Ayush Tandon

Playing video games, including violent shooter games, may boost children's learning, health and social skills, according to a review of research in American Psychologist. While one widely held view maintains that playing video games is intellectually lazy, such play actually may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception, according to several studies reviewed in the article. This is particularly true for shooter video games, which are often violent, the authors found. A 2013 meta-analysis found that playing shooter video games improved a player's capacity to think about objects in three dimensions just as well as academic courses designed to enhance these same skills, according to the study. This enhanced thinking was not found when playing other types of video games, such as puzzles or role-playing games. Playing video games may also help children develop problem-solving skills, the authors said. The more adolescents reported playing strategic video games, such as role-playing games, the more they improved in problem solving and school grades the following year, according to a long-term study published in 2013. Children's creativity was also enhanced by playing any kind of video game, including violent games, but not when the children used other forms of technology, such as a computer or cell phone, other research revealed. «If playing video games simply makes people happier, this seems to be a fundamental emotional benefit to consider,» said Granic. The authors also highlighted the possibility that video games are effective tools for learning resilience in the face of failure. People who play video games, even if they are violent, that encourage cooperation are more likely to be helpful to others while gaming than those who play the same games competitively, a 2011 study found.