Video games that promote creativity and freedom can boost creativity under certain conditions, according to new research conducted by Iowa State University. The study was an experiment that compared the results of playing Minecraft in a manner that included or without instruction, with watching a TV show or playing racing car video games. Those given the freedom to play Minecraft without instruction were the most creative.
Minecraft Textures
"It's not only that Minecraft can help induce creativity. There's something about choosing to play it that is important," said Douglas Gentile who is a professor of psychology.
If you are not familiar with the game, Gentile says Minecraft is an online Lego world. The game has sold more than 100,000,000 copies. It lets players create any kind of world they wish to create. Study participants randomly assigned to play Minecraft were split into two groups. The instructions were given to the person who was playing Minecraft.
After 40 minutes of playing or watching TV, the 352 participants completed several creativity tasks. To gauge their creativity they were asked to draw a character from a universe that was different from Earth. The scores for creativity were lower for creatures that were more human-like than those who are less human-like. Surprisingly, those instructed to be creative in Minecraft were the least creative.
Gentile states that there is no clear explanation for this finding. In the article published by Creativity Research Journal, he, Jorge Blanco-Herrera, author of the paper and former master's student in psychology; and Jeffrey Rokkum, former Ph.D. student in psychology, discussed possible reasons why the instructed Minecraft group scored lower. Blanco-Herrera believes that the instructions might have affected subjects their motivation to play.
Blanco-Herrera explained that being told to be creative could have restricted their choices and resulted in a less enthralling experience. It's possible that they drained all of their creative juices while playing and didn't have any when it came time to complete the test.
Games help to develop creativity similar to aggression
Video games can have positive and negative impacts. The previous research of Gentile has revealed that video games can cause positive and negative effects. Gentile claims that creativity is the same as aggression and prosocial behavior.
Most video games allow players to practice some level of imagination. Role-playing games allow players to create characters and stories or reward them for their innovative strategies in games that are competitive. Researchers have found that even shooter games for first-person players can inspire creativity, as players think strategically and search for advantages in combat.
"The research is starting to provide a more intriguing nuanced and complex picture. Our results are similar to other studies on gaming in that you become better in your practice, but how you practice can be just as much," Gentile said.
