THE ROLE OF VIDEO GAMES IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The Role of Video Games in Human Development
Joshua P. Barber
Huntington University
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Abstract
The purpose of this research paper was to look into the effects of video games in
relation to various aspects of health. The research analyzed the effects video games have
on an individual’s physical health. These effects included both positive and negative
examples, which were developed through various studies. The impact video games have
on one’s mental health was also carefully addressed in this paper. Positive and negative
effects on our mental health were both addressed using various studies and the research,
which was concluded from them. Finally, the focus changed to how video games impact
one’s brain development. Once again the focus was on not only on the positive, but the
negative aspects of this topic as well. The opinions behind brain development were based
off of 6 experts in this field.
Introduction
The popular press is full of stories about the effects of video and computer games
and their role in human development. There have been numerous of studies that have
shown the negative effects that video games have on our physical health, but the rise of
new technology brings about potential for a positive physical use of video games that will
bring about a healthy lifestyle. In addition to the role video games have in our physical
well being, they also play a role in the mental development of individuals. Also, video
games have a significant impact on brain development for those who frequently use them.
The role video games have in all these areas of human development are open to various
forms of criticism. However, they all provide the public with useful products and
developing technology that suits the well being of people of all ages.
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The issue of the role of video games in human development is one that has been
under much debate, making it a socially and academically significant issue. Nature
Reviews Neuroscience (2011) stated that the claim of video games “damaging the brain”
or “boosting brain power” simply does not do justice to the complexities and limitations
in the studies involved in this field (p. 763). Also, various experiments and studies have
taken place showing the impact video games have on our physical health and mental
health, which includes a series of experiments involving an interactive cycling video
game. In addition, plenty of experts hold varying views on how significant gaming
effects the human brain in both positive and negative ways. Research on this topic is still
in its early days, but we do have various experts who will ultimately try to shed light on
the issue, which makes it academically and socially relevant.
To easily sum up what this paper addresses, one can simply ask, “How do video
games affect me as a person?” However, this topic is not a simple one and cannot be
answered in a few short sentences. Instead, one must thoroughly analyze all aspects of
what video games have to offer, including the types of play offered, before they can
answer that question. Video games generally masquerade as a leisure activity, but
ultimately their effect on the human body is much greater than that of any typical leisure
activity. Daphne Bavelier and C. Shawn Green (2011) said that, “One can no more say
what the effects of video games are, than one can say what the effects of food are. There
are millions of individual games, hundreds of distinct genres and subgenres, and they can
be played on computers, consoles, hand-held devises and cell phones. Simply put, if one
wants to know what the effects of video games are, the devil is in the details (p. 763).” In
order to get a better understanding of what the effects of video games on society may, or
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may not be, then one must carefully examine all the elements in order to reach a suitable
conclusion.
The purpose of this following research is to provide readers with insight as to
what the effects of videogames may be. As Bavelier and Green previously pointed out,
each individual game has and individual effect on society, much like food. Also, this
effect varies from person to person. One game could affect a person in a negatively
physical way, while at the same time it may affect another person in a way that causes an
act of positive brain development. The effects that video games had on our society were
at one point viewed as unpredictable, but over time theories behind them developed and
now there’s a small “field of neuroscience” devoted to it. The goal of this analysis is to
display the positive and negative effects that video games have on human development as
a whole by taking a deeper look into the categories previously mentioned; physical
health, mental health, and brain development. Hopefully, this will lead to a better
understanding on what the benefits of video games are on our society.
The following sections of this paper will include the effects of video games on
physical health, followed by the effects they have on mental health, and then on to the
interesting topic of video games and their relation to brain development. The physical
effects will explore the ever-popular negative views of video games, but will also offer a
rather new-age approach to this topic by discussing interactive video games that promote
physical wellness, which will be discussed by using the results of various studies. The
section on mental health will discuss how video games may encourage violent behavior
in those who participate in them, as well as discuss the social impact that they have on the
individual. Also included in this section will be a look into how video games can be used
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for clinical purposes, primarily for mental health. Finally, this paper will discuss the
various theories of video games and brain development by analyzing the views of 6
experts in this field of study.
