Scientific article: beneficial aspects of video games for human development

Beneficial Aspects of Video Games for Human Development Samia23 Player with 8 years of experience, eSports player with 2 years of experience, user of the Russian online gaming portal StopGame.ru 26.09.2022. StopGame/Blog E-mail: [email protected]

Useful Aspects of Video Games for Human Development

Samia23 Player with 8 years of experience, esportsman with 2 years of experience, Russian gaming user Internet portal StopGame.ru 09/26/2022. StopGame/Blog E-mail: [email protected]

This article is devoted to the analysis of the comprehensive influence of video games on the physical and mental state of a person. Next, we will touch upon such aspects of the gaming industry as: the interactive capabilities of modern video games and their effect on the player’s brain, myths about gaming addiction and some nuances on this subject from the medical side, the global influence of video games on culture and the acquisition of the title of a modern art form. Some genres of video games will also be named, which for some reason have clear, useful advantages over other genres.

This article is dedicated to the analysis of the comprehensive impact of video games on the physical and mental state of a person. Further, such aspects of the gaming industry will be touched upon as: the interactive capabilities of modern video games and their effect on the player’s brain, myths about gambling addiction and some nuances on the part of medicine, the global impact of video games on culture and the acquisition of the title of a modern art form. Some genres of video games will also be named, which, for some reason, have clear advantages over other genres.

Key words: video games, influence, addiction, art, game genres, interactivity, benefits of games.

Keywords: video-games, influence, addiction, art, game genres, interactivity, benefits of games.

If you try to give a precise definition of video games, you can get that games are a kind of program with a certain number of code lines that allows the user to interact with the program. This interaction can be completely different, from controlling a point in a two-dimensional space to interacting with a three-dimensional well-developed character in a large interactive world.

Diving into history and looking at the https://casinopalaceonline.co.uk/ very first games that fit the examples described above, we can conclude that the pioneers were primarily slot machines with a minimal amount of interactivity. Then, with the natural development of technology, these possibilities began to grow, and the effect of interactivity on the brain began to take on even greater color. Modern video games offer users, or rather players, not only interactivity, but also some components of art in the form of music, directing, and so on. In other words, games already around 2003-2005 began to interbreed with related industries and became more significant for society.

From a purely medical point of view, video games can cause the release of a wide variety of neurotransmitters. Basically it is: dopamine, which is responsible for the pleasure of spending time in the game; norepinephrine, which promotes greater brain activity and stress; acetylcholine, which acts as a mediator that provides movement of different parts of the body. Naturally, what the player gets most of all is dopamine from video games, namely the pleasure from the process itself and its final result. And it should be noted that these emissions do not have any significant impact on humans, at least negatively. Video games allow people to escape from life’s worries and problems, engage themselves and relieve stress, communicate with other people and spend their free time usefully.

Science has not yet given a definite answer to the question of the negative effects of dopamine. There are only some studies that show that dopamine can have a negative effect on the nervous system. And yet the chances that such consequences will come from video games are extremely small.

Here you need to say a few words about video game addiction. Some people believe that gambling addiction as such does not exist, that it is one of the most humane and consequence-free ways of obtaining pleasure, and that all discussions on this issue have no basis. German researchers at Charite University have already conducted an experiment in which a group of 20 people were shown screenshots from their favorite games. Their reaction turned out to be similar to that shown by patients with alcoholism and drug addiction when they see the object of their pathological passion. Also, research from Nottingham Trent University called the International Gaming Research Unit showed that 12% of a control group of 7,000 people showed signs of addiction to online computer games. 20% of Facebook’s 250 million users say they are addicted to gaming.

These examples of research have a right to exist, but are not sufficiently legitimate. Psychologist Christopher Ferguson said that studies focusing on the extent to which computer games interfere with the lives of gamers report this as a relatively rare phenomenon – approximately 1-3% of the gaming population, while studies using more dubious criteria cite an absurdly high 8-10%. It is not yet possible to find an exact answer here. Objectively, the player himself cannot give an accurate assessment of the degree of his gambling addiction, and the studies that are carried out quite regularly are somewhat abstract.

