Question

In the text there are many arguments made by researchers or universities. Locate the information and think about it: Which arguments do you agree with? What's your opinion? In pairs share you opinions and write it down.
My opinion:_______
My partner’s opinion:______

Answer 1

Video games are good for you!

For years video games have been criticized for making people more antisocial, overweight

or depressed. But now researchers are finding that games can actually change us for the better

and improve both our body and mind.

Games can help to develop physical skills. Pre-school children who played interactive

games such as the ones available on Wii have been shown to have improved motor skills, for

example, they can kick, catch and throw a ball better than children who don’t play video games.

A study of surgeons who do microsurgery in Boston found that those who played video games

were 27 per cent faster and made 37 per cent fewer errors than those who didn’t. Vision is also

improved, particularly telling the difference between shades of grey. This is useful for driving at

night, piloting a plane or reading X-rays.

Games also benefit a variety of brain functions, including decision-making. People who play

action-based games make decisions 25 per cent faster than others and are no less accurate,

according to one study. In another study by researchers from the University of Rochester in New

York, experienced gamers were shown to be able to pay attention to more than six things at once

without getting confused, compared with the four that most people can normally keep in mind.

Additionally, video games can also reduce gender differences. Scientists have found that women

who play games are better able to mentally manipulate 3D objects.

There is also evidence that gaming can help with psychological problems. At the University

of Auckland in New Zealand, researchers asked 94 young people diagnosed with depression to

play a 3D fantasy game called SPARX and in many cases, the game reduced symptoms of

depression more than conventional treatment. Another research team at Oxford University found

that playing Tetris shortly after exposure to something very upsetting – in the experiment, a film

of traumatic scenes of injury and death was used – can actually prevent people from having

disturbing flashbacks.

The effects are not always so positive, however. Indiana University researchers carried out

brain scans on young men and found evidence that violent games can alter brain function after

as little as a week of play, affecting regions in the brain associated with emotional control and

causing more aggressive behavior in the player. But Daphne Bavelier, one of the most experienced

researcher in the field, says that the violent action games that often worry parents the most, may

actually have the strongest beneficial effect on the brain. In the future, we may see many

treatments for physical and neurological problems which incorporate the playing of video games.