Sally Chen

Sally Chen Outline

Introduction

Hook: Playing video games, a term that used to describe people that were nerds and adults that still live in their parent’s basement, doing nothing. Growing up in the twenty-first century, technology was everywhere. There were many different types of game consoles and different games being developed every year, and with the internet, these things became more accessible to everyone.

Statement of the Problem/Debate: Video games have become so much a part of our lives, but we still lack the knowledge about the effects it has on us. Scientists have been looking more into the positive effects of video games on the gamer. Playing video games has been proved to mentally benefit the gamer. In the human brain, different parts of the brain are affected positively like the attention span and regulation of the brain when playing video games. Many studies have found gamers mentally benefit from playing video games, especially violent video games. Gamers benefited from playing video games in four main ways cognitively, emotionally, socially, and motivationally. The effects have been found to be very beneficial to the users since they learn valuable skills they will need in the future.

Thesis Statement: Video games are associated with negative effects, it’s also crucial to understand video games are beneficial to their users cognitively, emotionally, socially, and motivation.

Body Paragraphs:

Subargument # 1: Cognitive skills improve when people play video games.

Support 1: In a meta-analysis, found spatial skills improved by playing a shooting game, the effects were similar to high school and university courses made to develop this skill (Granic et al, 2014). The spatial skills can be trained with video games relatively quick and the effects are long-lasting (Granic et al, 2014).

Support 2: Attention spans increased for gamers, when asked to identify happy faces from a bunch of facial expressions, adults on average were able to identify 3 to 4 objects, while gamers were able to identify 6 to 7 objects in the same time frame Bavelier, June 2012).

Support 3: Two meta-analyses published in Psychological Bulletin in 2017, found that over the span of 15 years players’ cognitive skills improved for gamers (Warnick, October 2019). “They found that video game players scored higher in tests of attention, perception, cognitive flexibility and spatial cognition” (Warnick, October 2019).

Subargument # 2: Video games create an environment that is beneficial to one’s emotional well-being.

Support 1:Many studies have shown how playing video games improved mood or increased positive emotions (Granic et al, 2014). Playing puzzle video games with minimum interfaces, a short-term commitment, and easy accessibility promotes better mood, stay relaxed, and not feel anxiety (Granic et al, 2014).

Support 2: According to an Oxford study, it was founded by playing four hours of the game Animal Cross it was found that the players were happier (Hern, November 2020).

Support 3: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, stated the idea behind flow is the mental state that gamers experience when they are so engaged in the game is linked to the production of positive emotions like high self-esteem and a feeling of achievement (Vitelli, February 2014).

Subargument # 3: Playing video games has allowed the development of many important social skills.

Support 1:Video game players have been able to gain important prosocial skills when they play interactive video games like cooperation, support, and helping behavior (Granic et al, 2014).

Support 2: Playing video games is a very common free time activity for children to work in teams. As a result, many children that play video games are socially able to connect with their peers and adapt to the school environment (Anonymous, March 2016).

Support 3: Professor of psychology at Nottingham Trent University, Mark Griffiths, he did a survey with 900 people in 45 different countries on people who played online multiplayer games and found that one-third of both male and female participants responded they made good friends when playing games and the average amount of good friends made was seven (Gregory, April 2020).

Subargument # 4: Gamers have been able to develop motivational skills from playing video games.

Support 1: Video games allow the player to face failure with optimism, when they face failure the player in the video games are motivated to return to the same task and complete until they win (Granic et al, 2014).

Support 2: Video games have many difficult tasks for the player to complete (Vitelli, February 2014). This allows the player to see that they can achieve their goals and stay determined (Vitelli, February 2014).

Support 3: Video games implement the incremental theory of intelligence to its players (Granic et al, 2014). In video games when completing a game task the player is rewarded and they believe intelligence can be malleable and achievable through their time and effort put in (Granic et al, 2014).

Conclusion:

Summarize: Video games have been described to have many negative effects on their users, in reality, many positive benefits to its user these are the development of cognitive skills, emotional skills, social skills, and motivational skills. Playing video games has allowed the individual to gain the main important skills needed in different aspects of their lives.

Final Comment: Video games are the new version of what people consider leisure activities. With the popularity on the rise, the need for understanding the effects of video games is key to the understanding of how individuals will become in the future. Video games have left an imprint on us, and the effects will last forever.

References:

Alex Hern Technology editor. (November 16, 2020, Monday). Video gaming can benefit mental health, find Oxford academics. The Guardian (London). https://advance-lexis-com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:619H-27N1-DY4H-K1FW-00000-00&context=1516831.

