Playing Action Video Games Makes You Smarter Than 'Brain Games' Do

Crissy Milazzo
Updated
In a new article, the argument is made for certain video games as cognitive learning tools.

Remember the name of that app designed to make your memory better that was popular for like, a month, two years ago? Neither do I. Perhaps that's a testament to how ineffective the game was. Maybe we would've all been better off playing 'Halo.'

In a new article, the argument is made for certain video games as cognitive learning tools. This article is published from a new issue of Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, a Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) journal published by SAGE, PsyPost reports. The researchers describe their theory:

“The term video games refers to thousands of quite disparate types of experiences, anything from simple computerized card games to richly detailed and realistic fantasy worlds, from a purely solitary activity to an activity including hundreds of others, etc. A useful analogy is to the term food – one would never ask, ‘What is the effect of eating food on the body?’ Instead, it is understood that the effects of a given type of food depend on the composition of the food such as the number of calories; the percentage of protein, fat, and carbohydrates; the vitamin and mineral content; and so on."

The researchers find that action video games- "games that feature quickly moving targets that come in and out of view, include large amounts of clutter, and that require the user to make rapid, accurate decisions" – show significant learning gains for those who play them, even more than so-called 'brain games' that are meant to have greater impacts.

They do go on to note that video games have been previously associated with shorter attention spans and adverse effects on social skills, especially in children when it comes to the classroom. But they conclude: "Video games, by their very nature, involve predominately active forms of learning (i.e., making responses and receiving immediate informative feedback), which is typically more effective than passive learning.”

So — who's down to have a LAN party next weekend?

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