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Playing Video Games Makes Children More Creative Says University of Michigan Study
Playing Video Games Makes Children More Creative Says University of Michigan Study
A new study that has emerged with findings that playing video games could just be what young pre-adolescent children need to fire up their imaginations and develop that creative spark.
Taipei,
Taiwan,
Singapore
(prbd.net)
11/11/2011
Here’s a bit of good news for all the kids looking to playing video games after homework, as also for their parents who’re worried that it is an unhealthy pastime. A new study that has emerged with findings that playing video games could just be what young pre-adolescent children need to fire up their imaginations and develop that creative spark. What has got researchers excited is the emergence of a newly discovered link between technology use and development of creativity among young children.
Playing video games is often a bone of contention between parents and children; the kids can’t get enough of it while the parents worry their heads off about time wasted on playing video games and which they think could be spent pursuing more creative pastimes. Well, they can now relax because the new evidence suggests that both can be achieved.
The new study, conducted by the University of Michigan on 500 children of age 12, suggests an improvement in performance of creative tasks such as drawing and story-writing that is directly proportional to the amount of time spend playing video games.
The researchers who conducted the study are quick to remind us that this wasn’t found to be caused by engaging with technology itself; using PDAs, the WWW or computers were said to be unrelated to development of creativity.
The researchers are hoping that further research into these findings would help identify exactly which aspects trigger creativity while playing video games. Video game developers can then optimize those particular aspects for better results in terms of creativity development.
There have been studies in the past, albeit not as conclusive, which have suggested that there are benefits to playing video games. The American Society for Training & Development, for instance, has asserted that playing video games could breed innovative thinking among adults, making a strong case for organizations encouraging employees to play video games. The same study also suggests improved collaboration among workers. The report of the study by ASTD stated that test subjects who were actively and regularly playing video games online tend to have a better approach to real life problem-solving. This was observed to be more in multiplayer games where the interaction is more with other player controlled characters rather than video game AI. The qualities that potential employers seek are found in profusion among online gamers, the report added.
Previous studies on the precise effects of playing video games, especially massively multiplayable online role playing games (MMORPG) have similarly suggested that the skills that players exercise in playing video games transfer themselves to the workplace. Among children, the report says, these games can promote better collaborative learning.
Researchers have noted that the challenge-reward formula that are the driving mechanic of online games focus individuals on self-learning, targeted improvement and performing within the frame of team objectives.
Objective-oriented team work has been noted to be specifically enhanced, say researchers. There are no specified leaders, but online players are more likely to band together and cooperate to reach a goal than they are to go the lone ranger way.
Another study conducted by Duke University’s Fuque School of Business agreed with the ASTD’s findings while also pointing out that these skills are either there or are acquired over a period playing video games; they cannot be faked, the performace and accomplishments there for all the other players to see.
The researchers do warn against excessive optimism, stating that not all skills developed while playing video games are transferrable or even applicable to the real world. Not all video game players have in-born video game skills or they all necessarily don’t develop them by playing video games.
If the particular factors of video games that stimulate creativity can be isolated and identified, it may be possible to use them in other aspects of the office environment as well, besides simply encouraging employees to play.
These findings are not only likely to relieve parents and make children happy, but also lead to future advances in employee development and motivation techniques. After all, just how bad could it be to spend a fraction of ‘working hours’ on games if creativity and innovation flows through the work culture of an organization simply by playing video games?
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