Advertisement

Facebook or video games: one makes you smarter

Could video games be making your children smarter?

Could video games be making your children smarter? Photo: Getty

When your kids ask for an Xbox this Christmas, it might be time to say yes.

An Australian study released by RMIT University suggests gaming helps to boost young people’s academic success.

The research found online games can improve results in maths, reading and science, while spending time on social media has the opposite effect.

Associate Professor and lead researcher Alberto Posso used data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) to analyse the online habits of 12,000 Australian 15-year-olds, which he compared to their schooling.

He discovered online gaming helped teach students problem solving, puzzle-solving and applied logic skills.

“I found that online social networks are detrimental to success or at least there is a negative relationship between the two, while online gaming has a positive relationship with scores,” Dr Posso told The New Daily.

Social media could be to be detrimental to academic success. Photo: Getty

Social media could be to be detrimental to academic success. Photo: Getty

But is social networking making you dumber?

“That’s the million dollar question,” according to the RMIT economics, finance and marketing educator.

“Is it making you dumber or are people that are less apt at school more likely to be on Facebook?” he asked.

“With the equations it’s pretty hard to tell, however the people that use Facebook tend to score 20 points lower and fall about 4 per cent below the average.”

Is it the same for adults?

While the research focuses towards the educational outcomes of internet usage among teenagers, Dr Posso said it is likely to have the same implications for adults.

“It’s possible, it depends on your job,” he said.

“With a few jobs you are required to have pretty sharp skills in math in particular because there are a lot of problem-solving techniques that you need and in these games … so perhaps you are sharpening these skills when you are playing games and this could be helping adults as well as children.

Social networking is proven to be beneficial later in life. Photo: Getty

Social networking is proven to be beneficial later in life. Photo: Getty

“It’d be interesting to see if this is the case and by how much but I think the hypothesis is very plausible.”

But he said not to fear if your screen time revolves around social networking over playing games later in life.

“Gaming could be sharpening some skills that allow you to perform better in school but at the same time social networks are incredibly important for success later on [in life], Dr Posso added.

“For example there are a lot of people that argue that it is more who you know rather than what you know that matter for later success.

“I’m guessing that they are both important, but in terms of performance [and mental stimulation] I would say gaming is definitely going to be less of a waste of time than being on Facebook.”

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.