(2011) remarked that “One can no more say what the effects of video games are, than one can say what the effects of food are” (p. In a position statement addressing how video game study findings are reported, Bavelier et al.
The explosion of games and game genres over the last several decades have even made it difficult to conclude that video games comprise a coherent category suitable for methodological inquiry.
Despite consistent attention being paid to the problems and consequences associated with video game play, researchers have also examined the possible positive aspects of video game play, which include benefits in motivational, emotional, cognitive, and social aspects of one's life ( Granic, Lobel, & Engels, 2014). Confirmation biases and personal opinions seem to dominate public discourse, with video game play often spuriously implicated after mass shootings and violent attacks ( Ferguson, 2016). Whether it be over violence, addiction, or cognitive and social development, debates on the impact of video games have proven extraordinarily difficult to characterize. Chad Lane, Sherry Yi, in Cognitive Development in Digital Contexts, 2017 Introduction: What is in a “Game?”
