What cognitive skills are derived from playing this game? What does the game teach about effort and practice?

Video Games as Everyday Cognition

 

Details: Researchers have frequently confronted findings that indicate large discrepancies between the abilities people demonstrate in laboratory settings and those the same people demonstrate in real life. For example, Nunes (1995) found that child vendors in Brazilian markets demonstrated mathematical abilities on the job but did poorly in test situations. Such findings have prompted social scientists to explore the skills people learn and demonstrate in the context of daily life, termed everyday cognition (Schliemann & Carraher, 2001) – described in your textbook on page 133. Patricia Greenfield (1994) has described a form of everyday cognition that involves interacting with a specific type of cultural artifact – the action video game. Greenfield has outlined a series of competencies required for, and developed from, experience with video games. Paul Gee (2003) goes even further, suggesting that the design of video games helps children develop a new kind of literacy and may hold the secret to how schools can teach more effectively in the future. The purpose of this assignment is to explore video games as a form of everyday cognition that prepares children for effective functioning as adults in your culture.

 

For this assignment, you are to examine (whether by playing, observing others playing, or researching about) an action video game. If you do not select an action game, you will lose points. If you are not sure whether the game is an action video game, you can email me to see if the game will count. Then, answer the following questions:

 

Describe the video game that you played/observed/researched. Include the name of the game, the goal, how it is played, and the audience targeted by the game.

What cognitive skills are derived from playing this game? What does the game teach about effort and practice? What about risk-taking and trying new things?

At one time, most computer games were designed for boys (Gorriz & Medina, 2000). Now, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Look on the Internet for video games that are marketed specifically to girls. Note: there are many games now that have a strong female protagonist but that are marketed toward both men and women. I want you to find games that are specifically targeting just women. Although the content of these types of games may differ, do the cognitive skills learned in games for girls differ from those learned in games for boys? Explain.

Anthropologists and psychologists have studied how children’s play activities develop competencies needed for adult roles. For example, Karen Watson-Gegeo and David Gegeo (1986) report that Kwar’ae children in the Somoon Islands learn appropriate adult language behaviors through the use of calling out routines during play. How might video games prepare young people to assume adult roles in your culture?

Would individuals who are not exposed to video games be deficient in skills needed to function as an adult in your culture? Said differently, are those who are exposed at an advantage in terms of skills gained? Explain.

Make sure your answers are thorough and have specific examples. Make it clear to me that you are truly thinking about the questions. For questions with multiple parts, make sure you answer each part or you will lose points. This assignment is worth 20 points (4 points per question)