Iowa State University Study Links Excessive Gaming To ADD
A recent study at Iowa State University titled "Video Games and Cognitive Control" has led researchers to believe there's a connection between excessive video gaming and Attention Deficit Disorder.
From GamePolitics:
Video Games and Cognitive Control was designed to quantify the effects of playing videogames on two types of cognitive activity--proactive and reactive. Proactive attention is described as a "gearing up" mechanism, or where a player can anticipate what is coming next, versus reactive attention, which is more of a knee-jerk response (a monster jumping out).[...]
While reactive control was similar in both groups, frequent gamers (particpants in this study who play four or more hours a day) had a propensity for exhibiting "significantly diminished" proactive attention.
The researchers involved said they hoped the study would temper recent claims coming out of the game industry that playing video games would improve attention.
Although the researchers themselves admit the study itself had some limitations, I can certainly believe it's plausible just from my own personal anecdotes; if I play a game for a long stretch of time, I feel like my attention takes a few hours to "reset" back to normal, and it's pretty diminished in that period until then. Although, maybe the fact that I can sit for hours poking around in Aion blows this theory out of the water? Who knows!
mixvio
Posted to Miscellany on 15 October 2009
· Comments (4)
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I would expect there to be different baggage associated with different genres of games--and even different art direction. As well as the familiarity level of the game. Further, I'm curious what test they are using to gauge an individual's proactive attention. Because all tests are biased and become more so over continued application with the same target...LOOK! Something shiny!
i wonder if this is more a case of correlation versus causality.
Having that sort of condition for a period of time after excessive playing doesn't necessarily tie into the far more permanent phenomenon of real ADD, though.
Just like playing violent video games might temporarily pump up your adrenaline and your aggression, but doesn't turn you into a truly violent person.
Civilization IV. That's all I need to bring up to dispel "games cause ADD."