A new Michigan State University study finds that children who play video games are more creative. MSU researchers studied nearly 500 12-year-olds and found the more video games the children played the more creative they were in tasks such as drawing pictures and writing stories.
The use of cell phones and the Internet appeared unrelated to creativity.
Linda Jackson is a professor of psychology at MSU and the lead researcher on the project. She said the other worlds created in the video game appear to lead to more creativity in this world.
“It’s a world that emphasizes parts of your brain that walking to school might not," said Jackson.
Jackson said she would like to see video game designers identify and make greater use of those aspects of video gaming that promote creativity in children.
The Entertainment Software Association says about 72 percent of U.S. households play video or computer games.
The MSU study appears online in the research journal Computers in Human Behavior.
