Cognitive Development of skills
Problem solving skills/decision making skills
Traditionally video games train problem solving and strategy development skills by getting the player solve increasingly complicated problems. In many cases there is a time pressure which develops speed and decision making skills. Studies have shown that playing video games also increases creativity in young people.
Strategy development
Video game playing predominantly exercises the brain. In most cases it involves working out some sort of strategy to stay alive or defeat a boss; build a structure or blow one up. This makes it a very active pastime, at least on a cognitive level. This has been recognised by several researchers and clinicians and video game principles continue to be implemented in training situations, rehabilitation and other cognitive development exercises.
“First Person Shooters are often regarded as games that feature cognitive development”
Attention Allocation skills
Gamers have faster, more accurate attention allocation skills giving them the ability to prioritise decisions betterand weigh up where their attention needs to be at a given time and for how long.
Spatial Skills
Spatial ability is a category of reasoning skills that refers to the capacity to think about objects in three dimensions and to draw conclusions about those objects from limited information. For example, a person with good spatial reasoning skills might be particularly quick to finish a tangram puzzle, a game in which smaller shapes must combine to form a larger shape. Someone with good spatial abilities might also be good at thinking about how an object will look when rotated. These skills are valuable in many real-world situations and can be improved with practice.Spatial skills are essential for maths, science, engineering and technology.
ARTICLE: Video Gaming Can Increase Brain Size and Connectivity – Psychology Today