Physical Health Effects of Video Games
The debate surrounding the physical health effects of video games have
traditionally been very one-sided in favor of a theory similar to that of video games often
leading to obesity and inactive adolescents. This theory will be thoroughly analyzed, as
there are some interesting points behind it. However, the research will also lead into some
extensive studies that provide alternative gaming options that could lead to better
physical health. These alternative options involve interactive gaming. Popular examples
of this would be the Nintendo Wii and their Wii Sports game, or Microsoft’s Xbox
Kinect. The gaming style these options fall under require for the participating individual
to physically interact with the game in order to properly play, which can ultimately lead
to better health. However, the traditional negative view is where the research will begin
in this discussion of the physical effects of video games on one’s health.
The traditional view of video game playing on one’s health is that extensive game
time leads to little physical activity, which overall increases one’s likelihood of becoming
obese, especially while still an adolescent. “Most adolescents living in Western countries
spend excessive amounts of time being sedentary, mainly in the form of screen time
behaviors such as TV viewing, seated video gaming, and recreational computer use
(Goldfield, 2011, p. 1).” The reason this should be of concern to us is because sedentary
behaviors begin in our childhood years and carry over until we are adults. Sedentariness
through screen time, video games, etc. in adulthood often is associated with increased
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morbidity and mortality. This makes the relationship between sedentary behavior and
health indicators an important area of study. The relationship presented here leads to a
study that examines whether or not video game playing is a cause for blood pressure and
lipids in overweight and obese adolescents.
In general, past similar studies have only focused on other screen time elements,
such as television viewing and computer usage. Glen P. Kenny (2011) pointed out that,
“including seated video gaming as part of screen time measurement is important because
it is appealing to adolescents and is commonly associated with obesity in youth, possibly
due to increased food intake (p. 2).” The study consisted of 282 adolescents who were
either obese or overweight, who were recruited as potential participants in a diet and
exercise trial. The factors included in the study were the screen time behavior, physical
activity, lipids, blood pressure, and covariates, which included weight, height, and other
basic information.
The results of this experiment led to some rather significant findings. For
example, out of all the sedentary behaviors examined, only time spent playing video
games significantly correlated with blood pressure or lipids. Also, video game playing
showed a positive association with systolic blood pressure and negatively associated with
high-density lipoproteins. Despite the traditional theory of video games leading to obesity
amongst adolescents, this was the first study to show that time spent playing video games
was the only type of sedentary behavior associated with increased blood pressure and
lipids and after adjusting for multiple cofounders in a large sample of overweight and
obese adolescents (Goldfield, 2011, p. 4). It is interesting to think that such a traditional
view on the effects of video games wasn’t actually proven until 2011. However, none of
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the previous similar studies ever took video game playing into account so therefore, the
traditional view of the effects of video game playing on physical health may are still a
very viable conclusion to what the health effects of gaming are. On the other hand, there
is still another side of this discussion to examine and that is how new modern video game
options may be beneficial to one’s physical health.
The use of another study will help us to examine the other side of physical health
effects caused by video games. The purpose of this survey was to investigate the
prevalence of video game addiction and problematic video game use and their association
with physical health. Researchers evaluated that “the high prevalence of television and
video game activities could be used as contingency management strategies for exercise in
young people. In fact, recent work indicates that reinforcing physical activity with
sedentary behavior is as simple and effective means of increasing physical activity
participation and improving indicators of health status. Thus, it appears that contingent
access to television and (or) video games may be effective in improving physical activity
(Warburten, 2007, p. 656).” This study had an intervention group that required
participants to exercise on a GameBike, an interactive video gaming system that was
linked to a Sony Playstation 2 and a television monitor. The study also had a control
group in which each participant was required to exercise on a standard bicycle at an
intensity and duration that they desired. The measurements taken into consideration were
the adherence to exercise, anthropometry and body composition, aerobic and
musculoskeletal fitness, and resting blood pressure.
