those who may seem suspicious during the play of the game. This releases dopamine through the brian’s striatum. All in all, videogames all impact the players brain in different ways, having both positive and negative effects upon one’s cognition.

Works Cited:

Itgsnewsauthor. How Gaming Affects the Brain . 4 July 2015, 

www.itgsnews.com/how-gaming-affects-brain/. 

Izaak. (2020, September 22). How to play Among Us: Beginner’s guide, tutorial, and 

frequently asked questions. Retrieved November 01, 2020, from 

https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/how-play-among-us-beginner-s-guide-tutorial-fr

equently-asked-questions

Melissinos, Chris. Video Games Are One of the Most Important Art Forms in History . 22 Sept. 

2015, time.com/collection-post/4038820/chris-melissinos-are-video-games-art/. 

Palaus, Marc, et al. Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review . 22 May 2017, 

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5438999/. 

Robertson, Sally. What Is Grey Matter? 23 Aug. 2018, 

www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Grey-Matter.aspx. 

Staff, Science X. Brain: A ‘Cingular’ Strategy for Attack and Defense . 20 Apr. 2015, 

medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-brain-cingular-strategy-defense.html. 

West, Greg L., et al. Playing Super Mario 64 Increases Hippocampal Grey Matter in Older 

Adults . journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0187779. 

6 Comments Add yours

I really enjoyed your post! Although I don’t play video games that often, I definitely liked learning about how and why they activate different parts of the brain. I knew that playing lots of video games can be unhealthy for our minds and physical bodies, however, I didn’t realize that they could entirely shrink our frontal lobes in severe situations. I also enjoyed reading about the Among Us portion in your post as I might have had a slight obsession with it last month. I never even realized all the intricate connections between doing small tasks in an online game and how they affect different parts of my brain. Great read!

Hi Lyla, I love your post so much! It was well written and also intriguing. The strucure of this post was so clear that I could see an introduction, a positive effect part, a negative effect part, and a conclusion. When trying to explain some professional and biological stuffs, you perfectly used great and clear pictures to illustrate the explanation. Just as what Rishika said, I knew that it was definitely unhealthy for one who plays lots of video games, I failed to realize that video games could cause such severe situation such as shrinking the frontal lobes. Thanks you so much for bringing such good work to me!

Wow! Though I have heard of many of the positive effects of playing video games that you touched on like increased problem-solving skills and increased ability to work in teams, I had not heard much about the possible negative effects of gaming. In my experience, many negative claims I have heard about video games are brushed to the side and seen as a misunderstanding from an older, less informed generation. It was interesting to see activation in the posterior cingulate cortex as shown in figure 2, highlighting how the attack portion is activated during in-game attacks. Still, it was very cool to see both positive and negative effects explored in this post!

Hi Lyla, this is such an interesting post about arts and brain! I am also a player of both Mario and Among Us, and I really agree with your argument about the effect of the video game. Before reading your post, I haven’t realized how my brain would be affected by those video games and simply thought games could increase my brain activity. Now I get to know the specific areas like grey matter and frontal lobe will be impacted by the stimulus from games. It reminds me the reason why teenagers should not play too many video games. Proper time management on playing games can reduce the shrink on our frontal lobe, thus help maintain a normal function of controlling emotions and decision making. Thank you for posting it!

I really enjoyed this post and found it super relevant considering how much time people spend playing video games today. It was really interesting to hear about the different kinds of effects, both positive and negative, that video games can have on our brains. It seems to be important to find a balance so that one does not spend too much playing them. It may even be beneficial for someone to mix up what type of games they are playing so that the negative effects are less harmful. Overall, this was super interesting to read!

I really enjoyed reading this post and found it super relevant considering how much time people spend playing video games today. It was really interesting to hear about the different kinds of effects, both positive and negative, that video games can have on our brains. It seems to be important to find a balance so that one does not spend too much playing them. It may even be beneficial for someone to mix up what type of games they are playing so that the negative effects are less harmful. Overall, this was super interesting to read!

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The Real Social Benefits of Video Games

Online games can foster genuine psychological benefits and feelings of community, experts say.