Bavelier, D.(Performer). (2012, June). TED [Video file]. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games

Granic, I., Lobel, A., & M. E. Engels, R. C. (2014). The Benefits of Playing Video Games. American Psychologist, 69(1), 66–78. https://doi-org.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/10.1037/a0034857

Gregory, S. (2020, April 22). Video games benefit quarantined kids in covid-19 pandemic. https://time.com/5825214/video-games-screen-time-parenting-coronavirus/.

(March 8, 2016, Tuesday). Time spent playing video games may have positive effects on young children. Medical Xpress. https://advance-lexis-com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:5J86-DX01-JCMN-Y1PW-00000-00&context=1516831.

Vitelli, R. (2014, February 10). Are There Benefits in Playing Video Games? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/media-spotlight/201402/are-there-benefits-in-playing-video-games.

Warnick, A. (2019, October 1). Video games and health: Sorting science from popular beliefs – Many believe games cause gun violence. The Nation’s Health. https://www.thenationshealth.org/content/49/8/1.2.

Sally Chen Marvel

According to Scorsese, he claims that marvel movies are not cinema (Scorsese, 2019). Scorsese describes cinema as having “aesthetic, emotional and spiritual revelation” (Scorsese, 2019). Well, what is cinema then? Since the word cinema can be so broad in definitions, everyone has their own understanding of this word. There is no right way in what cinema should be like. Cinema is art, even Scorsese himself agrees with this (Scorsese, 2019). In art, what is most important is the ability to be creative and be able to expressive themselves. Marvel movies are still made with creativity, so why should it not be considered cinema. Marvel movies are based on comic books, today they are considered comic book classics. The marvel comic movies like the original comic books represent an art form that has influenced many adults and children. When people watch marvel movies, they still experience aesthetics, emotions, and spiritual revelation. The marvel movies have many different characters range in different super abilities to gender (Larman et al, 2021). When there are a variety of characters people will develop some type of connection to something. For example, when you watch a Marvel movie all the special abilities the character has really made kids want to be like them and be able to make a difference in the world. This is an aesthetic, emotional, and spiritual connection to the Marvel movies. If the Marvel movies did not have aesthetic appeal why would anyone watch the movies, and why would it make a child want to make a difference in the world. The explanation for this is they have an emotional and spiritual connection to the movie or there will not be this reaction. Marvel made $2.8 billion from just Avenger: Endgame (Larman et al, 2021). If Marvel did not appeal to people’s aesthetic, emotions, and spiritual needs, it can’t explain why the movies are making so much money.

Scorsese also expresses the threat of following trends society creates for the film industry (Scorsese, 2019). Scorsese describes how in today’s film industry everything is based on “market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified” (Scorsese, 2019). These changes are made because of the changing of society and the technology around us. In marvel films today, we use many different high-tech techniques that have allowed for better representation of characters in marvel movies (Child, 2019). Society has changed to a society that relies heavily on technology. Scorsese needs to understand that even with all the market research and the other adjustments made to the film, is not just based on money, but also on other considerations like the creativity of the creators of the film. Scorsese himself even accepted to complete a film with Netflix (Scorsese, 2019). Scorsese followed the trend of using big online movie platforms to help him with his film, so has does not really have a strong argument about other films being made and heavily influenced by social trends created by society. Also, technology will only become more involved in the entertainment industry and things will continue to change, and move more further away from what the entertainment industry use to be.

Child, B. (2019, October 17). ‘Of course Marvel is CINEMA!’ why THE Scorsese backlash is justified. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/17/of-course-marvel-is-cinema-why-the-scorsese-backlash-is-justified-kevin-smith-taika-waititi.

Larman, A., Larman, A., Duggan, M., Armstrong, M., Jeffrey, J., Stewart, G., … Podcast. (2021, February 19). Martin Scorsese vs Marvel: a tale of two different cinematic perspectives: Alexander Larman. The Critic Magazine. https://thecritic.co.uk/martin-scorsese-vs-marvel-a-tale-of-two-different-cinematic-perspectives/.

Sally Chen Synthesis Letter

Group Topic: The effects of screen time use on humans.

My Topic: The positive effects of playing video games on mental health.

Question:

How have video games improved mental health for gamers?
How has playing video games had an impact on psychological development in children and teens?
Do internet games and video games vary in the ability to improve the mental health of its players?
Does the advancement in gaming change the effects gaming has on their mental health?

Dear Professor Beecher,

Throughout the research process, I encounter many different types of sources related to my topic the positive effect of playing video games on mental health. Out of the sources I found, I pick four to analyze more deeply. My sources all have their different views on how playing video games are beneficial, but in some ways, things interconnect with each other. All my sources focus on the benefits people can obtain from playing video games for their mental development and health. After analyzing these four sources, I am more educated in how video games can improve one’s mental ability.