The results of this study showed that the interactive video game training lead to
significant improvements in several areas of health. Of more importance was the fact that
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those benefits appeared to be greater than those who were observed with traditional
exercise equipment. A unique discovery of this investigation was that a training program
that involved interactive video games resulted in significant improvements in
musculoskeletal fitness. “This research was also the first to reveal that interactive video
games result in greater improvements in health-related physical fitness than traditional
cycling (Warburton, 2007, p. 661).” To conclude this study, it is safe to assume that
interactive video game exercise is an effective way to enhance exercise adherence.
Warburton (2007) suggests that, “Given the mass appeal of video games among schoolaged children, adolescents, and young adults, it stands to reason that this form of training
may be useful in the battle against physical inactivity and associated heath complications
(p. 662).”
Mental Health
The next part of the study on how video games affect one’s health focuses on the
mental health of the individual. Pavlik and McIntosh (2013) mentioned that video games
have led to “cases of people losing their jobs and spouses because of obsessive playing of
video games (p. 323).” Mental health experts have cited signs of addiction to video
games which include inability to stop the activity or playing much longer than
anticipated, neglect of family and friends, lying to employers and family about activities,
problems with school or job, carpal tunnel syndrome, dry eyes, failure to attend to
personal hygiene, and sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns. All of these signs
show negative aspects of mental health and as expected there is a study that shows some
evidence relating to this.
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A survey was conducted to investigate video game addiction and its association
with health. Unlike past studies, this one focused on mental health, instead of just
physical health. Rune Aune Mentzoni (2011) explains the reason for this by saying that
the “excessive use of video games has given rise to concern among gamers, their
families, and clinicians, although video gaming is not yet recognized as a disorder by
current diagnostic systems (p. 591).” Other studies similar to this one have related video
game use to elevated drug and alcohol use, lower interpersonal relationship quality,
problems at school, reduced sleep time, limited leisure activities, and suicide ideation
(Mentzoni, 2011, p. 591), The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of video
games in a representative sample of young Norwegian adults and to provide an estimate
of the prevalence of video game-related problems and addiction among this demographic
group. The measures by which the study was based off of included video game use, video
game addiction, and health outcomes. One good thing that came out of the data from this
study was that video game addiction is a relatively low-prevalence phenomenon, in
which only 0.4% could be classified as addicted (Mentzoni, 2011, p. 594). However,
“problem gamers” had elevated scores on measures of anxiety and depression and lower
scores on satisfaction with life. The data made it clear that video game addiction was
directly correlated to poor mental health. However, there is still another side of this issue
that this survey failed to focus on and that is how video games can have a positive effect
on your mental health.
The area of mental health that video games positively influence is related to how
video games can be used for clinical needs. Despite the views that the content of certain
video games may increase the chance of depression, researches have also concluded that
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video games can also effectively teach complex skill sets in a relatively short time. In
fact, mental health professionals and educators have begun to see the potential for video
games in teaching children more pro-social behavior (Hadley, 2011, p. 1). Due to this
potential, mental health professionals have started working with gaming programmers to
shape video games to benefit mental health. One of the more common methods behind
this is to use virtual reality programming as a clinical tool. Virtual reality programming
uses computer-generated environments that attempt to simulate real-world experiences.
Recently, virtual reality has been used to “address alcohol dependence, cigarette
smoking, and crack addiction (Hadley, 2011, p. 2).” In addition to real world situations,
virtual reality programming is also used to help those with Asperger’s Disorder by giving
them the opportunity to learn necessary social skills and practice social interactions.
“Asperger’s patients are given increasingly more challenging social scenarios to manage
as they gradually learn to interact in specific social situations (Hadley, 2011, p. 2).”
Virtual reality programming also has some recent technological improvements
that have resulted in an even greater impact on mental health treatment. For example,
adolescents with Autistic Spectrum Disorders who experienced a “virtual café” were
discovered to be able to transfer the social skills from the virtual world to a real-world
setting. This is largely because virtual reality allows the user, in this case those with
Autistic Spectrum Disorders, to practice their skills in a controlled environment.
Clinicians are also able to receive data from the virtual reality technology so they can
adjust the virtual environments to enhance the learning of the skill set. “Additional
advantages of using the virtual reality gaming are increased engagement and retention in
therapy. Youth are more likely to find the approach novel and engaging (Hadley, 2011, p.
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7).” After analyzing the positive affects that video games have on mental health we can
thoroughly see the pros and cons of the issue.