The social benefits of gaming have been more widely acknowledged in recent years — plus, seventy-eight percent of gamers believe it actually helps them build relationships — but the general perception of video games isn’t always positive.

In some corners of culture, the long-held stereotype of gamers as socially maladjusted loners still persists. And when the social potential of gaming is acknowledged, it’s still brushed off as an inferior substitution to “real” human connection.

“Online games have been historically portrayed as what people in research call pseudo-communities,” said Dr. Rachel Kowert, the research director of the nonprofit Take This who studies the psychological effects of video games.

“The value of the social connections are assumed to be somehow less than the value of the social connections that we have in face-to-face interactions,” Kowert added. “But if you look at the research, that’s actually not true.”

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Benefits of Online Video Gaming

Gamers have many different reasons for playing. Sixty-six percent say they use video games to decompress, while 37 percent say they game to build problem-solving skills. Whatever motivations gamers have, many of them are able to tap into gaming’s benefits.  

Video Games Can Boost Social Connection 

Along with researchers from Edge Hill University and University of York, Kowert studied more than 700 players of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). The sample ranged from gamers who played as little as one hour per week to those who played 30 or more.

In findings published in 2017, the team found that MMO engagement correlated to a stronger sense of social identity, or how people self-identify based on their affiliation to groups. That social identity then corresponded with higher self-esteem and more social competence and lower levels of loneliness, the researchers found.

“It seemed to be quite a positive thing for the games we surveyed, which were all online multiplayer gamers,” said Dr. Linda Kaye, a senior lecturer in psychology at Edge Hill who specializes in cyberpsychology and co-authored the study.

It was positive both individually and in terms of a broader social connection. “Gamers often report that that common interest in itself can actually build friendships and relationships — so that common focus can be really important socially,” Kaye said.

There’s a growing body of other relevant research as well. Kowert edited a collection called Video Games and Well-Being: Press Start , in which authors incorporate a variety of academic research to explore the psychological benefits, including connectedness, of gaming. The first chapter functions as a travelogue of sorts of recent literature, including studies that showed World of Warcraft players expanding their social networks and evidence that social capital of the gaming variety “is positively related to higher levels of offline social support.”

“Gamers often report that that common interest in itself can actually build friendships and relationships — so that common focus can be really important socially.”

“When talking about how games can be socially valuable, there is a lot of research that specifically found reductions in loneliness and depression, and that it’s particularly valuable for people who are geographically isolated,” Kowert said.

She continued: “Face-to-face relationships and those formed within online gaming communities both provide what we call social capital, which is an all-encompassing term for the social resources that make a friendship a friendship.”

Online, game-rooted friendships “are as real as any offline friendships,” Kowert said, “and they shouldn’t be discredited just because they’re mediated through technology.”

Video Games Can Support Cognitive Skills

If you’ve ever wondered if games like Animal Crossing or Mario Kart can help contribute to cognitive development, the answer is yes. 

In a study of 2,217 children published in 2022, researchers found that cognitive performance, specifically in tasks related to memory and response inhibition, was better among children who played video games for around 21 hours a week compared to those who didn’t play any video games. 

And according to a 2013 study , video games can help improve problem-solving skills. This is especially true for open-world, mission-based games structured around completing many smaller tasks and puzzles to achieve a greater goal in the game. 

Gaming is good for your brain’s gray matter, the outer layer of brain tissue that contributes to motor skills, memory and emotional response. One study from 2015 compared gamers who had reached expert levels in action-based video games with novice players. The researchers found that expert players had increased volumes of gray matter and greater functional connectivity. 

Video Games Can Improve Mental Health

It was once common to think that video games weren’t good for your mental health, but that notion is changing too. 

A 2014 paper published in Frontiers of Psychology found a link between gaming and improved mental health. 

“We propose that video games, by their very nature, have design elements aligned with attributes of well-being, and that playing video games can provide opportunities for flourishing mental health,” the paper’s authors wrote. 

