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Growing up with video games - Psychological influences

A lifetime lived in just 5 years

By Giorgi MikhelidzePublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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Playing video games is a huge part of the childhood of many generations. Even though video games are more common to kids these days, millennials, post-Millenials have been playing many different video games and learned a lot from these games. There have been times when recording these games from CDs or using even older methods took hours, but everybody knows that the process of waiting was worth it. The pleasure received from playing our favorite video games was enormous and it had a great effect on our psychological well-being.

The first video game in the world was introduced back in the 1950s and from this time games of many different types, genres, and qualities have been made. The video games industry has gone through big changes, developed and now the gaming industry is different from what it was in the era of Millenials.

Today’s kids have more diverse options as a result of developed technologies. Now it’s easy to access video game consoles, computers, and smartphones and today’s games are much more advanced than the games from five or ten years ago, and today the selection of video games is almost limitless. The gaming landscape grows and develops every day and the number of people taking part in this industry increases as well.

Although some people believe that the only impact video games can have on our mind is bad because these games are something connected to computers and the internet which are perceived as a bad influence on today’s kids. But everybody who has ever taken part in playing video games knows that playing them is not only a way of entertaining but also can be a fantastic way to learn new things and develop new skills.

Often these amazing games with high-quality graphics and delicate plots are so inspirational for people that even movies have been made according to video games. And if there’s somebody who believes that video games hurt our psyche, you can just read our article about the psychological influences of video games and prove they’re wrong.

How can video games affect our brains?

There is reliable evidence that video games can change the functioning of our brains for good. They can affect our brains and cause changes in certain regions of the brain. It may sound weird, but playing video games usually helps our brain stimulate, which results in developing our cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, perception, thinking, and every other cognitive function.

Scientists have summarized results from 116 studies and concluded that video games impact the structure and activity of our brains and change the operating patterns of our brains and as a result, our behavior changes as well. So, although people have been praising or even demonizing video games without real data, this research consisting of hundreds of studies proves the opposite.

Besides, the study conducted by the reputable American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that playing video games increases the size of certain parts of our brain that are responsible for visualization and perception. They created an experimental situation for long-term video games where participants followed a video game training plan. The researchers found out that people who have been taking part in this experiment had enlarged the right hippocampus which is a part of the brain, responsible for learning processes and memory. Therefore, playing video games has neural and behavioral effects on us and there is a great amount of scientific information proving that fact.

Role of emotions

Not only thinking patterns are affected by playing regularly, but also our emotions and behavior changes under their influence. A typical player enjoys the game he or she takes part in. Sometimes they are so involved in the process of playing that they experience increased pleasure. In scientific terms, this pleasure is called serotonin.

Serotonin is a chemical hormone our brain releases when we experience pleasure. It’s important for reducing the level of anxiety and also takes a great part in regulating our stress level. While playing video games we experience positive emotions and in this process, a great amount of serotonin and dopamine are produced. Another great impact serotonin can have on humans is increased mood. Serotonin is widely considered as an antidepressant because it regulates our mood and plays a major role in reducing negative emotions and raising our psychological well-being.

Social impact

Another widely used stereotype about playing video games is that people who play video games are socially isolated, have no friends, and don’t take part in social activities. In fact, thinking like this has no right basis because more than 70% of gamers today play game switch with a friend or even with completely foreigners. Many games today are multiplayer ones which means that you can’t play them alone. So, on the opposite of this opinion, gamers are usually friendly people who enjoy spending time in the company of others.

Negative effects of video games

Although video games can take an important part in improving our brain functioning and provide learning, health, and social benefits, of course, they have a bad influence on our psyche as well.

Sometimes video gaming can indeed be addictive and games with violent content can hurt people and especially kids. Some of the negative effects include addiction, depression, and aggression. Usually, when kids watch aggressive and violent things, don’t matter on television, in video games, or reality, these aggressive scenes play the roles of models for them and as a result, they study the aggressive behavior patterns, generalize these actions and use them towards other people.

There are many other negative effects of playing video games and researchers have been studying these effects for decades. Therefore, we can’t ignore these negative sides but these effects are nothing new and what is more important is the positive sides of the impact of video games on children’s and adolescents’ development.

Conclusion

To sum up the psychological effects of growing up with video games, we can say that children shouldn’t spend too much time on video games, because it can have harmful effects on their health, may worsen their sight and cause anxiety, However, recently psychologists have found out that playing high-quality video games can play important role in promoting creativity and developing many cognitive skills. The cognitive development of children is a process that needs a lot of stimulation from outside and video games can be an excellent stimulus for this.

Also, playing various video games can be inspirational, help the children start thinking creatively and critically, and learn strategies of effective problem-solving. Other advantages of our cognitive skills include improving attention, as in the process of playing you need to observe any single detail, and besides, the influence on our memory and learning skills is great as well.

Finally, we can say that the boundary between positive and negative effects is so small. They can have negative, as well as positive effects on children who grow up with video games which makes it hard to decide whether to allow them to spend time in front of computers or laptops or restrict them from wasting time playing video games. Therefore, the most effective solution is to take a balanced approach.

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