Brain-training video games may help kids score better--study | The Money Times

Brain-training video games may help kids score better--study | The Money Times

Irritated that your child is always playing video games? Well, don’t be, as a latest study reveals that playing brain training computer games improves child’s intelligence.

Published in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,' the research states that video games improve child’s working memory, the ability to sustain and manipulate information in brain.

The kids who undergo such brain training drills have better fluid intelligence like abstract reasoning and they can solve problems easily and creatively.

62 children's working memory tested
The research, by the psychologists of theUniversity of Michigan, included a test in which 62 elementary and middle school children, with an average age of eight and nine, were recruited.

The test was conducted to analyze the effects of such video games on the child’s IQ.

Out of 62 children, 32 underwent video games sessions, termed as ‘n-back task’ by the lead author Susanne Jaeggi, to test the working memory for a month.

The other lot of 30 students were trained on a computer program, which required answering general knowledge and vocabulary questions.

In the former task, the children were “shown a picture of a lily pond and the image of a frog that appeared for three seconds at any one of six locations.”

The children had to press a key if the frog appeared in the same location like in the earlier two images, and another key if it was in the different location.

Outcome of the study
At the end of the study, it was noticed that children with the ‘n-back task’ performed better in tests of abstract reasoning and problem solving than the students who participated in the general knowledge and vocabulary test.

However, such drills turn out to be advantageous for children who find the computer games interesting and challenging, and not a burden.

Dr Susanne Jaeggi, the lead researcher of the study, said, “The current findings add to the literature demonstrating that brain training works, and that transfer effects may even persist over time.”

"If information is lost during this process due to working memory limitations, then the task cannot be completed," added Jaeggi.

"In general, working memory capacity is crucial for our general ability to acquire knowledge and learn new skills, and it has been shown that working memory is even better at predicting scholastic achievement than measures of intelligence."