Tyler Hughes

9/29/15
Informational Speech Outline
Purpose At the end of my speech, the audience will be able to understand the
mental and physical benefits of playing video games and be able to discern
between the effects different game genres have on the brain.
Introduction Video games: the recipient of a plethora of social stigmas,
misconceptions about its uselessness, and one of the more frowned-upon medias to
emerge from the 20th century. Contrary to many popular beliefs, video games are
actually quite beneficial. To be more specific, games are beneficial to the
development of the human brain, especially if employed early on in a persons life.
So if anybody ever tells you video games are a waste of time, know that they most
likely speak from a lack of experience, and that they are wrong.
Central Idea Different types of video games have different beneficial effects on
the brain. These effects are determined by the style of gameplay that each game is
based around.
Body Outline
I.
Mental Benefits
A. The fall 2014 edition of American Journal of Play includes an
article (link is external) by researchers Adam Eichenbaum, Daphne
Bavelier, and C. Shawn Green summarizing recent research
demonstrating long-lasting positive effects of video games on basic
mental processes--such as perception, attention, memory, and
decision-making. Their findings:
1. Improvements in basic visual processes, such as improved
visual contrast sensitivity, and in some cases successful
treatment of Amblyopia (also known as lazy eye), providing
some adults with normal or near-normal function in their
afflicted eye.
2. Improvements in attention and vigilance, including improved
special attention (quickly finding a target stimulus amongst a
field of distractors, a good predictor of driving ability),
improved ability to track moving objects amongst distractors,
and reduced impulsiveness.
3. Improvements in executive functioning (i.e. a persons ability
to allot his/her mental resources in ways that allow efficient
and quick problem solving or decision-making), like multitasking, increased mental flexibility, and decreased mental
decline due to age.
B. An article published in 2013 by Brian D. Glass, W. Todd Maddox, and
Bradley C. Love tested the impact of two different games StarCraft
II and the Sims on cognitive flexibility (the human ability to adapt
the cognitive processing strategies to face new and unexpected
conditions in the environment). They learned that:
1. RTS gaming selectively promotes cognitive flexibility,
particularly under conditions in which players must rapidly

switch between contexts while maintaining memory for both

contexts.
2. RTS gameplay trains multi-tasking and cognitive flexibility
better than that of an action game, although action games
still provide benefits in the fields of risk sensitivity and
general memory.
II.

III.

Social Benefits
A. An article by Isabela Granic, Adam Lobel, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels
of Radboud University, Nijmegen delves into the social aspect and
benefits of playing games online with friends, and found that:
1. Over 70% of gamers play with a friend, either cooperatively or
competitively.
2. In online games such as World of Warcraft and Farmville, players
need to make on-the-fly decisions about whom to trust or reject,
and how to effectively lead a group. These immersive social
contexts lead to gamers rapidly learning social skills and
prosocial behavior that might generalize to their relations
outside the gaming environment.
3. Players more effectively acquire the aforementioned prosocial
skills when playing games specifically tailored to reward
effective cooperation. These players were shown to have
casual, short-term effects on helping behaviors.
4. Playing games cooperatively (even violent ones) that encourage
cooperation have been shown to have reduced feelings of
hostility and aggressive cognitions, both in and out of the
context of the gaming world.
Emotional Benefits
A. The same article written by the Radboud University members also
discussed the emotional benefits playing video games brought to
the table:
1. Several studies have shown a causal relation between playing
preferred video games and improved mood or increases in
positive emotion.
2. Many gamers look for and enjoy feeling fiero, the Italian word for
intense pride after succeeding against great adversity when
playing difficult games.
3. In addition to fiero, many gamers described feeling what is
referred to as flow, or an experience of being immersed in an
intrinsically-rewarding activity that elicits a high sense of control
while, at the same time, evoking a loss of self-consciousness. In
psychology, these experiences have been linked to a host of
positive outcomes for adolescents, including commitment and
achievement in high school.
4. Simply put, video games are designed to be fun, enjoyable
pastimes for people to partake in when they have free time and,
for many people, are great stress-relievers, and are the go-to
utilities to release their stress.

Conclusion Video games are much more beneficial than some people may have
you believe. Not only do they help train peoples brains and improve their social and
emotional states, they demonstrate that the brain is far more moldable and
trainable throughout a persons life than previously thought. Video games appear to
be the media most effective at building the components of intelligence that are
becoming increasingly important in todays world, in addition to being a fun
pastime.
Gray, P. (2015, February 20). Cognitive Benefits of Playing Video Games. Retrieved
September 29, 2015.
Glass, B., Maddox, T., & Love, B. (2013, August 7). Real-Time Strategy Game
Training: Emergence of a Cognitive Flexibility Trait. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. (2013, December 12). The Benefits of Playing Video
Games. Retrieved September 29, 2015.