Culture

Strategic Video Games Like StarCraft Improve Problem-Solving Skills

Also, it's impossible to find men who don't play a lot of video games

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Playing StarCraft can boost problem solving and creative thinking, according to a new study by researchers at Queen Mary University of London and University College London. Researchers found that those who engaged in the real-time military strategy game improved their "cognitive flexibility," or the ability to adjust their thinking to meet different situations.

The participant pool was composed entirely of 72 female students at the University of Texas at Austin, because researchers were unable to find male participants who played computer games for less than two hours a day.

"We screened hundreds of prospective participants and only found a handful of males that met the criteria for novice gamer," said study co-author Brad Love from University College London.