Study: Video games affect studying time; Us: *gasp*

Study: Video games affect studying time; Us: gasp

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 19th 2007 at 4:58PM }

A study found that students who had a video game player to distract them in college studied 40 minutes less and it translated to a first-semester drop of 0.241 points on a 4.0 scale. The study by two professors at Univ. of Western Ontario and Berea College wasn't looking at video games, just the effects of studying on grades. The study had 210 subjects and gathered information by having them fill out "time-use diaries."

The study says that students who had a roommate bring a game console to school showed a substantial drop in time spent studying. These students did "not exhibit different levels of class attendance, partying, study efficiency or paid employment - all factors that also could affect grades ... This means that the lower grades of students whose roommates brought video games can be attributed to the fact that these students studied less." The simple lesson to walk away from this is that if you're going to play video games, make sure it doesn't affect your study time. That's it, lesson learned.

Tags: college, gpa, grades, report, study

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Zaphod Beeblebrox @ Sep 19th 2007 5:01PM

They needed to do a study for this? WTF? This is a no brain-er, if you have distractions, it is harder to have the discipline to get your work done.

LAZoftheTamarinds @ Sep 19th 2007 7:44PM

^ LOL! So true!

NukeAssault @ Sep 19th 2007 5:07PM

I was actually JUST talking to a teacher of mine about this. Coincidence?

Rob @ Sep 19th 2007 8:26PM

I actually attend the University of Western Ontario, and just took a break to browse Joystiq when I should be studying for a Calc quiz. Coincidence?

David @ Sep 19th 2007 5:07PM

The duty of science is to rigorously test hypotheses, not rely on assumptions. What if they had found that playing video games doesn't reduce time spent studying or grades? That's entirely possible, which is why a study is required to see which is the case.

This is pretty cool! Good thing game players didn't let it interfere with their partying. =)

rdj75 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:11PM

Dude, I know you aren't trying to justify this. There is 24 hrs in a day, anytime spent doing one this is going to take away from the time that can be spent doing something else. How the hell do you need science to figure that out?

David @ Sep 19th 2007 5:17PM

Well, firstly by explaining that your belief is wrong. There are other axes along which studies found that, as students spent more time, their grades improved or were unaffected. For example, employment:

http://www.acui.org/content.aspx?menu_id=122&id=2170

I repeat, the duty of science is to test hypotheses, not rely on assumptions.

Zaphod Beeblebrox @ Sep 19th 2007 5:28PM

Hey David, if I stare at a wall (brick or not) for 8 hours a day, how would that effect my studying? Maybe they should do a study about that and compare it to the playing video games. I wonder which one would make my grades drop more.
My money's on the wall.
Doing a study on the obvious is NOT science.
Should they do a study on what would happen if a subject stopped drinking and eating anything?
What would happen?
100% of the time, the subject would die.

rdj75 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:30PM

I replied to your response a few post down, what I said was

"What I said is not a belief, its the obvious and factual. Now in this particular situation we are talking about limited resources(time), and if I use more of those resources doing something else(playing videogames) then thats less resources that are now available to actually study"

Jeff @ Sep 19th 2007 6:35PM

He's right. It may seem obvious, but there are a lot of instances where the "common sense" answer is not necessarily accurate.

This isn't about whether or not playing video games "spends" time. Obviously, anything you do will "spend" time. It's whether or not playing videogames is correlated with more or less time studying, and better or worse grades. As with all correlational studies, it is not necessarily causal (I should also note that this studies people who's ROOMMATES brought game machines to college their Freshman year, and not the game machine owners themselves. It'd be interesting to see if this affect only occurs to the unsuspecting, typically non-game playing roommate, or also with the game machine owner himself).

People that are saying this is really stupid and "obvious" are not thinking about this correctly. Yes, there are 24 hours in a day, but the amount of time people study is typically far less than this. Say the average student studies 3 hours a day (outside class). So, according to this study, students that play videogames would average 2:20 hours a day of study.

You could do another study that looked at (as someone else did) how much someone reads, and correlate that with how much studying they do.

The point is, there are plenty of things that can be done in a day, some which might affect how much you study and others which may not. Just because you do something OTHER than study doesn't necessarily mean that it would reduce your normal amount of "studying".

That being said, the Diablo II expansion did cause me to actually abandon an "Independent Study" I was doing in College. Totally worth it.

-Jeff
http://alinktothefuture.com

Grog @ Sep 19th 2007 5:07PM

Hmm... they might also have found that people who watch television, read books, play sports, or do anything other than study spend less time studying.

WiNG @ Sep 19th 2007 5:08PM

Video Games are directly responsible for every A- I ever got. Seriously.

Also, Diablo2 taught me a LOT about understanding percentages.

rdj75 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:09PM

There isn't any words that can discribe how assinine this study is. So you are telling me that a group of people, probably with years and years of education conducted a study to state the obvious? What are they going to tell me next, that I will go blind if I gaze at the sun for to long?

Zaphod Beeblebrox @ Sep 19th 2007 5:21PM

Agreed! It seems to me that for every year that goes by in this new millennium, the general public gets dumber and dumber. "Duh, it's Samsonite! I was way off."