People who regularly play video games may experience decreased levels of stress too. A 2009 study found that casual video gaming created changes in brain activity consistent with improved mood and less avoidant behavior.

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Video Games and Screen Time for Children 

Not all digital interactions are created equal. Some screen time activities may be more fulfilling than others. “Games are unique because they’re different from online social interaction that lacks the element of a shared activity,” Kowert said.

That shared activity — the sense of a common goal or communal competition — fosters friendships in a way that, say scrolling through a newsfeed might not. “Think of it like team sports,” Kowert said. “There’s a difference between playing soccer with friends and having coffee with friends. You’re building camaraderie and close ties.”

That may be a consideration as parents struggle with whether to moderate screen time. Kowert’s advice? In a word: Balance. 

“Parents need to give themselves more leeway,” said Kowert, who’s already more skeptical than some about how we frame screen-time concerns. “And there’s no research that has found that screens are inherently negative,” she said.

Indeed, research out of the Oxford Internet Institute has notably cast doubt on several longstanding video-gaming concerns, including the notion of gaming disorder, the idea that violent games promote aggression and the worry that screen time diminishes well-being among young people. There is “little evidence for substantial negative associations between digital-screen engagement ... and adolescent well-being,” researchers wrote . 

“Parents need to give themselves more leeway, and there’s no research that has found that screens are inherently negative.”

That study is not without its critics, including psychologist and iGen author Jean Twenge, who found conflicting results using the same data . And the authors themselves admitted “we don’t understand fully the impact of big tech on our society.” 

But Kowert, for one, finds the research compelling, so it might be best to fret less, she said. “Give yourself a little bit more flexibility, not only to give yourself time for your own mental well-being, but also to leverage it as an educational tool,” she said.

Also, it comes back to habits, Kaye said by way of a food analogy. “We don’t talk about eating time or food time, but there are many healthy eating behaviors and many unhealthy behaviors,” she said. “So when we talk about screen time generally, it seems a bit nonsensical to not distinguish between healthy and unhealthy.”

No one is confusing Fortnite with edtech , but online social games would seem to have some leg up. “Anything where you’re actively engaging, preferably with other people in a healthy way, is going to be the healthiest kind of screen time behavior,” Kaye added.

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How to Get Started with Social Online Video Games 

There’s no doubt that video game usage is surging . But are there any online games that are particularly well suited to maximize social engagement? Do any have particularly welcoming communities? And are there any platforms that don’t require hefty console investments?

Steam is one to consider, Kowert said. The online gaming platform doesn’t require a console, holds regular flash sales and includes a chat function that players can use to connect even if they’re not immersed in the same gaming universe. “You don’t have to be playing the same games together, but you still have that feeling of connection and communication,” Kowert said.

There’s always the console in your hand too. “There are many free-to-play mobile games that are also emotionally connecting, games like Words With Friends ,” Kowert said. And racing side-scrollers are also a good way to play with either strangers or friends, Kaye said.

“It’s about finding alternative ways of keeping [face-to-face] connections and conversations going, and using more creative virtual ways to do so.”

As for non-mobile games, Kowert points to Minecraft , the beloved, all-ages sandbox bestseller, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons . ( One reviewer likened the wholesome, private-island sim to a warm blanket in troubled times.) She also recommends Stardew Valley , the indie-phenom farming simulator, which unveiled a co-op feature in 2018. “If you just want to play with someone who maybe lives on the other side of the city, but you can’t see right now, that’s a good option,” Kowert said.

Of course, simply firing up Fortnite won’t instantaneously transform the those who might feel lonely  into online social butterflies. “Some players can be in social environments and still not interact much with others,” said Kaye, pointing to a 2006 research paper that explored the “alone together” phenomenon in MMOs.

But in extremely online times, we might as well try all the help we can get. “It’s about finding alternative ways of keeping [face-to-face] connections and conversations going,” Kaye said, “and using more creative virtual ways to do so.”

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Home » Blog » What Video Games Can Help Improve Problem Solving Skills

What Video Games Can Help Improve Problem Solving Skills

• June 9, 2022

Problems are part and parcel of our daily lives. We all stumble across life with numerous issues at any given point in time. Some can solve them easily, while others take time. What is the difference between these two? It is their approach towards the problem.

