The benefits of playing video games.

In the paper

“Beyond social cognition, developmentalists have emphasized that play constitutes an emotionally significant context through which themes of power and dominance, aggression, nurturance, anxiety, pain, loss, growth, and joy can be enacted productively (e.g., Gottman, 1986).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Gottman, 1986

In the paper

“We propose that, in addition to several unique factors, the same emotional themes identified in children's play experiences in general (e.g., dominance, nurturance, anxiety, and growth) are also explored in video games, allowing for important cognitive, emotional, and social competencies to be acquired.”

In the paper

“Only two studies have explicitly tested the relation between playing video games and problem-solving abilities; in both, problemsolving was defined in the reflective sense (e.g., taking time to gather information, evaluate various options, formulate a plan, and consider changing strategies and/or goals before proceeding further).”

In the paper

“Moreover, this latter study showed an indirect mediation effect such that playing strategic games predicted higher selfreported problem-solving skills, which, in turn, predicted better academic grades.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Adachi & Willoughby, 2013

In the paper

“Similarly, Piaget (1962) theorized that make-believe play provides children opportunities to reproduce real-life conflicts, to work out ideal resolutions for their own pleasure, and to ameliorate negative feelings.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Piaget, 1962

In the paper

“For example, a recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study found that the mechanisms that control attention allocation (e.g., the fronto-parietal network) were less active during a challenging pattern-detection task in regular gamers than in nongamers, leading the researchers to suggest that shooter game players allocate their attentional resources more efficiently and filter out Irr”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Bavelier et al., 2012

In the paper

“Erikson (1977) proposed that play contexts allow children to experiment with social experiences and simulate alternative emotional consequences, which can then bring about feelings of resolution outside the play context.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Erikson, 1977

In the paper

“She demonstrates that experiencing positive emotions may help broaden the number of behaviors one perceives as both possible and motivating and may build social relationships that provide support for goal pursuit and coping with failure.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Fredrickson, 2001

In the paper

“Further, Fredrickson and colleagues propose that positive emotions help undo the detrimental and de-motivating results of negative emotions.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Fredrickson, 2001

In the paper

“It has further been suggested that some of the most intense positive emotional experiences are triggered in the context of playing video games (McGonigal, 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites McGonigal, 2011

In the paper

“In summary, specific types of video games seem to enhance a suite of cognitive functions, some of which appear to generalize to real-world contexts.”

In the paper

“Thus, game playing may promote the ability to flexibly and efficiently reappraise emotional experiences, teaching players the benefits of dealing with frustration and anxiety in adaptive ways.”

In the paper

“The structure had eluded researchers for over 10 years; however, the nonlinear, cooperative, and creative problem-solving techniques used by these gamers seemed to be precisely the skills needed to finally solve this elusive problem.”

In the paper

“This motivational style, in turn, may generalize to school and work contexts.”

In the paper

“In these virtual social communities, decisions need to be made on the fly about whom to trust, whom to reject, and how to most effectively lead a group.”

In the paper

“Further, although correlational studies suggest that individuals consciously turn to these games to regulate their emotions (Olson, 2010), it may simply be that positive moods and game playing co-occur, and players report retrospectively that experiencing positive emotions was a conscious motivation that preceded play.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Olson, 2010

In the paper

“Importantly, the type of contexts that most often pull for effective emotionregulation strategies-such as reappraisal-are social in nature.”

In the paper

“For example, studies suggest that playing puzzle video games-games with minimal interfaces, short-term commitments, and a high degree of accessibility (e.g., Angry Birds , Bejewled II )-can improve players' moods, promote relaxation, and ward off anxiety (Russoniello et al., 2009).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Russoniello et al., 2009

In the paper

“Immediate and concrete feedback in video games (e.g., through points, coins, dead ends in puzzles) serves to reward continual effort and keep players within what Vygotsky (1978, p. 86) coined the 'zone of proximal development.'”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Vygotsky, 1978

In the paper

“Games do not elicit only positive emotions; video games also trigger a range of negative ones, including frustration, anger, anxiety, and sadness.”

In the paper

“Moreover, contrary to what we might expect, these experiences of failure do not lead to anger, frustration, or sadness, although players often do feel these negative emotions intermittently.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Salminen & Ravaja, 2008

In the paper

“When faced with failure, players are highly motivated to return to the task of winning, and they are 'relentlessly optimistic' about reaching their goals (McGonigal, 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites McGonigal, 2011

In the paper

“Flow or transportation is another positive emotional experience described by gamers, during which they are immersed in an intrinsically rewarding activity that elicits a high sense of control while simultaneously evoking a loss of self-consciousness (Sherry, 2004).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Sherry, 2004

In the paper

“two large-scale survey studies have found that 3% of Dutch (van Rooij, Schoenmakers, Vermulst, van den Eijnden, & van de Mheen, 2011) and about 8% of U.S. youth (Gentile, 2009) who play video games exhibit pathological symptoms of addiction”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites van Rooij, Schoenmakers, Vermulst, van den Eijnden, & van de Mheen, 2011

In the paper

“the suitability ratings ascribed to games by the entertainment industry (e.g., E for 'everyone,' M for 'not appropriate for children under the age of 18') are based on little to no scientific evidence regarding potential harms or benefits.”