Squirrel3D @ Sep 19th 2007 5:09PM

Sad...needed a study to figure out WHAT ALL OF US ALREADY KNEW FOR YEARS. And what do they mean "partying"? Since when was partying apart of the education process? Isn't that a distraction too?

Victor @ Sep 19th 2007 5:09PM

O RLY!?

Neebs @ Sep 19th 2007 5:59PM

yarly

Jor @ Sep 19th 2007 7:28PM

NO WAI!

JanJan @ Sep 19th 2007 5:10PM

This December Brawl is coming out
It's kinda obvious how that's gonna affect my studying for finals.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Sep 19th 2007 5:12PM

Shiver me timbers!!! Why's that lad got 'is beak in that thar tome?!
Book learnin'! It's why youngin's these days 'ave spines like a shore washed jellyfish! As long as ye c'n read a map, ye c'n plunder!

Joshua @ Sep 19th 2007 7:18PM

Just...gold.

horngreen @ Sep 19th 2007 5:13PM

So what? Did anyone not know this? Explosive diarhea will affect study time as well.

rdj75 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:17PM

LMAO

JediMasterASD @ Sep 19th 2007 5:15PM

Yeah i remember when i was in school i wasnt aloud to take craps becuase it took away from my study time, actually i dont remember eating or taking showers either.

0ldb0y @ Sep 19th 2007 5:16PM

A new study reveals that the act of not-studying is directly correlated with less time spent studying.

The cause has yet to be identified...

HineyWipe @ Sep 19th 2007 5:17PM

Study says: Studies conducted on the obvious waste resources.

Raikage (NDF - PK THUNDER RING) @ Sep 19th 2007 5:18PM

This just in!

WINDOWS affect studying time!

BAN TEH WINDOWS!!!

BTW, I went to a high school with no windows...

Yuccadude @ Sep 19th 2007 5:53PM

Yeah, I remember in high school if I got bored, I would just sit and stare out the window the rest of the class. The days when it was raining was the best, because you could watch the rain hit the roof and make little concentric circles with the ripples. But I still listened to my teacher because he was a good guy, just got a little boring some days.

Predatorian234 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:20PM

The study simply proves the obvious, which is not always a bad thing.

I mean, the test could have shown that kids study the same amount, but sleep less do to gaming at night, after studying is done.

And this could show a drop in grades due to lack of sleep.

Its entirely plausible. All this does is pinpoint things a bit more.

Remember, things aren't always as they seem.

rdj75 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:22PM

What I said is not a belief, its the obvious and factual. Now in this particular situation we are talking about limited resources(time), and if I use more of those resources doing something else(playing videogames) then thats less resources that are now available to actually study.

rdj75 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:23PM

replying to David a few posts up

GoldenS1104 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:23PM

I find it interesting that I saw this article when I should have been studying for a math quiz.

Joshua @ Sep 19th 2007 7:20PM

Oh crap, same here. I have a test on Friday...Good point.

Ian @ Sep 19th 2007 5:24PM

Wait hold on a second, your saying if I spend time doing something other than studying then my study time will be less? Whoa! That just hit me. Seriously though, I wouldn't say just video games cause less studying, theres so many distractions in college, you just gotta find a place where you can study in peace with minimal distraction.

rdj75 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:25PM

rdj75 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:26PM

what the hell is wrong with the reply button

ALH @ Sep 19th 2007 5:26PM

i'm on a videogame course at uni, so when im NOT gaming im slacking off.

GRANTED @ Sep 19th 2007 5:28PM

damn i would have graduated with a 3.8 if it wasn't for video games.

Gambit @ Sep 19th 2007 5:28PM

Geez, the research people waste money on these days.

Jeff @ Sep 19th 2007 5:29PM

I should be writing an essay right now. =P

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Sep 19th 2007 5:41PM

Me too. Hey what's this, Joystiq and Picross?

::games for 36 hours, dies::

Mr Khan @ Sep 19th 2007 5:40PM

I'd say sites like this and other gaming community/culture/news sites are the bigger draw on study time

I already have daily "game time" set aside each weekday, however, with such websites but a click away, and most of my schoolwork done via PC, going online really fucks with work time, at least in my case

Joshua @ Sep 19th 2007 7:22PM

Same thing here. I seem to hardly play games as much as a read about them anymore. Like you said, it's far to easy to say, Well, let's check Joystiq for a few minutes... every few minutes.

GoldenS1104 @ Sep 19th 2007 7:36PM

QFT

Truepatriot @ Sep 19th 2007 5:45PM

i wonder if the inverse is the same
does studying affect my gaming time?

now i need to get a grant and a lab coat.

SoxFan13 @ Sep 19th 2007 5:47PM

According to the post, it says students whose ROOMATES brought consoles to school suffered in studying and therefore grades. That leads me to believe that those students who actually BROUGHT the console are experienced gamers (Dare I say like those who read this site). These people probably know how to manage their time.

Either that, or they couldn't be torn away from their games to participate in some study!!