Video Games Can Make Kids Smarter: European Study

Screen time of any kind is generally considered to be a negative influence on a child’s development but a new study from a team of European researchers makes a strikingly different case, presenting evidence that playing video games may actually boost a child’s intelligence, Rich Haridy reported for New Atlas.

Photo Insert: “While children who played more video games at 10 years were on average no more intelligent than children who didn’t game, they showed the most gains in intelligence after two years, among both boys and girls.”

"For our study, we created an intelligence index from five tasks: Two on reading comprehension and vocabulary, one on attention and executive function (which includes working memory, flexible thinking and self-control), one assessing visual-spatial processing (such as rotating objects in your mind), and one on learning ability over multiple trials,” explain Torkel Klingberg and Bruno Sauce, two of the researchers working on the study at the Karolinska Institutet.

Around 5,000 children were followed for two years. Aged between nine and 10 years at baseline, the participants completed the cognitive tests at the beginning and end of the study. Screen time was self-reported and divided into three categories: watching, socializing, and gaming.

At the beginning of the study, the researchers detected no association between time spent gaming and below- or above-average intelligence. Interestingly, however, high levels of watching TV and videos, or socializing online, were slightly linked to lower levels of intelligence at baseline. After two years the follow-up results were even more surprising.

“While children who played more video games at 10 years were on average no more intelligent than children who didn’t game, they showed the most gains in intelligence after two years, among both boys and girls,” write Klingberg and Sauce.

“For example, a child who was in the top 17 percent in terms of hours spent gaming increased their IQ about 2.5 points more than the average child over two years.”

At follow-up, social media use was not associated with any change in intelligence but watching TV or online videos could be linked to a small increase in intelligence. The researchers note this increase was too small to be statistically significant.

“Our results should not be taken as a blanket recommendation for all parents to allow limitless gaming,” conclude Klingberg and Sauce.

“But for those parents bothered by their children playing video games, you can now feel better knowing that it’s probably making them a tad smarter,” The Conversation also reported.

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