But these findings are interesting, nevertheless. Of course, PopCap has a vested interested in the various applications of its hit games. "The best cognitive aging intervention in the world is useless if older adults aren't willing and able to engage in it." Whitbourne and her colleagues are doing, using Bejeweled Blitz, is both critical and exciting, and that more research like this needs to be done exploring not only the types of games that bring about cognitive benefits, but also the types of games older adults are willing to play and why," Boot said.
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Walter Boot, director of the Attention and Training Lab of the Department of Psychology at Florida State University. Whitbourne's findings were well-received by some at the convention, like Dr. Overall, a whopping 66.4 percent said that the game's multiplier gems were positively motivating. Both groups of older folks were less likely than those 18 to 24-years-old to report feeling anxious because of the timer. Nearly half (47.5 percent) of adults aged 50 and older said that they paid no attention to the 60-second countdown timer in Bejeweled Blitz, and 52.9 percent of those 65-years-old and over reported the same reaction. And it's worth nothing that over 78 percent of participants reported to have a college degree. While the survey consisted of 10,331 adults aged 18 to 80-years-old, 41 percent of those were 50-years-old and over (and 83 percent total were women). A small 23.9 percent of the same group reported that they could perform timed tasks more quickly after playing the game regularly. According to PopCap, Whitbourne believes that Bejeweled Blitz could be a viable platform for improving cognitive skills in older adults because it involves several of the skills that have been shown the be improved after playing video games.ĭesigned to see whether Whitbourne's inklings checked out, the survey found that 22.4 percent of participants aged 65 and over found their ability to see patterns improved. Whitbourne, a psychology researcher at University of Massachusetts Amherst, presented her findings at this year's American Psychological Association's (APA) convention in Washington D.C. Whitbourne, Ph.D., 47 percent of older adults who play Bejeweled Blitz regularly reported feeling sharper while performing tasks. residents conducted by researcher Susan K.
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For the young, and now the old, it looks like PopCap games are good for everyone.