Studies that Focus on the Benefits of Computer Gaming?

Mitch Wagner asks: "Are you aware of any studies that research the BENEFICIAL effects of computer gaming? Here's why I ask: I volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul Village homeless shelter computer lab here in San Diego. Homeless men and women come into the lab to search the Internet for jobs, communicate by e-mail, and learn to use computers and the Internet. Recently, the lab installed computer games on several of the machines. From what I've observed, contrary to popular wisdom, computer gaming is a wholesome activity. It teaches people to use computers, learn problem-solving skills, think and - because the players frequently play in teams, or against each other, or looking over each other's shoulders - the players learn how to solve problems and interact in groups. These lessons are especially valuable because many of the clients are emotionally underdeveloped, lack problem-solving skills,and have difficulty working and playing with others. My observation is that time spent in the computer lab is time that the homeless clients are NOT taking drugs, NOT drinking, NOT being violent and ARE using their minds. We'd like to find some kind of studies to test our observations. Are you aware of any? I did some Googling and found two, but I'd like to find some studies that are more conclusive."

"According to research performed at the University of Bristol, video games teach strategic and planning skills that teacher's find necessary to student learning. The study was conducted on 700 7- to 16-year-old boys and girls, however we can theorize those findings might well also apply to adults, especially the kinds of emotionally underdeveloped adults likely to find themselves in a homeless shelter.

The Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science at Case Western Reserve University notes that computer games can help users learn to use a mouse.

Full disclosure: When I'm not volunteering, my day job is as a journalist, and I might want to do an article on this subject. If that makes you uncomfortable, please let me know. I'm not trying to pull anything here - I really and truly am primarily motivated by a desire to help out the clients at SVDP Village."

Comments

Spelling...

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I learned to spell by playing Sierra adventure games -- King's Quest I/II/III, Space Quest I/II -- where you had to move to the right position on the screen and then type the action you wanted to take.

Newer games, which simply require pointing and clicking, lack this benefit.

Bundled Windows Games

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Solitaire, Freecell, Minesweeper.

Q. What do they have in common?

A. They are all fun ways for computer novices to learn how to use a mouse.

Furthermore, they help reluctant and scared users - the ones that are afraid to go even near a PC in case they "break" it - to interact with their machines in a relaxed (and non-critical) way, and thereby help them overcome any fears or phobias they may have about using a computer.