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Games Entertainment

Studies that Focus on the Benefits of Computer Gaming? 33

Posted by Cliff from the intellectual-backing-for-our-own-brand-of-propaganda dept.
Mitch Wagner asks: "Are you aware of any studies that research the BENEFICIAL effects of computer gaming? Here's why I ask: I volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul Village homeless shelter computer lab here in San Diego. Homeless men and women come into the lab to search the Internet for jobs, communicate by e-mail, and learn to use computers and the Internet. Recently, the lab installed computer games on several of the machines. From what I've observed, contrary to popular wisdom, computer gaming is a wholesome activity. It teaches people to use computers, learn problem-solving skills, think and - because the players frequently play in teams, or against each other, or looking over each other's shoulders - the players learn how to solve problems and interact in groups. These lessons are especially valuable because many of the clients are emotionally underdeveloped, lack problem-solving skills,and have difficulty working and playing with others. My observation is that time spent in the computer lab is time that the homeless clients are NOT taking drugs, NOT drinking, NOT being violent and ARE using their minds. We'd like to find some kind of studies to test our observations. Are you aware of any? I did some Googling and found two, but I'd like to find some studies that are more conclusive."

"According to research performed at the University of Bristol, video games teach strategic and planning skills that teacher's find necessary to student learning. The study was conducted on 700 7- to 16-year-old boys and girls, however we can theorize those findings might well also apply to adults, especially the kinds of emotionally underdeveloped adults likely to find themselves in a homeless shelter.

The Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science at Case Western Reserve University notes that computer games can help users learn to use a mouse.

Full disclosure: When I'm not volunteering, my day job is as a journalist, and I might want to do an article on this subject. If that makes you uncomfortable, please let me know. I'm not trying to pull anything here - I really and truly am primarily motivated by a desire to help out the clients at SVDP Village."
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Studies that Focus on the Benefits of Computer Gaming? More

Studies that Focus on the Benefits of Computer Gaming?

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  • It seems to me that saying x is good because there are other things that could be done is a pretty poor argument. Yes, they could be killing people. Yes, they could be snorting cocaine. But you're overlooking the fact that they could also be reading or playing baseball/soccer/whatever and getting some exercise. The only benefit of computer games I can see is that it might (emphasis on might) get the kids interested in computer science and/or programming. I'll admit that video games are slightly better than television, because if anything they aren't being spoon-fed corporate brainwashing, but they're still letting their bodies waste away for a slight improvement in their mind's reaction times and hand-eye coordination.
    • infornogr, there's a fatal flaw in your argument - you're assuming that playing computer games is ALL that the clients are doing. Sure, if you sit at a computer and play games all day, your brain and body will turn to mush. But these clients are up early, they spend all day working on keeping the homeless shelter up and running (there isn't a staff of cooks and custodians - the clients do that work). They get intensive counseling, job training, GED programs and other education.

  • Spelling... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cperciva ( 102828 ) on Sunday September 22, 2002 @01:09PM (#4307256) Homepage
    I learned to spell by playing Sierra adventure games -- King's Quest I/II/III, Space Quest I/II -- where you had to move to the right position on the screen and then type the action you wanted to take.

    Newer games, which simply require pointing and clicking, lack this benefit.
  • There was a study a while back that showed that gaming improves hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills...
    • I don't know if it's true, or if it's simply anecdotal, but I do remember hearing somewhere how the USAF (United States Air Force) had arcade machines placed in its bars and recreational centres to further promote hand-eye coordination amongst pilots and other personnel.

      I know for a fact (but I'm busy right now so can't go searching for links) that both the US and British armies have developed computer games that are intended to promote a range of skills, including hand-eye coordination, situational awareness, lateral awareness, team-building and other abilities that would be invaluable in the field.

      As with everything, if it's useful then the military will be amongst the first to exploit it.
      • My brother developed amblyopia (a.k.a. "Lazy Eye") [strabismus.org] pretty early in his life. They started out simply treating him by patching the good eye and forcing the "bad" one to work harder. But they went overboard and wound up causing ambyopia in the good eye. When we went to a second doctor to solve the new problem, he gave my brother a new assignment: Wear the patch half the day and then play video games when you got home from school. Playing the games forced the eyes to work together and strengthened them both. Would not have been enough without the patch-wearing as well, but together they were a very effective treatment. Today, his eyes are equal partners in his vision.
        • Just don't try to play (true) 3D games (with googles).

          I have Strabismus. I can only see in two dimensions because my eyes were never aligned properly while developing, so I can "switch" between which eye I'm looking out of.

          Made my growth-spurt and stairs a little difficult (-:

          S

  • Also looking for (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Hello slashdot; I'm looking for studies that focus on the benefit of Smoking, and wife beating. You see I'm running shelter and we're not allowed to smoke, but I thought if I could find some pro-smoking studies I could convince the boss I could smoke on the job. The wife beating is just a perk.

