Want To Boost Creativity
Iowa State University research has shown that video games that encourage creativity can enhance creativity in certain conditions. Minecraft Java The study tested the effect of playing Minecraft in a manner that included or without instruction, to watching a TV show or playing a race car video game. People who were free to play Minecraft without instruction were most creative.
"It's not just that Minecraft can encourage creativity. Douglas Gentile, a psychologist and professor of psychology said that there may be something in selecting the best way to approach it that is crucial.
If you're not familiar with the game, Gentile says Minecraft is similar to a virtual Lego world. The game has sold more than 100,000,000 copies. It lets players create any kind of world they like. Study participants randomly assigned to play Minecraft were divided into two groups. The instructions were given to the one who was playing Minecraft.
After 40 minutes of play or watching television, the 352 participants completed a variety of tasks. They were asked to draw a character that could exist on a planet different from Earth in order to measure their imagination. Human-like creatures scored lower for their creativity, while those that were less human-like scored high. Surprisingly enough, those who were instructed to be creative while playing Minecraft were the least creative.
Gentile says there's no clear reason to explain this phenomenon. In the paper published by Creativity Research Journal, he, Jorge Blanco-Herrera, author of the paper and former master's degree student in psychology; and Jeffrey Rokkum, former Ph.D. student in psychology, discussed possible reasons why the taught Minecraft group scored lower. Blanco-Herrera believes that the instruction could have affected the participants' motivation to play.
"Being told to be creative may have limited their choices during play, which could have led to a less creative experience," Blanco-Herrera said. It's possible that they drained all their creative juices playing and didn't have any when it was time to complete the test.
Games can help develop creativity in a way that is similar to aggression
Video games can have negative and positive impacts. His prior research has proven that video games can cause positive and negative effects. While the majority of his research has been focused on aggression or prosocial behavior, he says that the same is the case with creativity.
Most video games encourage players to exercise a certain amount of creativity. Role-playing games allow players to create characters and stories, or reward them for their creative strategies in competitive games. Researchers believe that even shooter games for first-person players can inspire creativity, because players think strategically and look for ways to gain advantage in combat.
"The research is beginning to paint a more nuanced and intriguing picture. Minecraft Java Our results are in line with other gaming research in that you become better in your practice, but how you practice can be just as much," Gentile said.
