Game over for humanity?

Computer games teach kids how to co-operate, solve problems, make strategies, think creatively, do sums, and generally be cleverer little people – at least, according to the scientific literature.

If you’re wondering why the race of extraordinarily talented superkids that should have appeared hasn’t shown up yet, it might just be that the literature is all rubbish.

In Frontiers in Psychology, Walter Boot, an assistant professor in Florida State University’s Department of Psychology, reviews the methodology of the experiments so far and finds a flaw: he argues that the reason that gamers have been shown to have better cognitive skills in some areas is probably that the kids who have better cognitive skills in those areas like playing computer games.

“In reality, there is little solid evidence that games enhance cognition at all,” he says. In which case, we’re worse off: the superkids who could be strategizing and problem solving in real life are too busy playing Xbox.