  • Bundled Windows Games (Score:4, Interesting)

    by WIAKywbfatw ( 307557 ) on Sunday September 22, 2002 @06:02PM (#4308391) Journal
    Solitaire, Freecell, Minesweeper.

    Q. What do they have in common?

    A. They are all fun ways for computer novices to learn how to use a mouse.

    Furthermore, they help reluctant and scared users - the ones that are afraid to go even near a PC in case they "break" it - to interact with their machines in a relaxed (and non-critical) way, and thereby help them overcome any fears or phobias they may have about using a computer.
    • Once Solitaire bluescreened my mom. Though I doubt it was solitaire itself, my mom wouldn't touch it until I had done something about it.

      I changed the background and said I reinstalled Windows.

  • GAMES! My mom wouldn't touch a computer until I show her that she could play bridge on it. I also believe that is why MS put solitare on Windows 3.1. To get people used to a mouse and windows.

  • Computer games can be just as addictive as drugs.
    It has the ability to distract people's daily lives.

    These people will come to your lab to play games.
    They should be doing something more productive
    Soon you'll find people fighting over your computer stations, because they want to play so badly.

    They may not be talking about drugs. But they should be talking about jobs.
    • He is helping these people out. He's volunteering at the center. You have a better idea, then volunteer yourself.

      Certain drugs are far more addictive than any computer game. Learn a little about the biology of addiction, with nicotine or alcohol as examples.

      This is why I'm impatient with phrases like chocaholism, or computer addiction. Sure, it's possible to put such an emphasis on an activity that it's destructive, but if you've ever dealt with people with biological addiction problems you'll recognize the difference. Don't trivialize biological addiction. It is not the same, and the psychiatric profession knows this.

      Get out and play soccer? Look, he's talking about teaching these people the fundamentals of working with others. He's talking about fundamental problem solving skills and emotional control. Soccer would probably be nice, but might be a little ambitious.

      Ideally, they should have loving functional families & tailored educational activities, but considering that many of these people die from medicable problems but don't have access to care, or starve, or die of exposure on the street, the benefits of computer games at a job training program are a bonus. (It's not easy to die of exposure in San Diego, but there are enough sick and malnourished homeless that it happens.)

      They are talking about jobs. That's what the computer lab is for, but face it: Without basic problem solving skills or the ability to work with others, they aren't working at McDonalds.

      To the guy who said he couldn't imagine the benefits of computer games other than getting "the kids interested in compter science" Read the article. He specified other benefits.

      Please don't think I'm being sarcastic, but if you think these people need help they aren't getting, I think you shoud get involved with helping them yourself. They need the help.
  • Are you going to disregard any studies that don't agree with your premise? This is what you seem to be doing, and it is flawed. You should be looking at all studies as you research your article. If you approach this with an open mind you will be better able to defend your position, assuming that you still cling to it after reading the evidence.

    Here's a hypothetical for you. Lets say that you find 100 studies. As far as you can tell all of them are unbiased. They don't assume that video games are good or bad, they just want to measure the effects. Now lets say that 90 of the studies say that it turns out that video games are bad, and 10 say that they do more good than harm. Will you simply ignore the 90 studies because you don't agree with them?

    I am not saying that games are good or bad. I am just saying that you approach seems strange to me. What kind of journalist are you?

    That said, I will mention that waayyyy back when Doug;as Englebart was inventing the mouse at SRI he found that even if you give someone a messed up mouse that has funny movement, people learn to compensate for this within a minute or two. The conclusion was that using a mouse, even a messed up one, is incredibly easy. I really doubt that someone needs to play Diablo to "learn" how to use a mouse.

  • Check out http://cms.mit.edu/games/education/, MIT's Comparative Media Studies' Games to Teach department.

  • Sure...for homeless people (Score:3, Interesting)

    by cybermace5 ( 446439 ) <g.ryan@macetech.com> on Monday September 23, 2002 @01:09PM (#4312557) Homepage Journal
    Yeah...for the typical bums I know, time spent playing computer games would be pretty beneficial. For them, there are a lot of worse things they could be doing.

    For us, maybe not as much. I'm not going to go pick pockets or drink booze while sitting in the gutter instead of taking care of my family. But computer games are pretty close to zero benefit. They are a fun way to spend an afternoon with friends, or when you have absolutely nothing better to do (or don't want to try). I don't have a TV because it's even worse of a time waster.

    You shouldn't play video games to the point that any study applies to you. Mix it up, try different things. I'm not against the occasional gaming marathon, or a good RPG that grabs you for a few days. But don't go out and buy another one right away...dust off the bike, rollerblades, R/C airplane, whatever.
  • Thanks, obtuse, you seem to understand where I am coming from.

    pardasaniman - I see no evidence that computer games are addictive.

