Waste of money: "brain training" games - official!

[qubit]

Brain-training games that are designed to make users more intelligent are likely to be a waste of time and money, according to a study by neuroscientists.

The billion-dollar industry has attracted celebrity endorsements from Nicole Kidman and Sir Patrick Stewart. However, the largest study to date, by the University of Cambridge and the BBC, showed that even the most conscientious users of so-called brain-training software performed no better at intelligence tests than people who spent the same amount of time surfing the internet.

Yeah, I never bought the coolaid and kept the money in my pocket.

Times Online - until they put up that paywall...

 

[Gzero]

It's still a good pass time.
Vegetable vs DS scribbler.
xD

 

[ste2425]

“The scientific evidence that these games work is really rather lacking,” said Adrian Owen, who led the study. However, he said that the games may have a benefit for older people with cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Thats good though isnt it?

 

[digibucc]

truthfully regardless i think many of them are simply fun. I would rather waste some time playing those type of games than simple flash games, or bejeweled or puzzle quest, etc. sometimes a simple timewaster is all you want and they do the job well.

 

[qubit]

Thats good though isnt it?

+1 So at least there's a genuine niche market for them. In the end, I guess it just boils down to the fact that people like doing puzzles.

 

[ste2425]

i agree they are just things for people to do to waste a bit of time, people do like doing puzzles, but did they actually ever claim it helps with "cognitive impairments"?

 

[qubit]

i agree they are just things for people to do to waste a bit of time, people do like doing puzzles, but did they actually ever claim it helps with "cognitive impairments"?

Good question. They didn't as far as I know. However, it's not unusual that a product can help in unexpected ways. Think of Viagra: it was originally made to help heart conditions and look what happened!

 

[Kreij]

Intelligence (or to make more intelligent) is such a broad term, as it covers things like abstract thought, planning, learning, etc. that to claim something can make you more intelligent is rather difficult to assess.

Keeping your mind active, however, is always a good thing (especially in the case of cognitive impairment).

That being said, I think you could get the same effect by reading through the good posts here at TPU.

 

[qubit]

Intelligence (or to make more intelligent) is such a broad term, as it covers things like abstract thought, planning, learning, etc. that to claim something can make you more intelligent is rather difficult to assess.

Exactly. And that's how they get away with selling snake oil.

Keeping your mind active, however, is always a good thing (especially in the case of cognitive impairment).

That being said, I think you could get the same effect by reading through qubit's posts here at TPU.

Awesome - rock on!

 

[Kreij]

@qubit : lol, nice one.

I think that practicing certain things can make you better at them, but to increase overall intelligence is a stretch.

 

[ste2425]

personally this is a product i would never buy but for the people who do buy it do they buy it because they think it'l make them more intelligent, or because they think its easier then carrying around a quiz book? I do think products like these a good ideas and can be good fun and even better if it does help with things like Alzheimer’s but their not really my cup of tea.

Think of Viagra: it was originally made to help heart conditions and look what happened!

That is definitely sig worthy

 

[qubit]

That is definitely sig worthy

Now that is rock on!

Thankyou.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Its a game, who cares what it does to your brain so long as it is entertained.

 

[ste2425]

Its a game, who cares what it does to your brain so long as it is entertained.

good point if people enjoy it do they really care if if it is boosting or even decreasing intelligence? I can tell you now if some said playing fallout 3 causes you to get rather dumb id still play

 

[Kreij]

What exactly does a game do to your brain?
Try playing minesweeper for 72 hours straight and see.

It not the game, it's that people are paying money with the expectation that it will improve their intelligence in some manner. Thus the snake oil reference.
It's kind of like the old farm legend. If you lift a calf every day from the day it is born, you'll be able to lift the cow when it's full grown.
Many a farmer has had a good laugh at the expense of their kids.

 

[Mussels]

no matter how you look at it, doing something that takes physical and mental coordination is better than sitting in a chair doing nothing, or watching TV.


so yeah, games ARE going to have positive benefits - at the very least you're gunna be awake, and not in a daze when you do those IQ tests.

 

[pr0n Inspector]

In other news, reading Youtube, digg and slashdot comments can and will damage brain cells permanently.

 

[qubit]

In other news, reading Youtube, digg and slashdot comments can and will damage brain cells permanently.

What!! In that case I'm long gone!

 

[W1zzard]

anything you do makes you train for that, thats how the brain works.

whether it can make a difference on an iq test, which is very questionable in its nature already, is doubtful

take the yt/digg/slashdot comments example. if you do that you will train your reading speed, text scanning speed and language abilities

sit an old person in front of a google search result page, it wil take them ages to find useful links. you can do it in less than a few seconds per page

 

[HookeyStreet]

anything you do makes you train for that, thats how the brain works.

whether it can make a difference on an iq test, which is very questionable in its nature already, is doubtful

take the yt/digg/slashdot comments example. if you do that you will train your reading speed, text scanning speed and language abilities

sit an old person in front of a google search result page, it wil take them ages to find useful links. you can do it in less than a few seconds per page

Does it take you long to find useful links?

Seriously, I think these sort of games help older gamers just by keeping thier brain active....not improving their IQ at all.

 

[Mussels]

Does it take you long to find useful links?

Seriously, I think these sort of games help older gamers just by keeping thier brain active....not improving their IQ at all.

like i said above, it really just makes sure you're awake and alert, if you're doing an unrelated task... and if its a related task, as w1zzy said you get practice at it.


look at how little effort we take to quote, multi quote, copy, cut, paste, etc... my mum would be here 5 minutes just to say hello