Gamers 'More Creative'
By Mark Steer
Video games which make you happy or sad, can release your creative streak, says new research which hasn’t been funded by Nintendo (as far as we’re aware).The study shows that after playing the game Dance Dance Revolution (now available for the Nintendo Wii), happy or sad people are most creative, while angry or relaxed people are not.
"You need defocused attention for being creative," said S. Shyam Sundar, professor of film, video and media studies at Penn State University. "When you have low arousal and are negative, you tend to focus on detail and become more analytical."
Sundar and Elizabeth Hutton, a Penn State graduate student, are trying to understand the value of video games as a vehicle for sparking “positive social traits”, such as creativity.
The researchers say that findings from the study could offer a set of rules that could be applied to a video game to see if it can make a person."We are not looking just at creative games, but what emotional elements of games can serve as an engine to spark creative thought and new problem solving skills," said Sundar.
He envisions a scenario in which the emotional drivers that video games provide could be harnessed for creative outcomes, either in a classroom setting, or for corporate decision-making.
"The key is to generate emotion," explained Sundar. "Ideally, a good teacher can energize the class and make them much more emotionally invested through presentations, guest lectures, and group discussions."
However, the converse seems to be, if you’re a crap teacher, just stick your kids in front of Grand Theft Auto for an afternoon and then get them to come up with ever more creative ways to stab each other in the playground.
For wasted time, breath, heads and research funds, try these:
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Timewasters Central |
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Stop Breathing, Save the Planet |
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Jellyfish Grow Twelve Heads |
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Studies of the Bleedin' Obvious |
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Title image: Bill Davenport
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