    Several of you seem to be assuming assuming that all we're doing is parking the homeless clients in front of a computer game and shoveling food into it. That's not true at all - from what I've seen in my limited perspective as a volunteer, St. Vincent De Paul Village is a boot camp for homelessness. The clients live in barracks-style housing, they are up early - a hell of a lot earlier than I am - they clean the housing themselves, work in the kitchen preparing food. There are STRICT rules at the shelter, and even light infractions on those rules can get the client thrown back out on the street. The clients get job training, education, and a rigorous course of counseling.

    Sure, the computer games are a leisure activity, but it seems to me that even a homeless person living on charity ought to be able to have a little fun every day.

    John Harrison asks whether I'm going to disregared any studies that don't agree with my premise? He wants to know why my question is so biased? My response: I've seen plenty of those studies already. I'm looking now for the other side of the issue.l

    slustbader - Thanks!

    cybermace5 writes:

    But computer games are pretty close to zero benefit. They are a fun way to spend an afternoon with friends, or when you have absolutely nothing better to do (or don't want to try). I don't have a TV because it's even worse of a time waster.

    So fun itself is zero benefit?

  • Hi I tried to find a study that would help you but failed. Perhaps there are no studies in this area. (I fail to see how moderators can mod up posts which don't actually refer to studies, as that is what was asked for...). Perhaps you could study your residents (if this is legal, the governing body doesn't mind, etc, etc.)

    I can see two benefits to games in the shelter. One it keeps the residents in the program. From my limited experience with the unhoused, this would seem a tremendous benefit to most (most needing some kind of help). The second is their emotional growth, which you described. This latter point would be tough to measure. Perhaps a psychology or sociology graduate student could help. They should be eager for a thesis topic. If interested, the best people to call are department secrataries. They usually can tell you which professor would be most helpful.

    The first kind of help the residents get may be easier to measure - you just count them and see if the ones who play games stay longer (on average). I assume there is some kind of "graduation" from the program. You could see if that event became more likely with those residents who played the games. Perhaps you could also see if the rate of rule breaking is reduced in those who play games. I'm sure you will know which (if any) of these make sense for your situation.

    I hate reducing things as complicated, beautiful and powerful as people or emotions to numbers, but if you can measure a benefit, you can write about it in a more concrete way and perhaps spread the benefit to other, similar, shelters. Journal papers could be written. Grants could be written - if for nothing else than for further study. (Since this forum has a libritarian tinge to it I will add: money is allocated for studies and programs like this right now. The gatekeepers of this money assumedly choose from a field of valid proposals thus will choose to follow this only if it is better than the alternatives.)

    You may say: I am not an academic I cannot (1) write a study about this or (2) analyize the number to quantify the study. On the first point, I would recommend you try to talk to academics in related fields. But the fields are complicated and the experts may not know as much as you.

    On the second point, I will compute any statistical quantities about your data that you (or they) want. I am a physicist so I can probably compute any quantity in the socail sciences. I will spend the time to do this to the best of my ability as it sounds important to me. I cannot guarentee the statistics will be great (hey, I have 10^20 manganese atoms in my sample, you probably have around 20 to 100 people...) but I will compute whatever is needed for this kind of study.
    Honest.

    Cheers,

    Greg G. Wood
    gregory.wood@csun.edu
  • I sure hope video games have a positive influence..So far, they just make me late for everything, or better yet, make me forego things like sleeping and eating. Though I must admit, my click and drag skills developed from years of gaming have come in quite handy more than once.. and yes, I am convinced that the world is programmed and there is a right answer for every problem...

    Sad fact is, if I had spent all the time I have in front of a video game on something like, say, a martial art, I would probably be ninja-like by now...

  • If you don't think games can be addictive, you are sorely mistaken.

    Look into the likes of Everquest (EQ) or other Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs). People have committed suicide, some have experienced withdrawls, some people have gone without food and sleep for days on end, and many have been divorced or lost jobs, all because of this game. Search for EQ widows on the internet.

    Most players of this game semi-jokingly refer to it as EverCrack, and speak of getting there "daily fix". While many think it is a joke, I personally believe that they sub-consciously feel otherwise. The EQ community is not an entirely small. Sony reports over 400,000 paying subscribers.

    I have been interested in games research and have come across a number of studies that have been done on this one single game. I believe slashdot itself has linked at least two in the past.

    Disclaimer: I devote about 20 hours/week in addition to my life with my wife and my full time job. I have played it ~3 years and have taken a number of 1+ month breaks from it.
    • adamtegen - We do not plan to hook the computer lab at the homeless shelter to MMORPGs. So far, we've got standalone shrinkwrap PC games installed on those PCs. I'm not sure what the inventory is - I'm pretty sure there's a "Star Trek: Voyager" game on there.

      The clients will NOT have an opportunity to sit at the gamnes all day, every day, and turn into mouse potatos. They're required to do a couple of hours of chores a day - cleaning up around the shelter, helping with cooking - they get training and counseling.

      Moreover, since there is sometimes a shortage of PCs, there is a rule in place that game-players take back-seat to people doing immediately productive work. If someone is playing a game on a PC, and someone else comes into the lab needing ot type up a resume, then the person playing the game has to relinquish his computer.

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