World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

To test your surgeon, /duel

In three different studies conducted by three different universities, it seems playing World of Warcraft has its benefits. In the first study, several children were asked to think out loud while they played for 20 minutes. The younger children in the group actually displayed a lot of problem solving type skills used to learn how to play. They were very strategic, and the researchers believe that games like World of Warcraft are a good outlet for children to exercise those skills.

"The younger kids are focusing more on their planning and problem solving while they are actually playing the game, while adolescents are focusing less on their planning and strategizing and more on the here and now," said Fordham psychologist Fran Blumberg, who conducted the research last year and plans to submit it for publication. "They're thinking less strategically than the younger kids."

The second study focused on surgeons. It was found that surgeons that were gamers used 27% less time, and made 37% less errors than their non-gaming counterpoints - regardless of age or surgical experience. I guess the question isn't "How many of these have you done?" and is now "Are you a gamer?"

Advanced video game skills also were a good way to predict suturing abilities, according to their study, which was published in the Archives of Surgery in 2007.

Research Gentile and Rosser conducted for a second as yet unpublished study of 303 laparoscopic surgeons found those who played video games requiring spacial skills and hand dexterity performed better at those skills when tested later compared to surgeons who didn't play videos, Gentile said.

And finally the third study was very, very brave, and dove into the forums. In a study of 2,000 randomly selected posts, the study found that the game encouraged scientific thinking, at least informally. The posts showed that most players (86%) were using shared knowledge to solve problems and more than half (58%) used systematic and evaluative processes.

The forums show that gamers are "creating an environment in which informal scientific reasoning practices are being learned," said Sean Duncan, a doctoral student who worked on the "World of Warcraft" report with lead author Constance Steinkuehler. The paper is set for publication in the Journal of Science Education and Technology.

Now that's some good news I'd like to wave in front of some legislator's faces.

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