Vinod 1

Lovita Vinod
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
4 March 2016
A Relief for Gamers
Video games, especially action games which involve shooting at humans and inanimate
objects, have a depraved reputation for causing health problems. Daphne Bavelier, a noted brain
scientist from Rochester University, delivered a Ted Talk in 2012 while engaging her audience in
virtual mind games that help prove how video games have powerful and positive effects. In this
Ted Talk video, Bavelier points out common misconceptions people have about video games and
provides evidence to why those misunderstandings are wrong. She describes how she measures
the impact of video games on the brain. Precipitating, necessary, and reciprocal causes, from
Your Brain On Video Games aims to prove how reasonable doses of playing video games have
made individuals smarter with increased brain activity levels.
Daphne Bavelier claims in her talk that action gamer's visions are actually better than
non-action gamer's vision and that those who play action games can pinpoint small details. This
casual argument is a precipitating cause as without one playing action video games, one will not
gain the benefits of a better vision and if one plays video games, they can resolve the different
gradients of gray and that can lead to prevention of accidents while driving. The speaker
repeatedly refers that her research was done in a computable manner at a lab. She projects an
image of an eye chart and points out the corrective to normal vision range ( Your

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Brain ). This is the normal range of vision for any person who does not spend an abundant
amount of time in front of the screen. Bavelier then points out on the same chart, the vision range
of a video gamer and it is better in two ways. Video gamers can pinpoint small detail in the
context of clutter and can resolve different levels of gray ( Your Brain ). She points out that
by being able to resolve the gradients of gray can help see fog more clearly, thus preventing fatal
accidents. There is valid evidence to show there is a link between video gaming and vision
improvement however, the evidence found was the opinion of Sorenson, an air force pilot who
shared his gaming experience. He had blurry vision as a teenager and had given up on becoming
an air force pilot which required a perfect vision, nonetheless, by engaging in daily eye exercises
and gaming, Sorenson improved his total vision. According to Sorenson, playing video games
improves the gamers ability to focus on one aspect on the screen while ignoring other things.
Baveliers point on being able to resolve gradients of gray was backed up as Sorenson claims
video gaming permitted people to differentiate between shades of colors displayed with a
uniform background which is vital to driving as there is less visibility. Improved vision is the
unexpected benefit from blowing away bad guys (Handwerk Par. 1 ). One of the first visual
characteristics that begin to fade due to the process of aging is contrast sensitivity function .
This capability permits one to distinguish even subtle changes in shades of gray against a
uniformly colored backdrop ( Handwerk Par. 3 ). The argument Daphne Bavelier presents is
accurate due to the success of Sorensons experience and National Geographics claim.
A common misconception some folks have about video games is that games lead to
attention problems and greater distractibility. According to Bavelier, those who play video games
resolve problems faster, obtain better memory, and have a greater ability to track objects around

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such as when driving; one can keep track of a running man. This is a necessary cause because if
one does not engage in playing video games, one cannot obtain the positive effects of resolving
problems faster, obtain better memory and track objects more accurately. She describes how
brain scientists could measure attention in the lab and says how good your attention is how
good you resolve conflicts ( Bavelier ). Bavelier engages the audience in a Stroop effect game,
which is a game in which one has to say the color the word is written in, but not actually read the
word. Then she concludes that those who engage in video gaming have greater success rate in
completing this task. An additional way in which Bavelier measures the attention span was to
engage her audience in one more game. They were given a task to keep track of a moving object
and retain count of how many times it changes in color and those who had greater success
outcomes were action video gamers. A normal young adult has a span of about three or four
objects of attention while action gamers have six to seven ( Bavelier ). A study by the
Department of Psychiatry, one in which patients with medical diseases were given video games
as a treatment, showed how patients developed a higher working mental memory by playing
video games over a course of time. Video games have been described to successfully increase
the cognitive performance and surgical skills of young aspiring surgeons (Matthias Par. 4 ). A
study of cognitive traits shows gaming can increase the swiftness of the human brain. This study
measured the cognitive flexibility of one who does not incorporate gaming into their daily
routine and a traditional gamer engaging daily gaming activities. The test subjects were given the
Stroop Effect test. Action gamers have higher logical comprehension ( Wenderoth Par. 3 ).
This information adequately backs up Baveliers works as the tests were repeated and test trialed.

