Are Video Games Harmful or Will They Make Your Kids Very Intelligent?

There was a big debate about this in 2009. See here. Computer games were generally found to be beneficial

The debate about whether or not screen time is harmful has been around for years. Some people believe that screen time, especially for children, is bad because it stunts their development and impairs their ability to think creatively.

Others claim that screen time can actually have positive effects. A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports provides some evidence for the latter claim.

Researchers at Karolinska University in Sweden studied how screen time relates to intelligence. The study produced some interesting results about the effects of various screen activities on intelligence.

The study looked at thousands of US children

In the study, conducted over a two-year period, the IQ scores of a group of children aged 8–10 years were followed.

The study examined the cognitive abilities of more than 9,000 boys and girls. In the beginning, the children completed a series of tests to measure their intelligence. The tests included measures of memory, attention and problem-solving skills.

Parents were also asked how much time their child spends watching TV and videos, playing video games and using social media.

The researchers studied 5,000 of the children again after 2 years. They asked the children to repeat the psychological tests to examine how their performance changed from one testing session to another.

The researchers also controlled for individual differences in the first test, such as genetic differences that might affect intelligence and differences that might be related to parents’ education level and income. This gave them a more accurate picture of how different factors influence intelligence.

Playing video games is better than watching TV

The results showed that those who played more games than the average increased their intelligence by about 2.5 IQ points between the two measurements.

No significant positive or negative effect of TV -watching or social media was found. These results suggest that not all activities are equal in terms of screen time.

Playing video games appears to have a positive effect on intelligence, while time spent on social media doesn’t appear to have a significant effect.

This study provides valuable insight into how different screen activities affect children’s intellectual development.

Conclusion

Contrary to popular belief, spending time staring at screens doesn’t seem to have a negative impact on children’s cognitive abilities, as this recent study shows.

In fact, the study found that playing video games can boost intelligence.

The researchers haven’t yet examined how screen time affects other factors, such as physical activity or school performance.

We didn’t examine the effects of screen behaviour on physical activity, sleep, wellbeing or school performance, so we can’t say anything about that,” says Torkel Klingberg, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet.

However, these findings are consistent with several experimental studies on video game playing, which suggest that this activity can improve hand-eye coordination, problem-solving skills, and more.

https://medium.com/our-world-tomorrow/are-video-games-harmful-or-will-they-make-your-kids-very-intelligent-21f4ad6b9cb8

*********************************************