Levy Gasca

ELA 12

Mrs. James

2/14/18

Intelligence: The Video Game

Intelligence, the catalyst for research in understanding the human mind. While scientist,

psychologist and other professionals all seem to believe they have found the definition to this

mind bending word, none of them seem to quite agree on a singular definition. But to

understand what something might be, you need to know what goes into that said object. So to

find the definition of true intelligence we must look at the tools used to build intelligence. For this

reason, video games should be used to research cognitive development in humans in order to

reach a better understanding of true intelligence.

To this day there are many definitions for intelligence; the issue is, while most center

around the same topics or ideas no one wants to agree on a singular definition. This is due to

the fact the intelligence they are trying to define is academic intelligence rather than overall

intelligence. If a child or adult is capable of regurgitating information they received they are

considered intelligent. But on the other hand a child or adult capable of memorizing an entire

game map and the fastest ways to get from point a to point b isn’t as intelligent as the other.

What needs to be understood about intelligence is that it isn’t just one ability, its many that work

as a system in a person’s mind. The difference is how developed that system is that shows the

“true intelligence” someone possess. However to understand what “true intelligence” is there

must be an understanding of what builds intelligence. Cognitive development is the building of

thought processes such as remembering, problem solving, and decision making.

 Earl B. Hunt, Nancy Frost, and Clifford E. Lunneborg, American psychologists began

experiments to show how intelligence is very closely related to the cognitive development in

humans. While their tests were overlooked due to to scale of their experiments it was found that

cognitive processes are the building block of intelligence (​Sternberg​). This discovery should have

been looked at more, seeing as how cognitive development starts when a person is just a child.

Psychologist Jean Piaget came up with a theory stating that a child’s cognitive development can

be seen as a way for organizing knowledge. He named this a child’s schemas and mentioned

that as the child gets older their schemas become much more complicated. Piaget viewed

growth in intelligence as adaptation to the world, this happens as three main ideas; Assimilation,

Accommodation, and Equilibration.

Assimilation is when an existing schema can deal with a new object or situation,

Accommodation is when it can not and needs to change (​Jean Piaget)​. Equilibration is what

moves the development along, Piaget thought that cognitive development progresses in leaps

and bounds rather than a steady pace (​Jean Piaget)​. Equilibration is what causes people to

continue learning as humans don’t like to be frustrated and want answers (​Jean Piaget)​. But a

person’s development doesn’t end in their childhood, it continues into adolescence.

At this point a person is thinking more of realistic situations, hypothetical situations are

put on the back burner. While this development isn’t the same for everyone it is essential

because the mental links are made by the experiences the person has had. Later on in a

person’s life, a state can be reached where a person will go back to thinking of the “what-ifs”,

and not the “it is”. But there are some who become more grounded and straight forward. This

may not sound important but this shows how development isn’t always a straightforward idea,

and that with intelligence there are many ways it can be developed. Video Games are often

under scrutiny for the actions that they supposedly cause, such a murder and shootings due to
the culprit playing a violent game. While there doesn’t seem to be an reasonable evidence to

these claims, there is evidence on how video games benefits on cognitive development.

Researchers Adam Eichenbaum, Daphne Bavelier, and C. Shawn Green explain how

recent research demonstrates long-lasting positive effects of video games on basic mental

processes--such as perception, attention, memory, and decision-making (​Gray)​. The games

focused on in the research involve action video games; games that require players to move

rapidly, keep track of many items at once, hold a good deal of information in their mind at once,

and make split-second decisions.

The abilities tapped by these games are precisely those that psychologists consider to

be the basic building blocks of intelligence. Some of theses benefits include improvements in

basic visual processes, where in some case those with a lazy eye (Amblyopia) were actually

treated (​Gray​). Improvements in attention, vigilance and executive functioning were also found

(​Gray)​. Those with dyslexia were able to overcome many struggles that were previously dealt

with, impulsiveness was reduced and even the ability to deal with multiple task was improved

(​Gray)​. These skill are often looked for in the workforce, thus making research into cognitive

development more prominent. Action video games and possibly other video game genres could

be the answer to the question everyone has been asking and debating about; what is

intelligence?

Not everything is without its faults, there is still the scrutiny the media has built on video

games. Whether it’s a violent crime or a sextual crime video games are tossed under the bus.

Game like those are the end result of a person playing any game and then reaching one of such

a disgusting degree. The way to help a person's intelligence develop is to take away any

distractions, that way their mind is able to take in the information they need to “correct”. Video

games are not what lead a person to kill someone else, just because the game created that
image in their mind, it does not justify their right to commit crime. Video games are not poison to

the potential of a humans mind.

Video games are not the enemy, they are the cradle and reaping ground for information

of human intelligence. Video games have been seen to improve many of the core abilities and

skills the experts call “the building blocks of intelligence”, and more research has shown that

video games improve basic visual processes, attention, vigilance, executive functioning,

impulsiveness, and multiple tasking in a healthy and useful manner. These skill are often looked

for in the workforce, thus making research into cognitive development more prominent. Action

video games and possibly other video game genres could be the answer to the long asked

question; what is intelligence? So that the world can have one definition for intelligence.
 Works Cited

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"Genre May Impact Cognitive Training Using Video Games: Games That Utilize

Distinctive Mechanics May Offer Different Benefits, Reports Restorative Neurology and

Neuroscience." ​ScienceDaily​, 14 Feb. 2018,

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pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0a22/08e9b75227d2fee2867baaabeded958a3b36.pdf. Accessed 14

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 Sternberg, Robert J. "Human Intelligence | Psychology." ​Encyclopedia Britannica​,

www.britannica.com/topic/human-intelligence-psychology.