If we talk about obvious negative aspects, namely the physical impact, then first of all it is necessary to note damage to a person’s vision, low mobility during video games (video games that require physical mobility from the player, such as dance or VR games are excluded), due to which a person’s health can noticeably deteriorate. Also, escapism can also have a negative effect, since the possibility of socialization tends to a minimum (multiplayer video games, which give the exact opposite result, are excluded). Despite the first example, the University of Rochester conducted a slightly controversial study. A team of experienced players specializing in games like “Call of Duty” took part in it. The tests yielded an interesting result: people who play shooters do not lose their vision, but improve it. Scientists have decided that they develop contrast sensitivity in the eye, which allows us to see gray details against colorful backgrounds.

Video games may be good for mental health. As it turns out, people who play video games for long periods of time tend to feel happier than those who don’t or rarely do so. The study used data that Oxford experts received from Nintendo and Electronic Arts. Nintendo has provided information on the time players have spent playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons; EA, in addition to time data, also shared the achievements and behavior of players in Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville. This data was combined with the results of a survey in which gamers rated their mood and well-being. 3,274 people took part in the survey, all over 18 years old.

An experiment by neuroscientists from the United States in 2015 revealed that people playing 3D games were able to more easily remember large amounts of data and make decisions faster in critical situations.

Computer games also lead to the development of human cognitive functions. The degree of development of this aspect depends on the genre of the video game and its interactivity. If we take shooters, research shows a more refined ability of players to evenly distribute visual function, quickly process information and react to events in the game. Strategies increase players’ prudence and develop resource management skills. Games that provide difficult challenges, the so-called hardcore games (platformers or Soulslick games are suitable examples), increase stress resistance and give an even brighter release of dopamine from achieving results.

A very interesting study was conducted at Stanford University in 2019, where 100 people participated, half of whom were heavily into role-playing video games like Skyrim, Fallout, and especially Minecraft. During the study, all participants were taught to solve a standard 3 by 3 Rubik’s cube under absolutely equal conditions. As a result, it turned out that 80% of players learned to solve a Rubik’s cube 2 times faster than those who did not play games. This clearly shows the players’ quick and productive ability to learn new information.

Moreover, the above beneficial properties do not depend on the age of the players. Both children and adults can develop their skills, cognitive abilities and relieve stress from video games, given moderate pastime. In this regard, scientists from Karolinska University in Sweden studied the relationship between time spent on video games and the cognitive abilities of American children. The research team found that children who spent significant time playing video games increased their IQ by 2.5 points compared to the average. More than 9 thousand took part in the study. boys and girls from the USA aged 9-10 years. They were asked to complete a series of psychological tests to assess their general cognitive abilities. Scientists asked children and their parents how much time schoolchildren spend in video games, social networks, and how much they watch videos or TV. More than 5 thousand. children underwent repeated psychological tests two years later. Researchers have found that schoolchildren who prefer video games have increased intelligence. Watching TV and communicating on social networks had neither a positive nor a negative effect. The results of the study support the conclusion that time spent in front of a screen, as a rule, does not impair the cognitive abilities of children, and video games may even contribute to the development of intelligence. Professor of cognitive neurobiology at the Faculty of Neurology Torkel Klinberg separately noted that the influence of video games on human perception is very difficult to describe and subsequent studies can give extremely contradictory, sometimes even surprising results.

Applied video games, which have extremely positive properties, also deserve special attention. These include car and flight simulators, which not only provide an interactive or gaming experience, but also have practical application in reality. Even arcade car racing provides an opportunity to develop the reactions of future drivers. Video games with story content can be educational for a person and provide new information about the area, science, history or art. Many experienced players often note learning languages ​​from video games. The lack of localization and dubbing motivates engaged users to learn English while playing.

Summarizing all of the above, we can conclude that video games have quite a lot of positive properties and, in addition to escapism or short-term dopamine, are sometimes capable of developing human abilities.

List of used literature:

1) 5 neurotransmitters. Information Internet resource Postnauka/ URL:https://postscience.ru/lists/90361 (October 9, 2018).

2) THE INFLUENCE OF COMPUTER GAMES ON PEOPLE AND CULTURE. M.E. Steinbach Scientific supervisor: k.And.n. AND.E. Maksimova. Tomsk state university. (26–27 April 2019 G).

3) Virtual Environmental Enrichment through Video Games Improves HippocampalAssociated Memory. [Electronic resource]. URL:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P.M.C4682779/ (date of access: 22.02.2019).