Problems can be a blessing in disguise, and one needs to be able to see the potential of self-improvement in them.

One of the easiest ways that you must consider for  improving your problem-solving  skills is by playing video games, solving puzzles, online casino games, and more. Problems delay your thoughts, your actions, and all your plans. Without striving to overcome all these stumbling blocks in your direction, the possibilities of getting stuck in between traffic lights are high. You don’t want your goals to be messed up! So training your mind to break the loop and progress through reasoning will help build your problem-solving skills.

Fat Santa free play is available for a demo game, you can absolutely test your instinct and decision-making skills.

Grand Theft Auto (GTA)

If you are in a situation of being given a lot of tasks, time and deadlines, try to act like you are the character of GTA. Multi-tasking can improve your problem-solving skills because you are challenged to continue your work without any disturbances. You become more focused on accomplishing goals and finding solutions even if you receive tons of tasks on your desk.

As a matter of fact, video games have become more complicated. In order to assess the comprehension level of an individual in terms of business, work, and other community relationships, they prove to be good tools.

MOBA Games (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena)

How can you solve problems logically if you are afraid to socialize? Do you have trust issues when working with somebody? Your social abilities are advantageous, especially when you are strategizing solutions and are involved in teamwork.

These MOBA games , such as DOTA, Mobile Legends, League of Legends, and more, allow you to set up your microphones, headsets, or even cameras in order to talk to your teammates during the game. You can detonate obstacles in one snap through collaboration. It helps build one’s social skills and opens one’s mind to a lot of avenues.

Call of Duty

There is no doubt that Call of Duty is very well-known because it trains you to be a visual observer, and your spatial awareness is also stimulated. COD teaches you to become goal-oriented, and that makes you a good example of a solution provider.

Given a situation, if you were monitoring the system of your company used by different departments and suddenly program errors started to occur.  Your resilience to not break under pressure is the only thing that can save you during the said crisis. This is just an example of how Call of Duty influences your problem-solving strategy.

Magic Poker

Another tip to take note of improving problem-solving skills is judgment and prediction. Poker is very popular amongst gamblers for its need for the right judgment abilities. Betting a higher coin value will increase the bet amount, and you will have to create a good card combination to aim for the jackpot. This is where you can brush up on your judgment skills and get yourself a win. Once you hit it, you can half or double your stakes. Do not compromise a good prediction because you may end up going home and broke.

4 Problem Solving Aspects that Video Games Enhance

As Albert Einstein once said , “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” This quote encourages everyone to keep on learning and reading in order to advance and develop our existing problem-solving skills. And when speaking of video games, there is a pool of skills that you can further develop.

Critical Thinking

Video games are created involving ways to train the player to think wisely and precisely no matter what the situation is. Offline and online games can be designed in different genres, but most challenging games, such as strategy games, require the player’s good analysis and reasoning capabilities. If you can analyze a difficult situation, then you are strong enough to surpass it.

Video games are very influential, especially if you are just at home and recently bought your PS5. If you are the person who excels in creativity while trying to win an opponent’s battle plan, you can counter your problems with a super skill.

The devil is in the details. They distract you from accomplishing your to-do list and ended up with a day-over. Video games enhance your focus and attention to get you to the desired point. You are trained to observe every single detail of a situation. This skill will also help you in enhancing your approach to a particular challenge.

Enhanced Visual Memory

Like a jigsaw puzzle, you are challenged to shape yourself from being shattered into pieces by your frustrations. When playing with puzzles, you become more attentive to remembering each piece, the size, color, shape and picture. Your memory is enhanced visually in order for you to identify the correct pieces and make your moves.

Tips for Playing Games

Gaming does not only involve fun time but also remarkable mental strategies. In order to be able to maximize the chances of success, one has to carefully create strategies.

