FSU Study Debunks Claims That Video Games Strengthen Cognition
September 21, 2011 by Personal Liberty News Desk
Frequent video game players, or “gamers,” may have been satisfied to hear about past studies which suggested that regularly sitting down to engage in marathon sessions in front of an Xbox or Playstation can enhance an individual’s mental capacity.
However, these people may have reached for the controller too quickly, as further research conducted at Florida State University reveals that the link between regular gaming and superior brain function may be correlation and not causation.
“Despite the hype, in reality, there is little solid evidence that games enhance cognition at all,” said lead researcher Daniel Blakely.
The investigator and his team reviewed previous studies claiming that gamers have better perceptive and cognitive abilities, and found that scientists in these trials often compared “expert” players to ordinary users. This may have skewed any results, since it may simply be that people who are good at video games have better brain function to begin with, regardless of their experience with virtual reality.
Additionally, in their own study, the researchers found no changes in cognitive ability in people who regularly played video games over a trial period.
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