By: Inas Essa
Nowadays, it is rare to see a child who is not holding a smartphone or a tablet, with his eyes glued to the screen, fully absorbed by what they are watching. Indeed, screen time has been consuming a big chunk of children’s time.
While different studies have been examining the effect of screen time on children's health—such as obesity, feeling tired, autism, ADHD, and other cognitive disorders—finding a link between screen habits—playing video games, socializing, and watching TV—and cognitive functions has not been highlighted enough.
That is what a recent study conducted by a research team from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has investigated.
Studying the Link between Video Games and Intelligence
In the recent study, the researchers estimated the impact of different types of screen time, whether spent watching TV, socializing through different social media accounts, or gaming through video games, on children’s intelligence over time. They analyzed 9855 children, 9–10 years old, and after two years. The children went through tests to measure their general cognitive abilities. Their parents were also asked about how much time the children spent watching TV and videos, playing video games, and engaging with social media.
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Video Games Have Better Effects than Watching TV
Results at the beginning of the study showed that the time spent socializing and watching TV negatively correlated with intelligence, as well as gaming. However, after two years of spending above-average time—more than 2.5 hours per day—playing video games positively impacted intelligence more than the average. On the other hand, socializing and watching TV had no effect, either positive or negative.
This adds to the previous research results that documented the cognitive benefits of video gaming, and how it could help children learn better.
Related: Could Action Videogames Improve Reading Skills?
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Video Games Can Boost Intelligence
"We did not examine the effects of screen behavior on physical activity, sleep, wellbeing, or school performance, so we cannot say anything about that," says Torkel Klingberg, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet. "But our results support the claim that screen time generally does not impair children's cognitive abilities and that playing video games can help boost intelligence. This is consistent with several experimental studies of video-game playing."
These results shed light on the role of the surrounding environment on children’s intelligence, and how they affect their cognitive functions, as there is something that can act as cognitive training. "We will know be studying the effects of other environmental factors and how the cognitive effects relate to childhood brain development," adds Torkel Klingberg.
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