According to (Granic et al, 2014) research article, claimed that playing video games has emotional benefits as it makes the gamer experience positive emotions, which is really just happiness. (Hern, November 2020) wrote a news article to support this claim because according to an Oxford study, it found that people who played video games for four hours a day, were more happy when they did. Both sources show how playing video games allowed the player to experience happiness, which is a key in maintaining good mental health. The Oxford study provided relevant scientific backing to the claim playing video games allows gamers to be happy. (Granic et al, 2014) explains people gain social benefits from playing video games and they learn to cooperate with others around them. In source three, a study done on children explains how children who play video games had better relationships with their peers around them(Anonymous, March 2016). It proves that gamers are able to maintain social relationships with others around them and are able to cooperate with each other. These three sources came from different sources of information, which provided different details and tones for my topic.

Source four a video source stated, gamers had cognitive improvements when they played games like being able to develop spatial skills ( Bavelier, June 2012). It provided extra details to explain cognitive skills like spatial skills improved and are supported by source one (Granic et al, 2014). Source four, provided experimental evidence to support the idea gamers are able to develop spatial skills, which is a very important skill to learn to be able to analyze things better. Source four, provided a lot of information and scientific data to support my research. Since source four was a ted-talk it provided visuals and interactions between the audience, which allowed me to have a better understanding of the information being presented. All four sources revolve around action games or video games, since not every type of game has the same benefits as video games can have for the human brain. Also, all four sources wanted to explain scientific data and research done on the benefits of video games.

These four sources have allowed me to understand the mental benefits of playing video games better. Each source provides a different perspective on video games and how it benefits us. The source covers topics from social, emotional, to cognitive abilities of people, allowing me to analyze my topic through different factors affected by playing video games. All the sources were written to inform people about the benefits of playing video games. Since a majority of studies and research papers are written about the negative effects video games have on people. Through my research, I want to bring more awareness to people that video games are not really that bad. I want people to realize video games will only become more popular, so we should be educated and understand their effects on us. To achieve this goal, I needed to analyze and make strong connections between my sources to create a strong argument for my claim.

Sincerely,

Sally Chen

Sally Chen Draft 1

Why I choose this topic: The reason why I choose this topic is that it’s a topic that everyone will have some connection to. As playing video games becomes more and more popular people should understand its effects on us. We should educate ourselves to understand the problems and the benefits that come with our decision.

Group Topic: The effects of screen time use on humans.

My Topic: The positive effects of playing video games on mental health.

Question:

How have video games improved mental health for gamers?
How has playing video games had an impact on psychological development in children and teens?
Do internet games and video games vary in the ability to improve the mental health of their players?
Does the advancement in gaming change the effects gaming has on their mental health? [I’m not sure I understand what this question is asking. Maybe try to rephrase it.]

Source #1:

Title: The benefits of playing Video Games

Granic, I., Lobel, A., & M. E. Engels, R. C. (2014). The Benefits of Playing Video Games. American Psychologist, 69(1), 66–78. https://doi-org.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/10.1037/a0034857

Summary:

As video games become more popular in society today, there are many benefits associated with them. Playing video games has allowed benefits in four categories cognitive, motivational, emotional, and socially. The cognitive benefits of playing video games included the improvement of spatial skills, developing problem-solving skills, and increasing creativity. Gaming improves motivation by making children believe that intelligence can be obtained through hard work, and that failure is part of life and should be faced with optimism. Emotional benefits of gaming included allowing the gamer to experience positive feelings, and allow people to develop skills to help them adjust to changes around them and to negative emotions. The social benefits associated with gaming are they allow the individual to learn skills like cooperation, teamwork, leadership skills, and helping behavior. Video games have been found to be beneficial in mental health and education because video games create fun, making health treatments and learning fun. [This is a clear and concise summary. Nice work.]

Reflection:

This journal article gave an overview of how video games are beneficial to the mental health and psychological development of children and teens. Many of the benefits stated in the article are key skills people value in society to become successful. In this source, it does not have a lot of information about the mental health effects video games have on individuals. Since it focuses on the psychological effects it has on individuals playing games. There is a connection between psychological effects and mental health effects. Since psychological thought is the key component in understanding mental health in humans. The psychological effects allow individuals to develop skills that will affect the mental health of the person, which is one factor I needed to understand, in order, to understand the mental effects gaming has on us. [I think you could include a more specific example of this so that your readers understand exactly how the psychological effects are connected to mental health.] Also, as a project idea, we could see if we can use video games as a treatment to improve the mental health of individuals.

Paraphrases/Quotes: “For example, in his qualitative research on children’s play conversations, Gottman (1986) showed how children use play for emotional mastery in their real lives. Whereas adolescents and adults often use self-disclosure and direct discussion with close friends to resolve emotional issues, children use play to work them out through pretend-based narratives enacted either alone or with others” (Granic et al, 2014, p 67).

