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They then accessed data for more than 5,000 of those children two years later. Over the intervening period, those in the study who reported spending more time t
by aurareturn 2y ago
They then accessed data for more than 5,000 of those children two years later. Over the intervening period, those in the study who reported spending more time than the norm on video games saw an increase of 2.5 IQ points above the average rise.
I hate to be that guy. I know everyone hates this phrase. But I'm going to say it anyway.
Correlation does not imply causation.
It's possible that higher IQ kids are naturally more drawn towards video games since video games let them solve puzzles and/or compete intellectually.
That said, I could believe a game such as Starcraft where fast thinking, hand eye coordination, and a healthy dose of game theory can improve cognitive abilities over a long period. After all, nature made it fun to play in order to practice our skillset, and video games are a form of playing. It's just that I've never seen a study that can conclusive prove this.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- high_na_euv 2y agoGames like LoL or MMORPGs can require you to learn how to improve because without it you will be stuck at some elo/levels
- wincy 2y agoLoL just taught me how to lose friends and alienate people by screaming at them. I just stay away from competitive games, my blood boils when my friend doesn't heal or whatever. I realized it was very unhealthy for me to play. I only play coop or single player games now.
- high_na_euv 2y agoIf you managed to overcome rage and those bad habits then it would be very useful lesson from the game
- kwanbix 2y agoWhat puzzle or intelectual competition does a game like Fortnite provide? I mean, there are lots of things, like coordination, reflex, but I don't see much intelectuality. Maybe learning where to be?
- jusssi 2y agoFiguring out patterns and behaviors, developing a strategy that works on them. My competitive FPS experience is from Quake/Quake 2/Early CS era, but from what little gameplay I've seen the modern ones don't seem that different.
- scarmig 2y agoYou're competing against other agents, with some combination of planning, coordination, and motor skills. That drives learning. The video game modality is incidental to the learning process.
- nickpeterson 2y agoMost newer games are just weird forms of social media (Roblox), so I kind of doubt it improves intelligence…
- karel-3d 2y agoIt's hard to prove causation in any human kid development though, because - for good reasons - we are not allowed to experiment on kids, and have the studies sufficiently long-running. That's why it's surprisingly hard to find a real scientific guides what is actually good for kid development... all we have are some weak correlations.
- lolinder 2y agoWhich doesn't mean we should overstate those weak correlations as casual. Parents do read things like this and it creates an enormous amount of stress to see the "science" pull in so many different directions. The only real ways out are to just follow the research that backs your own preconceptions or give up on following the science at all and just reason from first principles and adapt dynamically to your child. The former is where most people end up—cherry picking the studies that "prove" they're already right—and the stronger we state the results the worse that effect becomes.