Effects of Computers and Screen Technology on Cognitive Development (Essay Sample)

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Effects of computers and screen technology on cognitive development
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Introduction
In Contrast to popular belief, the brain is not fixed and can alter its own structure and function: this happens even at old age. This discovery is called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is focused on the flexibility of the brain to change. This discovery gave hope to many people with mental limitations and brain damage. For them, it meant that there was still hope and their brain structure could still be altered to suit them. For example, there was a woman who was born with half a brain and later it rewired itself to work as a complete brain: this remarkable occurrence happened with brain exercises.
Although it might seem like science fiction, the reality of neuroplasticity is remarkable and in practice in many parts of the world. Machines have been developed by scientists to monitor these changes and document them. So this is not fiction, it is a reality that has been proven through experiments. The machines also enable scientists to monitor these changes and be able to read peoples’ thoughts. The advantage of this is that they can control computers and other electronics, just by thinking. It also offers the possibility of people of average intelligence to improve their perception and cognitive ability (McClellan, 2005). However, screen technology to monitor cognitive development has its own merits and demerits as debated below:
At old age, people tend to lose their focus and tend to be more distracted by everything that is happening around them: making them very scared that they might be losing their mind. However, a study carried out at the University of California, by neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley, found out that a computer game known as NeuroRacer can assist old people to regain and improve their brain's ability to multitask– and also seems to improve on their everyday brain functioning.
This game is a three-dimensional video game, which involves the player steering a car in a hilly and winding road, using their left thumb: at the same time looking for signs that might pop up randomly. If the sign is of a certain color and shape, they have to shoot it using their right thumb. This multitasking on focusing and switching tasks and working on memory uses different cognitive skills at once just like in a real life situation. The game also improved other cognitive abilities that were not tested. This study showed how the brain's activity patterns changed in relations to cognitive skills–in a positive way.
Also, some of the best games can create a conducive learning environment, by developing the brain’s ability to solve problems and adapt to new twists and turns–this is very beneficial in learning environment, where new knowledge is introduced and the brain forced to adapt to the new information. Since in a game the, the player is able to adapt to new virtual scenarios and able to solve the problems that arise fast enough, this is a good training ground to develop one’s learning and problem-solving skills.
James Paul Gee, the author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, points out that academic subjects such as biology and history, are like games. In these subjects, scientist interact and act in relations to certain values and identities and use their knowledge and information to achieve certain goals and tasks. Therefore, he concluded that learning science should be like learning how to play a video game. (Abbott, 2013)
The cons include the following:
Although games might be very beneficial to learning and brain development, they have to be used well to be effective and students need to be supervised by an adult who understands learning and games; to encourage them to focus and reflect on what they are doing when playing the games. This activity takes more of the teacher’s time; more than a standard lesson could have taken. Therefore, one wonders whether it’s beneficial to use computer games in the learning environment.
If learning and cognitive development were to be focused on screen technology, what will the future look like? There will be a case where a person will be checking five emails and having a conversation and eating at the same time–in the spirit of multitasking. How beneficial is that? (McClellan, 2005)
Also watching television and playing games has been associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This disorder has led to poor performance in school and increased aggression, among teenagers and children. This is mainly due to exposure to television and video games at an early age (Swing et al., 2010). The assumption is that most of the television shows and video games are so exciting, that children who watch them regularly are not interested in less exciting activities in real life, such as schoolwork. Furthermore, most of the television programs are involved n rapid change in focus and frequent exposure to them may affect the children’s ability to sustain focus in any given tasks, might have a difficult time paying attention to activities that are not interesting(Swing et al., 2010).
Some researches argue that violent video games and television programs lead to the poorer executive functioning of the brain and also lead to proactive cognitive control, that is related to atten...