Paraphrases This Quote: Playing is important to children because it allows them to learn emotional and social skills. Adults and teens express their emotions through socialization and are more direct. [Great paraphrase!]

Reason: The reason why I choose to paraphrase this section is because the authors brought up a very interesting point about playing. It allows for a better understanding of the topics and reasons brought up after this section. I found that playing is a key component in understanding the mental effects of gaming. Since essentially gaming is a form of playing.

Quote: “For example, two large-scale survey studies have found that 3% of Dutch (van Rooij, Schoenmakers, Vermulst, van den Eijnden, & van de Mheen, 2011) and about 8% of U.S. youth (Gentile, 2009) who play video games exhibit pathological symptoms of addiction (i.e., damage to family, school, or psychological functioning)”(Granic et al, 2014, p.74).

Reason: I quoted this section because it brought up the opposing end of the argument. It shows data on the negative effects of playing video games. This section can be used as statistical evidence to make my counterclaim strong.

Source #2:

Title: Video gaming can benefit mental health, find Oxford academics

Summary:

In an Oxford study, it was found that playing video games was good for mental health. The study focuses on two games, Nintendo’s springtime craze Animal Crossing and Plant vs. Zombies: Battle of Neighborville. The Oxford study was one of the very few studies done on play-time data. The leading researcher Andrew Przybylski found that even the video game companies had very little data about their users. In his study, he found that if people play Animal Crossing, four hours a day will allow the player to be happier. [How did the researcher reach this conclusion?] Przybylski did mention that as the study continues they will find information about the negative side effects of games. Some limitations to this study included it only focused on two games that were suitable to all age groups, people’s views on gaming are different, and the intrinsic and extrinsic enjoyment. Researchers hope to bring more attention to this topic since there is not a lot of data on it, and it is a very common problem in society today.

Reflection:

The researchers do bring up a good point, there really was not that much research that has gone into looking into video game effects on mental health. Since video games have been so popular in the past decade and there are still effects we don’t understand. The study provides a good source of scientific data to support my claim. The study can connect with the research found in “The benefits of playing video games,” they both agree that playing video games can bring happiness to the player creating a better mental state. It’s surprising that even game companies don’t have a lot of data on their users. Since many would believe game companies have a lot of data on their users because data from their users are a really good source of information to analyze their markets, to create new games, understand what trends there are, and many more things the data is useful for. [This is interesting, especially since gaming has been around since the 1970s. I wonder if companies/researchers are getting more data now that most games are online?]

Paraphrase/ Quotes:

Quote: “The study, which focused on players of Nintendo’s springtime craze Animal Crossing, as well as EA’s shooter Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, found that people who played more games tended to report greater “wellbeing”, casting further doubt on reports that video gaming can harm mental health”(Hern, November 2020).

Reason: The reason why I quote this section is because it states the outcome of the study done by Oxford. It also acknowledges the other side of the argument, which makes the statement it’s making stronger.

Quote:

“Crucially, the study was one of the first to be done using actual play-time data. Thanks to the internet-connected nature of the games, the Oxford University team was able to link up psychological questionnaires with true records of time spent playing games. Previous studies had tended to focus on self-reported time playing, which is, the study found, only weakly correlated with reality” (Hern, November 2020).

Paraphrase: The study uses play-time data because the games used were internet connectable games. The researchers used surveys to collect the actual time the individual played the game. Studies done before were using self-reported play times, which was not close to reality (Hern, November 2020).

Reason: The reason why I paraphrase this section is because this section describes the method the researcher used in this study. Including the methods of collecting, data makes the data and conclusion of the study more reliable and believable. I would include this with the previous section to make my point stronger and supported. [Great! It would be a good idea to also mention the methods/results in your summary or analysis too.]

It looks like you have found two sources that will help you with your topic. Both of them appear to address your first research question so it might be a good idea to focus on that and forget about the other questions for now. You don’t want to risk including topics that are only loosely related. Also, in your summaries, make sure you are explaining how the researchers are getting to their results. Did they observe gamers and then ask questions? Did they play games with a group of people and then have an interview? Explaining these details will give your readers a clear understanding of where these conclusions are coming from.

Hi everyone!

My name is Sally Chen. I am currently a freshman at Baruch College and intended to major in Accounting.

One of my hobbies is making handmade crafts. I like to make many different types of things like pen holders, lanyards, and many more. I don’t really make a lot of crafts anymore because I’m too busy with school work. I also really enjoy watching different dramas, movies, shows, and anime, whenever I have time.

I always wanted to travel the world someday if I can. I haven’t been to many different places around the world yet. So I am very interested in learning more about other cultures and experience how life would be outside the U.S. I also want to try out different foods from different places. Well, living in New York City makes it easy to solve this problem.

I look forward to learning more about everyone and maybe make a couple more friends at Baruch.