Study: Gamers Found to Have Enhanced Learning Abilities Thanks to Perceptual Interference “Shielding”
While the debate rages on in the case of videogames and the effects they have on the youth, new research from Brown University suggests that frequent playing leads to better learning skills.
Researchers from Brown University’s Laboratory for Cognitive and Perceptual Learning published their findings in PLOS ONE, a psychology research journal. The study found that people who play video games on a regular basis are better at registering visual data and are therefore quicker perceptual (visual) learners compared to non-frequent gamers.
But the main point that the study makes is that videogame player are more resistant to perceptual interference, which may lead to more stable, long-term learning.
And it’s easy to see why: with all of the visual and aural data present in modern video games, people who enjoy these forms of recreation are better at tuning out distracting stimuli.
This suggests that gamers are more honed in being able to study and learn concepts over a longer period of time, even if they are placed in distracting environments.
On the other hand, the researchers have found that gamers are better equipped at expanding their fields of understanding, letting them take in large amounts of data quickly.
Research authors Berard, Cain, Watanabe and Sasaki’s work adds a new dimension to the discourse of videogames and their effects. Their findings posit that gamers enhanced attention abilities forged from years of play have a positive impact on their long-term learning abilities.
“It may be possible that the vast amount of visual training frequent gamers receive over the years could help contribute to honing consolidation mechanisms in the brain, especially for visually developed skills.”
“Essentially, this would mean that over the 24-hour period of time between the experimental sessions, more efficient consolidation mechanisms could have been operating in the frequent gamers compared to the non-gamers, resulting in better overall learning,” the researchers explained.
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