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| AUGUST 18, 2008 |
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Surgeons can blast asteroids to raise dexterity skills
Video games not all bad, psychologists say
Video games not all bad, psychologists say
The findings were contained in a raft of research about how video games effect the people
who play them, discussed Sunday at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological
Association in Boston.
"The big picture is that there are several dimensions in which games have effects," including
their content, how they are played, and how much, said psychologist Douglas Gentile of Iowa
State University.
"This means that games are not 'good' or 'bad' but are powerful educational tools and have
many effects we might not have expected they could."
Gentile presented several studies on video games including one involving 33 surgeons
specializing in laparoscopy, the use of a thin lighted tube to inspect and treat various
conditions in the pelvic and abdominal cavities.
Laparoscopic surgeons who played video games were 27 percent faster at advanced
surgical procedures, and made 37 percent fewer errors, compared to their non-gaming
colleagues, the study found.
Studies involving high school and college students confirmed previous findings about the
social effects of playing violent video games, the Iowa State researchers said.
Students who played violent games were more hostile, less forgiving, and more apt to view
violence as normal, than peers who played non-violent games.
But students who played "prosocial" games got into fewer fights at school and were more
helpful to other students, the researchers reported.
Yet another study, at Fordham University, measured the effect of learning a new video game
on problem-solving skills in middle-school-age children and found that "playing video games
can improve cognitive and perceptual skills."
"Certain types of video games can have beneficial effects improving gamers' dexterity as well
as their ability to problem-solve -- attributes that have proven useful not only to students but to
surgeons," the researchers found.
who play them, discussed Sunday at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological
Association in Boston.
"The big picture is that there are several dimensions in which games have effects," including
their content, how they are played, and how much, said psychologist Douglas Gentile of Iowa
State University.
"This means that games are not 'good' or 'bad' but are powerful educational tools and have
many effects we might not have expected they could."
Gentile presented several studies on video games including one involving 33 surgeons
specializing in laparoscopy, the use of a thin lighted tube to inspect and treat various
conditions in the pelvic and abdominal cavities.
Laparoscopic surgeons who played video games were 27 percent faster at advanced
surgical procedures, and made 37 percent fewer errors, compared to their non-gaming
colleagues, the study found.
Studies involving high school and college students confirmed previous findings about the
social effects of playing violent video games, the Iowa State researchers said.
Students who played violent games were more hostile, less forgiving, and more apt to view
violence as normal, than peers who played non-violent games.
But students who played "prosocial" games got into fewer fights at school and were more
helpful to other students, the researchers reported.
Yet another study, at Fordham University, measured the effect of learning a new video game
on problem-solving skills in middle-school-age children and found that "playing video games
can improve cognitive and perceptual skills."
"Certain types of video games can have beneficial effects improving gamers' dexterity as well
as their ability to problem-solve -- attributes that have proven useful not only to students but to
surgeons," the researchers found.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Playing video games improves manual dexterity
among surgeons, making them faster and less likely to make
mistakes, US researchers have said.
among surgeons, making them faster and less likely to make
mistakes, US researchers have said.