Abstract
This work reviews several aspects of the growing research field interested in video
games. First, the evolution of this media in the educational field is discussed. Three
different fields interested in the cognitive impact playing of video games are reviewed:
abilities and skills, attitudes and motivation, knowledge and content learning. However,
most studies used video games as new experimental materials and tasks to contribute to
their specific field (i.e. attention and perception), and not as a scientific object of interest
per se. We claim that the research on video games is in need of a conceptual and
methodological framework in which results and effects could be compared, interpreted and
generalized. We argue that video games can have multiple effects on players and that these
effects can be used as educational potentials. An empirically-based classification of games,
depending on their potential effects for an educational purpose, is strongly needed.
Likewise, a unified research paradigm and methodologies to carry on reliable research on
video games has to be developed.
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