Sarah Derdock

Laura Mangini
College Composition II
30 March 2015

Annotated Bibliography on Video Games and Intelligence

Bavelier, Daphne, et al. "Brains On Video Games." Nature Reviews Neuroscience 12.12 (2011):
763-768. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. This article covers the
perspective of many different psychologists on both the positive and negative
neurological and behavioral effects of playing video games. Six different experts weigh
in on different questions pertaining to video games effects on the brain and behavior,
video games place in education and rehabilitation, and more. The authors and experts
involved in this article range from cognitive scientists to psychiatrists to biophysicists
however, all have some sort of specialization on the brain. This article will aid in my
research because not only does it give me both positive and negative sides to the
argument, it gives me the perspective of several different experts in the field all in one
place, so I have a variety of material to work with.
Green, C. Shawn, and Daphne Bavelier. "The cognitive neuroscience of video games." Digital
media: Transformations in human communication (2006): 211-223. This is a scholarly
journal that discusses the cognitive effects of playing video games, ranging from
perception, to reaction time and coordination, to spatial skills and visual attention. It also
looks into how video games may change the brain, finding that gaming in fact releases a
massive amount of dopamine an amount about comparable to injecting amphetamines.
While this is startling, Green and Bavelier state that this surge in dopamine may actually

be used for quicker and more efficient learning. As for the authors of this journal, C.
Shawn Green is an expert on learning and how video games affect cognition, and Daphne
Bavelier is a cognitive scientist. This journal will help me in research for my paper
because it goes much more in-depth into the neuroscience behind gaming, and while it
may not speak about intelligence directly, it touches on much more base parts of
cognitive functioning which are gateways to learning.
Ohab, John. "Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military."
Interview. Podcast. United States Department of Defense. United States Government, 20
Jan. 2010. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. This source is an episode from a show entitled Armed with
Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military, which is a podcast run by
the Department of Defense, broadcasted on the Pentagons web radio. In this episode,
research from the Office of Naval Research is presented, which mainly focuses on how
playing video games can aid and strengthen our fluid intelligence that is, our
intelligence of how to adapt and create new strategies. It is stated as aiding us in solving
problems without prior experience or even knowledge of them, and since the
development of the idea of fluid intelligence, it has thought to be something that was
unchangeable until now. The interview in this podcast was conducted by Dr. John Ohab, a
neuroscientist and public affairs specialist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and he
is interviewing Dr. Ray Perez, a program officer in the Office of Naval Research with a
focus in bioengineering. This source will help me with the research for my paper because
it focuses directly on how video games affect and change intelligence, as well as it having
an interesting spin on the information since it is directly from the Department of Defense.

Queen Mary, University of London. "Playing Video Games Can Boost Brain Power."
ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. This article is a
popularization by ScienceDaily of research performed at Queen Mary University of
London on measurement of participants cognitive flexibility in response to extensive
training with a fast-paced strategy video game, StarCraft, or, alternatively, a casual life
simulation video game, The Sims. The results show the difference in resulting cognitive
abilities after training with these two different types of games. ScienceDaily is a news
website for science and research findings, which often writes to the general public,
popularizing new findings in the field. The authors of the original journal, Brian D. Glass,
W. Todd Maddox, and Bradley C. Love, are all cognitive psychologists with doctorates
and a focus on neuroscience. This article will be useful in my research because not only
does it cover the cognitive changes that occur after training with video games, it touches
on the cognitive differences shown after playing different types of video games.