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The sources found mentions attention and memory was improved on playing video games over a
course of time.
The frontal lobe, anterior cingulate, and the parietal cortex, all of which are brain
networks that control attention, are more developed and competent in an action gamer. This is a
necessary cause because the attention brain networks are the benefits of playing video games.
Daphne Bavelier explains to her audience in details what each brain network is fully responsible
for and projects an 3D image of the brain to provide a visual element. She uses brain imaging in
her labs to measure the impact video games have on the human brain. According to a research
done by a group of brain researchers in Germany, the results revealed that frequent gamers had
more gray matter volume in the part of the brain known for reward and addiction ( Boyle Par. 3

). The researchers also found that frequent gamers have higher brain activity. Baveliers
argument is accurate because it is backed up with medical research of other scientists.
Even though there are negative effects of playing video games for an excessive period of
time, Bavelier successfully proves that there are several positive effects of playing video games
for a moderate amount of time. Her Ted Talk Video however included fallacies such as Ad
Hominem, stacking the deck and hasty generalization. Bavelier makes a general assumption that
everyone is bombarded with major headlines that state if video games are good for the brain or
not and then categorizes those headlines as a Friday night bar discussion. This portrays as an
insult to many major newspapers. By only discussing about the positive effects of video games,
Bavelier stacks the deck. Those fallacies however did not ruin her video. The adequate

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evidence that supports the claim that action video games have made individuals gain benefits of
a better eyesight, higher functioning memory, and better brain activity levels has made Daphne
Baveliers argument valid.

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Works Cited
Brem, Matthias H., et al. "Stop Of Loss Of Cognitive Performance During Rehabilitation After
Total Hip Arthroplasty--Prospective Controlled Study." Journal Of Rehabilitation
Research & Development 47.9 (2010): 891-898. Health Source: Nursing/Academic
Edition. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.
This source was a controlled study researched by the Department of Psychiatry,
Traumatology, and Orthopedic. It summarizes the working memory processes and
is an excellent source as it explains how the patients who played the video games
over a course of time developed a higher mental working memory.
Boyles, Salynn. "Does Frequent Video Game Playing Alter the Brain?" WebMD. WebMD. Web.

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Mar. 2016.
As a source from a highly credible medical website, this source incorporates
intense research into its study. Video gamers were asked to be tested on and
showed results of gaming to be harmful. The results showed increase in gray
matter in regions of the brain pertaining to gambling.
TEDTalks: Daphne Bavelier--Your Brain on Video Games. TED, 2012.
This source was found on YouTube and Daphne Bavelier, a brain scientist, was
the speaker. She persuades her audience to realize that action video games are not
harmful and are beneficial to ones health. By incorporating interactive games for
her audience, she manages to prove how video games have positive effects on the
human brain.

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"How Do Video Games Affect Your Vision?" Natural Vision Improvement Eye Exercises Eye
Vitamins. N.p., 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
This source has an article written by Sorensen, a U.S navy officer who describes
how one can improve their vision safely. This article vividly explains with details
how action games can lead to camp vision syndrome. It includes the positive and
negative effects of playing video games.
"Video Games Improve Vision, Study Says." National Geographic. National Geographic Society,
n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
National Geography has always been abundant with credible information. This
article discusses how playing video games could become part of vision correction
treatments. It also emphasizes how the certain video gaming techniques such as
locating enemies on the virtual battlefield could lead to a sharper focus in players.
"Real-Time Strategy Game Training: Emergence of a Cognitive Flexibility Trait." PLOS ONE:.
Web. 10 Mar. 2016
This source gives adequate information on how several brain scientists measured
the cognitive flexibility of the human brain. They measured the action gamers
brains activity levels and proved that gaming does improve cognitive levels. This
source uses some of Baveliers techniques to test the subjects.