Videospiele lösen oft Debatten über Schaden und Nutzen aus. Kognitive Schwierigkeiten hängen eher mit problematischen Spielgewohnheiten zusammen als mit dem Spiel selbst. Während Menschen mit einem Risiko für Spielsucht ein vermindertes Arbeitsgedächtnis aufweisen, können diejenigen, die in der Freizeit spielen, tatsächlich eine erhöhte Aufmerksamkeit zeigen.
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How video game habits act as a window into cognitive health
Video gaming often sparks debate over its potential harms and benefits. A new study reveals that cognitive difficulties are linked to problematic gaming habits rather than the act of gaming itself. While individuals at risk for gaming addiction show reduced working memory, those who play recreationally may actually exhibit enhanced attention. The research was published in Computers in Human Behavior.
The testing revealed distinct cognitive profiles for the three groups. Individuals at risk for gaming disorder performed worse on the basic working memory tasks than both non-gamers and recreational gamers. They struggled to store and recall strings of numbers and shapes.
While the at-risk group showed normal overall performance on the memory updating task, they made more specific errors. They recorded a higher number of false alarms by pressing the button when they should have waited. This pattern points to increased impulsivity and a potential lack of behavioral control.
In contrast, recreational gamers showed signs of enhanced mental readiness. During the inhibitory control test, the recreational gamers successfully hit the spacebar in response to the target letters more often than the non-gamers. Because the researchers controlled for total playtime, this heightened attention seems uniquely linked to healthy gaming habits.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563225003255
To me, the dangers of younger kids up to age 12 playing too many video games is that they miss out on opportunities to learn valuable life skills, social skills, finding passions to carry later into life (maybe as a career), and other things you get in the real world. Video games aren’t inherently bad, but addiction to video games and marathon sessions on a frequent basis essentially removes that child from society and developing in a way that allows them to succeed later in life.
Video games as a kid gave me unworldly hand-eye coordination and reflexes, problem solving and critical thinking skills, and other benefits. But I missed out on a lot happening around me and I’m paying that price now as an adult.
AuDHD and ex-gaming addict here. Makes perfect sense. My hands gave out before my brain did but at least I’m free now… If anything makes me pay attention I’m drawn to it like a moth to a flame (literally in this case) for better or worse…
People who have the highest level of gaming addiction are overwhelmingly ADHD if I remember correctly, there was a study on that
I *think* it’s a net positive, while there are many games and some are less productive overall, the majority of games are some level of problem solving, you learn about currency, managing currency, planning, a sense of direction and learning to recognize places, hand eye coordination, the concept of improving things through repetition, of putting work in to get better at something.
Honestly you can learn a lot of valuable skills from playing at a young age. Not that it replaces schooling or anything, and you can say similar things about other hobbies like sport or art.
But it’s rarely just wasting time. At that age, a lot of kids need mental stimulation to grow and learn, and video games can absolutely provide that.
Hmm I’m curious if genre of a game plays a part as well. There’s likely a big difference between a 16-18 hours call of duty binge as opposed to a 16-18 hours say RPG fest..And even JRPG bs WRPG would alter the results alot. Then you get 4x games or RTS..Honestly each promotes different mindsets and some likely have less negative effects.
I’d even wonder about dopamine release rates for different games and how that would effect this.
There’s definitely a link between ADHD and videogames but the mistake is thinking video games are the cause of it. ADHD causes all sorts of addictive behaviors because a person with untreated ADHD is so deprived of dopamine they will seek it out wherever they can find it and prioritize that source over everything else.
Idk I have ADHD and am more at risk for video game addiction. I also have working memory issues.
The world and everything in it are inherently neutral and meaningless. We ascribe these pro’s and cons. To much of anything will slowly kill someone. So find something you love and let it kill you..
If you are spending all your time in front of a screen/indoors and not going out/otherwise being productive, it doesn’t surprise me that that causes cognitive difficulties. We see that phenomenon a lot with seniors, and we saw it with Covid.
Are the „people at risk for gaming addiction“ with „reduced working memory“ just people with ADHD?