Do Computer Games Increase IQ?

Steven JohnsonSteven Johnson, author of a new book called ‘Everything Bad is Good For You’ is persisting in pedalling his line that computer games and interactive media have contributed to increased IQ levels over the past few decades.

Just because IQ levels increased at the same time as the rise of interactive media, doesn’t mean one thing caused the other. There are other perhaps more important trends over the past few decades, such as the improvement in diet.

I hate to criticise a book I haven’t read and I hope that it contains better material than this. I suspect that the video games to IQ link is simply a nice angle for journalists to knock out a story.
The Guardian

Author: Dr Jeremy Dean

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology. He has been writing about scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004.

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