Scotland, land of haggis, plaid, and the best damned scrambled eggs I have ever eaten, has come up with something bound to make the kids in your house very, very happy: there's evidence that kids who played video games on a Nintendo DS every day before school for 20 minutes had better test scores (as high as 43% better! though the average was 10%), better concentration, and better behaviour than the kids who didn't. Uh, make that behavior. But wait! There's one slight caveat.
The kids weren't playing BWii II, Super Smash Brothers, or Legend of Zelda (I or II). Not at all. Nope, they were playing ""More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima." Uh, you all have that one, right? No? Hmm. Just as I suspected. For the uninitiated, it features number challenges, reading tests, problem-solving exercises and memory puzzles. Ooh, fun, kids, right?
Er...
But still! "There was dramatic enhancement in their mental maths ability in such a
short period of time. It also seemed to have a settling effect on the
children." I dunno, how can you argue with that? Even though I think video games are the work of the devil pointless, stupid, and a waste of time.
But I kind of want to play that one. You think it can make me smarterer?