Below are some pointers for approaching a challenge:

• Be careful with your time and plan ahead.
• Choose your battles wisely and never play if you don’t understand the game rules.
• Stick to a particular genre or a game if you want to master and entrust your winnings.
• Take advantage of the streams and gameplay because these may help you win or update your strategy.
• Lastly, do not disregard classic or ‘children’ games, such as chess or tic-tac-toe, because they are the backbone of most modern strategy games.

Games like chess force you to consider a wide array of possibilities and outcomes. It enhances your pattern recognition skills, and helps you learn to think strategically. Chess.com has apps for iPhones and Android devices.

We are all players in life. Sometimes we take home the crown, and sometimes we arrive home as losers. Winning your problems is the jackpot that everyone wants to achieve. Thanks to online game

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How Online Games Help You Develop Solution-finding skills

Posted by Sponsored | Jul 23, 2020 | Classifieds | 0

Video games are one of the best ways to spend your free time. The more popular online games are become, the more hooked we’ve gotten. You can access your favorite games using a laptop, smartphone, or tablet. Also, these games are available for everyone.

While they are fun to play, some critics have argued that spending too much time playing video games wastes time and precious energy. Video games are seen by some as something that is addictive and making people lazy.

Scientific studies have discovered that video games improve people’s creativity and problem-solving skills. They also improve financial management skills in the long run.

Video games and problem-solving skills

There are five core ways in which video games improve your ability to solve problems. Let’s look at them:

1. Learning from mistakes

Video games help players learn from their mistakes. When you make a mistake while playing your favorite game, you usually realize it on the spot. If you tried to overtake your competitors before turning that sharp corner, you learn to understand what distances are enough to beat your competitors.

You constantly adjust to the game’s environment. And this is a critical life skill. There is nothing that can stop someone who can learn from his mistakes in our modern world. As you play, you realize that you have to change your strategy or tactic instead of giving up.

2. Practice makes perfect

As you play video games regularly, you’ll go through an experience that scientists refer to as deep practice. This means that you’ll repeat something over and over again until you master the essential skills.

For instance, if you get shot by your enemies at a certain point in the game, you’ll get the same results every time until you change your tactic. This might seem frustrating but it is very useful especially when solving problems.

Deep practice improves your performance on gamblizard and helps you make the most out of the deposit bonuses available. You’ll learn to put your mind into solving the problems you are currently facing.

3. Trying out new things

Video games improve problem-solving skills because they allow you to try out different things without costing you a lot. For instance, if you are playing a puzzle game, you’ll keep trying out new things to figure out what works.

The trial and error approach is useful in the gaming world and real-life because it boosts your confidence. Most people avoid solving problems because they think they don’t know how to solve them. However, video games teach us that solutions are not always obvious and there’s no harm in trying out new things.

4. Games boost creativity

So, how are video games linked to creativity? Video games help your brain recover lost energies and reset. When you are playing a non Gamstop Book of Dead slots UK , you immerse yourself in it. And this allows your brain to form new connections and solve problems accurately. The number of tasks you’ll need to perform to solve your problems in life requires some degree of creativity.

5. Knowing when to give up

Video games are great tools at teaching you when to give up. In real life, you’ll keep trying out different ways to solve your problems. In a video game, you get feedback almost immediately.

Since you won’t try using the same tactic repeatedly, you’ll learn that not all solutions or strategies you come up with will be effective at solving problems . You’ll know when you are wasting time and when you are actually solving a problem.

Flexibility is key when you are trying to solve problems. Trying out new things is a critical key to solving your problems.

Video games improve your creativity and problem-solving skills. But this doesn’t mean that you should sit in front of your computer all day long. You need to improve yourself by reading books, watching tutorials, exercising regularly, eating nutritious foods, and socializing with your loved ones. A single hobby shouldn’t consume your entire day.

Don’t be afraid to play video games for a few minutes or hours after a long day at school or work. Video games help your mind relax and boost your creativity. There are lots of online games that you can play without having to pay for anything. Research extensively on the best video games in the market to avoid making mistakes.

Paul Calderon is a professional journalist, content creator, and editor. He encourages students to try out new ways to solve problems and unlock their potential. During his leisure time, he walks his dog or travels with friends.

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