Iowa State University research has shown that video games that stimulate creativity can increase creativity in certain situations. welcome to my blog tested the results of playing Minecraft, with or without instruction, with watching a TV show or playing the race car game. Those given the freedom to play Minecraft without instruction were the most creative.
"It's not only that Minecraft can encourage creativity. There's something about the decision to do it that is important," said Douglas Gentile Professor of Psychology.
If you're unfamiliar with the game, Gentile says Minecraft is like a virtual Lego world. The game has sold more than 100 million copies, lets players to explore different worlds and build whatever they can think of. Participants randomly assigned to play Minecraft were split into two groups. The instructions were given to the one who was playing Minecraft.
After 40 minutes of playing or watching television, the 352 participants completed several creativity tasks. They were asked to draw a character that could exist in a different universe than Earth in order to measure their creativity. Creativity scores were lower in creatures that were more human-like than those who are less human-like. Surprisingly enough, those who were instructed to be creative while playing Minecraft were the least imaginative.
Gentile says there's no definitive reason to explain this phenomenon. In the study published by Creativity Research Journal, he Jorge Blanco-Herrera, the co-author and former master's student in psychology and Jeffrey Rokkum, former Ph.D. student in psychology, identified possible reasons why the taught Minecraft group scored lower. Blanco-Herrera believes that the instructions could have changed subjects' motivation for play.
Blanco-Herrera explained that being instructed to be creative may have limited their options, which could have resulted in a less enthralling experience. It's possible that they drained all their creative juices playing and didn't have enough when it came time to complete the test.
Games can help develop creativity in a way that is similar to aggression
Video games can have positive and negative impacts. Gentile's previous research has shown the content, amount and context of video games influence the way players learn through repeated experiences. While the majority of his research has focused on aggression , or prosocial behavior, he states the same appears to be the case with creativity.
Most video games allow players to practice some level of creativity. Role-playing games permit players to create characters and stories or reward them for their inventive strategies in games that are competitive. Researchers have found that even shooter games for first-person players can encourage creativity because players think strategically and search for advantages in combat.
"The research is beginning to reveal a more fascinating nuanced and complex picture. Gentile stated that although gaming research has demonstrated that you're better at what you do, it is also more important to how you do it.