In the paper

“Games that are fundamentally social and rely on varied social partners also provide a large amount of variability in game experiences, depending on who the player encounters each time she or he enters the gaming world.”

In the paper

“Our expertise is in the area of developmental psychopathology, where we contend video games can have a particularly large impact.”

In the paper

“most popularly played games today are complex and change dynamically (see the top half of Figure 1), which means that players' in-game behaviors change how the game itself progresses, feeding back to, and constraining, how the player continues to adapt to these changes in subsequently updated game contexts (Klimmt, Vorderer, & Ritterfeld, 2007).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Klimmt, Vorderer, & Ritterfeld, 2007

In the paper

“there is one point that both sides are advocating with which we fervently agree: Video games hold immense potential to teach new forms of thought and behavior.”

In the paper

“Finally, the cost-effectiveness of delivering mental health interventions is often a barrier to treatment delivery.”

In the paper

“Many children and families cannot afford individual or group therapy, and schools worldwide are facing cuts in funding that have significantly decreased the number of programs that can be offered as part of the curriculum.”

In the paper

“there are very few, if any, well-designed published studies that examine both the positive and negative effects of the same games and the conditions under which these effects are most likely manifested, whether they are violent in nature or otherwise.”

In the paper

“But these are mostly de-contextualized exercises that rarely involve the authentic emotional experiences during which most conflicts arise.”

In the paper

“Both traditional and video games are fundamentally voluntary in nature”

In the paper

“By dichotomizing video games into either 'good' or 'bad,' 'violent' or 'prosocial,' psychologists are largely (with the exception of media psychologists) overlooking the complex new playground of contemporary video games and the varied landscape of virtual interactions taking place in those games.”

In the paper

“The second shortcoming is that medical practitioners, teachers, and researchers are not game designers, and as a result, they often develop products that miss the most essential mechanism of engagement in games-the fun.”

In the paper

“Another limitation of past approaches is the almost exclusive focus on the short-term impact of games; very few longitudinal studies have been conducted in this area.”

In the paper

“This gap between knowledge and behavior has long been recognized as a problem in the field, and thus many interventions incorporate role-playing, problem-solving exercises and homework assignments (e.g., P. C. Kendall, 2011 ).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites P. C. Kendall, 2011

In the paper

“The most important reason is that very few of the games developed to improve health and learning outcomes are ever scientifically evaluated.”

In the paper

“Given that video games have permeated almost all households, across almost all countries, it is striking how little attention has been paid to using this medium for purposes that go beyond entertainment and beyond demonstrated benefits for education and health care.”

In the paper

“about 8% of U.S. youth (Gentile, 2009) who play video games exhibit pathological symptoms of addiction”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Gentile, 2009

In the paper

“We propose that video games can uniquely and significantly address these limitations and, in turn, improve intervention effects across a broad spectrum of disorders.”

In the paper

“Adherence to treatment protocol, self-efficacy, and cancer-related knowledge were all significantly greater in the intervention group.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kato et al., 2008

In the paper

“We argue that this learning potential has been left largely untapped in the mental health arena, and addressing this gap holds a great deal of promise for a radical new approach to intervention.”

In the paper

“a meta-analysis concluded that games can make important advances in the educational reform necessary to deal with the learning challenges of the next century (Vogel et al., 2006).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Vogel et al., 2006

In the paper

“Moreover, no studies have assessed the daily patterns of gaming and the function that these patterns of use may serve.”

In the paper

“Moreover, it is likely that games are associated with less stigma than conventional therapy, addressing another barrier.”

In the paper

“perhaps the most important lesson from these conflicting meta-analyses is that the picture is much more complex than popular press headlines suggest (Ferguson, 2013).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Ferguson, 2013

In the paper

“Video games share many similarities with traditional games and likely provide benefits similar to those provided by play more generally.”

In the paper

“Remarkably, there are very few video games that have been developed with these aims in mind.”

In the paper

“Video games are socially interactive in a way never before afforded.”

In the paper

“we have become particularly inspired by the potential that these games hold for interventions that promote well-being, including the prevention and treatment of mental health problems in youth.”

In the paper

“The large amount of time invested in playing video games may also mean that they provide qualitatively different experiences than conventional games.”

In the paper

“players immerse themselves in pretend worlds that are safe contexts in which negative emotions can be worked out”

In the paper

“These differences in space and time likely hold wholly new benefits and risks that have yet to be conceptualized.”

In the paper

“games allow a sense of control with just enough unpredictability to feel deep satisfaction and intense pride when formidable goals are finally reached”

In the paper

“Increasingly, players are gaming online, with friends, family, and complete strangers, crossing vast geographical distances and blurring not only cultural boundaries but also age and generation gaps, socioeconomic differences, and language barriers.”

In the paper

“they can include competitive and cooperative objectives”