A lot of people say that playing video games can increase someone’s IQ. But intelligence has a wider scope than we thought. With that in mind, most of us don’t know how video games affect our IQ. Even then, numerous studies claim that playing video games has a tangible effect on someone’s cognition skills. Let us find more information that will answer the question, “Can video games increase your IQ?”
Studies said that video games could improve our learning, memory, problem-solving skills, decision-making, and attention span when practiced in a competitive environment. In other words, playing video games can enhance the abilities we have that society values.
What is IQ and Why Does it Matter?
IQ or Intelligence Quotient is developed to help experts measure the ability of someone to use their reasoning and information skills to create predictions and answer queries quickly.
There are various IQ tests that one can use to determine their long-term and short-term memory. Beyond that, these IQ tests can also measure how quickly someone can recall information and solve puzzles.
But take note that IQ tests do not cover someone’s mind complexity. There are other factors that could affect the IQ level of a person, including EQ (emotional intelligence), economic, and social status.
Remember that IQ only serves as the predictor of several things. But it cannot give someone an exact measurement of their intelligence.
Generally, experts claim that IQ is an ideal aspect to consider to predict someone’s future success. This might be because of the notion that the more intelligent a person is, the higher the chance that they can learn new things, solve problems, and become more successful in the future.
On the other hand, the intelligence quotient measures how well someone can perform in a specific situation or subject, including art, engineering, math, and science. After all, there are many other factors that affect the success of a person in life aside from intelligence. These include luck, opportunity, ambition, persistence, and hard work.
Do Video Games Increase Intelligent Quotient of a Person?
Video games are believed to challenge the intellect of a child when they don’t feel and see any challenges in school. Various research claims that other kids are looking for mastery and challenge that some schools cannot provide. Studies suggest that video games can provide children with the mastery and challenges they are looking for. Thus, creating a feedback loop.
How Video Games Affect a Person’s Memory and Learning
Attention and memory are closely related to each other. Therefore, some claim that memory and attention could be improved through playing video games.
The researchers of the University of California claimed that players of 3D video games had enhanced hand-and-eye coordination. Beyond that, it also improves the formation of memories.
Another study performed by Gnambs et al. said that playing video games does not directly affect someone’s intelligence, although it could slightly improve their performance in school.
McDermott et al. also conducted a study that compares the memory retention of non-gamers and action video gamers. The research concluded that video gamers are more excellent at retaining memories than non-video gamers. Video gamers also show higher precision with short-term memory activities.
Another research performed by Rueda, Cruz, and Ferguson concluded that playing video games can significantly improve the accuracy rate of a person in visual memory. The study hypothecated that this was because video games made the player more sensitive to visual signs.
Video Games and Spatial Intelligence
Gamers playing 3D video games need to acquire spatial skills that will help them understand and access complicated environments. The following are some of the researches conducted that show the relationship between spatial intelligence and video games.
- Granek et al. conducted an fMRI study. According to what they have found, too much gaming could affect a part of our brain responsible for processing complicated visual activities, which leads to a more efficient circuitry.
- Another research also claimed that non-gamers have a slower response for both difficult and easy visual research activities compared to video gamers.
- Players of action video games can determine a more accurate peripheral mark among various objects than the non-gamers. The investigators provided the gamers with a series of objects presented in seconds. With that experiment, they concluded that video gamers have more efficient visual stream skills than non-gamers.
- Green and Bavalier conducted a study and found out that playing video games can positively improve the ability of a player to turn any complicated shapes in their mind. Their study also concluded that action video gamers had increased ability in identifying objects despite the level of distractions.
Does Higher Intelligent Quotient Associated with Higher Risk of Video Gaming Addiction?
More intelligent individuals are susceptible to video game addiction. This might be because their working environment does not give them the challenge they need. If you think that you are getting addicted to playing video games, the first thing you should do is to know what type of gamer you are.
In fact, gamers have a higher IQ compared to non-gamer. Even though most of us value intelligence, we should know that being intelligent does not always equate to being successful.
Conclusion
Adults believe that playing video games is just a waste of time and money. It causes young players to sit in front of their gaming PC for several hours, which affects their productivity. Most video gamers are prone to addiction, and video gaming is related to an unproductive lifestyle and obesity. But with the studies mentioned above, video gaming is believed to improve someone’s intelligence.
Many people do not understand intelligence very well because of its complicatedness and broadness. Therefore, measuring if video games could make someone more intelligent is hard. On the other hand, there are things we can do to determine how video games can impact our IQ level.
In addition, there is no clear study that shows to what extent video gaming can improve our cognition. That is because researchers choose individuals with above-average skills in decision-making, problem-solving, learning, memory, and attentional skills. Despite that, we can say that video gaming could increase someone’s IQ level.
