Brain News
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, revealed how video games improve intelligence in children. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The Study
To understand the positive effects of video games on child development, the researchers invited 9000 children, aged 9–10 years to participate in a survey spanning several years.
In the first phase of the study, the participants performed a battery of psychological tests to gauge the children’s intelligence. The children and their parents were asked about how much time the children spent watching TV, engaging in social media, or playing video games.
In the second phase of the study, conducted after two years, the participants were asked to repeat the psychological tests. The psychological assessments took into account the participants’ genetics, their parents’ educational background, income, etc.
The Findings
The results showed that playing video games increases IQ in children. On an average per day, the participants spent 2.5 hours watching TV, half an hour on social media, and 1-hour playing video games. However, it was found that video games make kids smarter by 2.5 IQ points. On the other hand, no significant effect was observed when it came to the impacts of TV-watching or social media.
One of the lead researchers, Torkel Klingberg, elaborated: “Our results support the claim that screen time generally doesn’t impair children’s cognitive abilities and that playing video games can actually help boost intelligence. This is consistent with several experimental studies of video-game playing.”
The researchers look toward further research to better understand how “screen behavior” affects childhood brain development, physical activity, school performance, etc.
To Know More You May Refer To
Sauce, B., Liebherr, M., Judd, N. et al. The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background. Sci Rep 12, 7720 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11341-2