The correlation between a passion for computer games and the school performance of younger schoolchildren

Abstract

IntroductionThe role and place of personal computers and information technologies in human lives has been changing rapidly. A personal computer helps modern humans not only at work and at school but in leisure activities well. Computer games are becoming increasingly more common and popular. Psychologists, educators, and parents are particularly concerned about excessive enthusiasm observed in children playing computer games. Today computer games occupy a significant place in childrens lives and fundamentally affect process of formation and of their personalities (Avetisova, 2011).Seeing a game a specifically children's form of activity has always been important. Researches of Russian psychologists (L. S. Vygotsky, A. N. Leontiev, D. B. Elkonin, M. I. Lisina, and others) showed that a game is a dominant activity that not only ensures all-round of preschool-age children but also continues to be an active means of personal at primary-school age.However, here, we are, to a great extent, interested in play activities of younger schoolchildren mediated by information and computer technologies. Numerous research studies both in foreign and in Russian psychology are devoted to interaction of children and computers. In order to identify and evaluate possible psychological effects of information and computer technologies, subject matter of research is generally skills, operations, specific actions, individual mental processes, and various kinds of professional play and learning activities. Much information has been gathered in this area by, among others, S. Turkle, M. Cole, S. Papert, M. Griffiths, D. Gentile, E. Swing, O. K. Tikhomirov, A. E. Voyskounsky, V. P. Zinchenko, A. G. Shmelev) (Babaeva & Voyskounsky, 1998).Turkle (1984) observed of concepts of animate and inanimate in younger schoolchildren. The children developed idea of a computer something intermediate between animate and inanimate (kind of living or as if living); this idea had never been observed in noncomputerized children examined by J. Piaget and other psychologists.The use of computers by children in extracurricular activities is considered a specific problem. The most common new technology in extracurricular children's activities is computer games. M. Cole and his staff specifically designed and modelled an extracurricular education program based on new computer technologies; it combined games, learning, and communication in order to create optimal conditions for (Uzykhanova, 1993).According to Cole (1998), Internet can be basis for building a cognitive- communication environment of a fundamentally new type. The learning environment he developed is called the fifth dimension; and it is one of most promising environments in realization of the zone of proximal development of a child. Papert (1992), sharing view of Cole, noted that the computer is usually a step-by-step guide for a child (pp. 32-33).Griffiths (1999) notes that games can improve hand-eye coordination, mental manipulation of objects in space, creativity, logical thinking, and ability to make decisions and solve domain-specific problems.Gentile, Swing, Lim, and Khoo (2012) report studies that confirm hypothesis about lowering school performance by increasing a passion for games. This result can be explained by fact that players spend most of their time on games to detriment of their learning activities. Scientists have studied how TV and video games affect childrens attention. For a year they observed more than 1,300 schoolchildren who were spending several hours a day watching television or playing games. A survey of their teachers showed that children experienced difficulties in concentrating their attention and in retention of material after they began to watch television and play video games regularly. …