Brain Development
Brain development is a key way that video games affect an individual’s health. In
this section, six experts in will share their thoughts on our current understanding of the
positive and negative ways in which playing video games can affect cognition and
behavior, and explain how this knowledge can be harnessed for educational and
rehabilitation purposes. When asked if playing video or computer games had any
beneficial effects on the brain and behavior, the experts provided some very intriguing
answers. In reference to action video games, Daphne Bavelier and C. Shawn Green
(2011) stated that, “playing this type of game results in a wide range of behavioral
benefits, including enhancements in low-level vision, visual attention, speed of
processing, and statistical inference, among others (p. 763).” Michael Merzenich (2011)
adds on to this by saying that, “intensive use of video games results in significant
generalized improvements in cognitive function (p. 763).” Another factor that a few
experts noted is that the daily time spent playing video games in school-age children has
been shown to be inversely correlated with academic achievement because the child’s
focus has been on playing video games, rather than studying and working on schoolrelated material.
Douglass Gentile mentioned that not only do these action games provide their
players with increased brain development, but these games also serve as the addictive
games that cause the mental depression previously discussed. To go further into this
topic, the experts discussed their views on what negative effects video games may have
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on the brain, or behavior. Bavelier and Green brought up the classic argument that
frequent playing of violent video games bring on aggressive thoughts. Doug Hyun Han
and Perry F. Renshaw (2011) stated that, “early studies on internet addiction reported
altered social behavior, increased aggression, loneliness, reduced attention, and depressed
mood in patients with internet addiction (p. 764).” They summarized their viewpoint by
stating their beliefs of their being strong evidence supporting the view that excessive
internet use is associated with severe consequence on behavior in some individuals.
Merzenich provides readers with a list of four reasons as to why intensive game-play
practices have been shown to have several negative effects on cognition. First is the
exposure to fast action games has contributed to an increased level of ADHD-related
behaviors. His second point goes back to the point that too much game-play takes
students away from school activities. Third is that games with anti-social content have
been shown to reduce empathy, to reduce stress associated with observing or initiating
anti-social actions, and to increase confrontational and disruptive behaviors in the real
world (Merzenich, 2011, p. 764). Finally, he says that addiction generates its own special
destructive class of neurological and social burdens, which are similar to those brought
on by the mental aspect of alcohol, or drug addiction.
When asked on if there was a place for using video or computer games in
education and rehabilitation, Han and Renshaw (2011) gave some interesting insight.
They said, “There have been several trials of video games in educational and
rehabilitation settings. In the rehabilitation of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder
following motor vehicle accidents, the virtual-reality experience of driving or riding in a
car may improve clinical symptoms (p. 766).” They went on to mention how several
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games have been created to work with those who have dementia, which led to reduced
delusional thinking. They also mentioned how a study of adolescents of autism spectrum
disorders showed increased social skills after a six week test period.
From all these results, one can see how heavily video-games can effect the mind
of an individual. They can affect us in a positive way by building some cognitive
function. They also can affect one in a bad way by bringing about aggressive behavior if
video games are not handled with caution. This means, that adolescents should be
monitored when playing video games because too much playing time could possibly lead
to violent tendencies, but at the same time a proper amount of playing time can be
established so the child can still learn some cognitive functions without picking up any
hint of aggression.
Conclusion
After a thorough summary of the physical and mental advantages and
disadvantages one can gain through frequent participating in video games, one can
interpret the way they want to approach the issue. The physical aspect of video games has
its negative parts to it, but there have been recent strides to improve it and make it more
physical engaging, which will hopefully encourage adolescents to participate in exercise
related activities more often than they would without it. Addictive game playing can lead
to some highly negative issue related to mental health. However, the way virtual reality
and other programs are being used has created huge mental gains for other people. Also,
the way the brain is impacted during frequent video game usage has its advantages and
disadvantages. For example, one can gain significant cognitive functions from it, but at
the same time increased playing can lead to a number of disadvantages with aggressive
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behavior being one of them. Research on this topic is still in its early days, but the
groundwork has been laid. Now all that is left to do is see how the research and theories
will progress in the future.
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Bibliography
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