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The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

nature.com

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Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#161

Post by mderazon »

mrtksn wrote: post #33
christophilus wrote: post #5

I’ve tried to encourage my wife to choose video games over Disney+ when she needs to drop the kids in front of something, but she still has a strong resistance to the idea that games are better. To me, it’s pretty obvious. The kids problem solve when gaming, and are obviously engaged. When watching TV, they look like zombies. I think my wife’s biggest hang up with games is that she was always told that they rot your…

I recall, when I was a kid the games were extremely addictive for me and I couldn't just quit playing unless I absolutely have to. I had emotionally very similar experience when quitting smoking, the feeling that if I just can have this one more smoke I will be satisfied and live happily thereafter is very similar to the desire to have one more round. So I wouldn't call games "not addictive". If anything, watching so…

Today they're built to be even more addictive to push for monetization by ads / in app purchases

Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#162

Post by svnt »

legitster wrote: post #155
christophilus wrote: post #5

I’ve tried to encourage my wife to choose video games over Disney+ when she needs to drop the kids in front of something, but she still has a strong resistance to the idea that games are better. To me, it’s pretty obvious. The kids problem solve when gaming, and are obviously engaged. When watching TV, they look like zombies. I think my wife’s biggest hang up with games is that she was always told that they rot your…

I definitely feel games have made me more intelligent, but at the cost of my attention span and work ethic.

Also can we talk about the hoarding instinct that develops? I always max out my inventory, ie my basement. Just in case I need to craft or sell something, which I almost never do.

Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#163

Post by Mikeb85 »

dash2 wrote: post #13

The fact that they "controlled" for genetics using polygenic scores already is a strong sign of low quality research. Polygenic scores are powerful, but they contain very large amounts of noise compared to the true genetic effects. Controlling for genetics using them is like controlling for income by asking whether the respondents own a Porsche. Also, be aware that Scientific Reports is, if not quite a predatory jour…

Anecdata but one thing I've noticed over time between those who grew up on video games and those who didn't is that those who were gamers deal better with change, especially WRT learning new software in the workplace, starting new projects, etc...

Obviously though the benefits aren't there if people just mindlessly play the same game all day.

Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#164

Post by dash2 »

pocketsand wrote: post #151
dash2 wrote: post #13

The fact that they "controlled" for genetics using polygenic scores already is a strong sign of low quality research. Polygenic scores are powerful, but they contain very large amounts of noise compared to the true genetic effects. Controlling for genetics using them is like controlling for income by asking whether the respondents own a Porsche. Also, be aware that Scientific Reports is, if not quite a predatory jour…

If the noise in polygenic scores is random, all that will do is reduce correlations. Random measurement error always reduces the ability to observe relationships. To be clear, I do not know enough about polygenic scores to judge one way or another how the noise "works" vis-a-vis the entire analysis. The Porsche comment is snide, but actually exposes a similar error in your critique. Sure, a tax return-derived measure…

The point is not whether including polygenic scores is better than nothing. The point is whether it's good enough to justify the claims they are making. It's not. The same holds for SES.

I disagree that this study presents decent evidence of anything. I don't claim that the conclusions are false. But they haven't backed them up. There are lots of ways that the observed trends can be spurious. I mentioned some. The study is very weakly informative.

Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#165

Post by svnt »

largbae wrote: post #20
erfgh wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that games are very addictive so in extreme cases they can destroy much more thoroughly than TV can.

This article seems to be saying the opposite, can you share any references?

Just my memory but eg gaming cafes have resulted in numerous deaths from exhaustion (World of Warcraft) while I cannot recall the same ever happening at a soap opera cafe (does this exist?) or sports bar.

Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#166

Post by dash2 »

lelanthran wrote: post #93
dash2 wrote: post #13

The fact that they "controlled" for genetics using polygenic scores already is a strong sign of low quality research. Polygenic scores are powerful, but they contain very large amounts of noise compared to the true genetic effects. Controlling for genetics using them is like controlling for income by asking whether the respondents own a Porsche. Also, be aware that Scientific Reports is, if not quite a predatory jour…

> If you wanna believe that your hours on COD have made you a genius, go ahead, I won't stop you. Just don't imagine that this research proves it. Maybe it's the games you play (CoD) that make imagine that game-playing develops no reasoning skills. Play something else (starcraft, for example).

I never claimed anything about whether game-playing developed reasoning skills. Indeed, I explicitly said "believe that if you want to." I just said this research didn't prove it.

Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#167

Post by svnt »

the_af wrote: post #56
erfgh wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can't the kids play among themselves? I have two little daughters, ages 3 and 5 and I've never had to drop them in front of something. If I have time to play with them I do (which is most days) but when I don't have time or I'm very tired or I need to do something else I tell them to play among themselves.

What if you only have one child?

Then congratulations you already know how to create his proposed solution.

Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#168

Post by [deleted] »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #141
the_only_law wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I could certainly see problem solving skills developing from world building or highly complex games (Civ, PoE, etc.). In fact, most (but not all) highly successful games have depth, which requires time investment and problem solving. I’m a big grand strategy fan, mostly Paradox games rn, and I almost feel like these are worse for me because the depth keeps me engaged longer (and honesty waste a lot of time) compare…

I wouldn't underestimate how much time people can sink into dumb gotcha games. Maybe not you, but others. IMO, the biggest problem with modern video games is how many of them are designed to keep you playing virtually forever. I think a game like Zelda (maybe not BoTW, but definitely OoT) is great for children, because it teaches problem solving and rational thinking, and it has a natural time limit! You might play i…

[deleted]

Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#169

Post by bnralt »

nosianu wrote: post #105
d3ckard wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In any case, using CoD as an example does not exactly show good will. I personally believe in huge gains from gaming, based on personal experience (so obviously n = 1, read further accordingly). Platformers train hand-eye coordination and pattern recognition, strategies teach resource management, RPGs about optimization and adopting growth mindset, racing games require long-time concentration, puzzlers and adventure…

If you seriously play the game you get good at... the game. Even within the same game genre that barely translates. People good at Starcraft I struggled with Starcraft II, people great at Warcraft made little headway in Starcraft II (e.g. WCIII players like Grubby or Happy). Given that, claiming that things even further removed than those other games, which closely resemble one another, requires quite a bit of proof.…

> Even within the same game genre that barely translates. People good at Starcraft I struggled with Starcraft II, people great at Warcraft made little headway in Starcraft II (e.g. WCIII players like Grubby or Happy).

Even being good at Starcraft I in 1998 wouldn't make you good at Starcraft I in 2003. People uncover certain optimizations and strategies over times that are quickly adopted by everyone, to the extent that playing the same a good player in 1998 would get you dubbed a "noob" in 2003.

Re: The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence

#170

Post by svnt »

slothtrop wrote: post #143
watwut wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very very honestly, my experience with people who watch Disney too much is much much better then with excessive gamers. Only one of those groups yells, swears and is vent their anger at people around when they loose the match. For the record, my kids do play games, I never did complete ban. But, the gaming does not seem to be superior, does not zombify them less nor leads to more inventive play after session finished…

You might as well lambast sports on the conceit that kids might swear and get angry for losing.

Not the same. Sports have refs, coaches, and parents. Yes it is possible to get a bad outcome in sports but there is no container in competitive online gaming. It is Lord of the Flies by design.
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