So for what seems like the history of gaming we have been flooded by claims from 'professionals' related to the bad health stigma that surrounds gaming. Finally someone with 'a degree' has come forward to say games actually have their benefits as well. "Oh really?" I hear all you gamers say, "That's what we've been trying to get across for years." Well, leading psychologists have now admitted games are good for problem solving skills and also improve a person's dexterity. Both are very useful skills in the 'real world' as well, wouldn't you agree?

Playing video games improves manual dexterity among surgeons, making them faster and less likely to make mistakes, researchers have found.
The findings were contained in a raft of research about how video games effect the people who play them, discussed at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Boston.

"The big picture is that there are several dimensions in which games have effects," including their content, how they are played, and how much, said psychologist Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University.

"This means that games are not 'good' or 'bad' but are powerful educational tools and have many effects we might not have expected they could."

Dr. Gentile presented several studies on video games including one involving 33 surgeons specializing in laparoscopy, the use of a thin lighted tube to inspect and treat various conditions in the pelvic and abdominal cavities.

Laparoscopic surgeons who played video games were 27 per cent faster at advanced surgical procedures, and made 37 per cent fewer errors, compared to their non-gaming colleagues, the study found.

Studies involving high school and college students confirmed previous findings about the social effects of playing violent video games, the Iowa State researchers said.

Euphoric via news.com.au »