New Study Reveals Playing Video Games May Make Children Smarter

Parents may have many concerns about kids who spend more time playing video games but a new study has revealed that the hobby could improve their intelligence.

Some 5,000 kids between the ages of 10 to 12, who enjoy playing video games, were tracked, tested, and interviewed for study with such surprising results. The findings were published in Scientific Reports.

The children disclosed to the experts from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden that they spend an average of four hours in front of the TV watching or playing, with a full hour spent just for the video games. The experts looked into how these activities in front of the screen affected their rational thought, understanding of complex ideas, and ability to adapt to different situations.

The researchers also devised an intelligence index to evaluate the kids based on their reading comprehension and vocabulary, executive function, attention, visual-spatial processing, and learning ability.

Kids with Positive and Meaningful Intelligence

After keeping track of the kids for two years, the experts found out that those who spent more screen time by just watching videos on streaming sites or socializing on social media platforms like Instagram had below-average intelligence, which was in line with other studies. The children whose screen time involved more video games, on the other hand, presented a "positive and meaningful intelligence" after a few years. Their IQ increased by 2.5 points compared to the other group.

The experts initially did not detect any links between video gaming and the children's intelligence at the start of the study. However, over time, the follow-up analysis presented surprising results.

This nearly matched the results of a smaller study published in the APA PsychNet journal in 2004 that suggested playing video games may make kids smarter but watching TV or doing other activities online do not improve their cognitive abilities.

The researchers, however, cautioned that their findings have some limitations in that they specifically narrowed down their study to certain metrics of intelligence. They didn't factor in the kids' performance in school, sleep schedule, or physical activities.

"Our results should not be taken as a blanket recommendation for all parents to allow limitless gaming," the researchers said.

The study also did not provide specific video games that could bring cognitive benefits to the children. However, it bears noting that screen time exposure may benefit a child as well if he or she is exposed to various activities using computers and other gadgets.

Screen Time During the Pandemic

Meanwhile, surveys from the Pew Research Center showed that screen time among kids between 8 to 12 years old increased by 51 percent, for video games, and 42 percent, for smartphone use, during the pandemic. However, many parents had no choice since the children need to use the computer for their online learning.

Some families also relied on gadgets use and technology to keep their younger kids occupied because daycare centers were closed for a significant time during the lockdowns. In this case, parents had to choose the "lesser of two evils" when it comes to deciding on the children's digital input. Many of the parents, however, said that under normal circumstances they would keep their children's screen time exposure to a minimum.