Game Over For 5 Video Game Stereotypes

Infographic design by Gritchelle Fallesgon, analysis by Ben Katz

When you think of gamers, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s this:

The image on the left, from the animated series South Park, is just one of many depictions of gamers peppered throughout popular media. Films such as The Wizard, Grandma’s Boy, and The Last Starfighter have all helped create a negative mythos that does little to flatter the typical video game player. An abundance of literature has cropped up to protest these widely-held beliefs, including Henry Jenkins’ excellent Reality Bites: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked. But despite repeated efforts to debunk old stereotypes, gamers continue to be portrayed as antisocial, slothful, unhealthy, mostly male, and, yes, sometimes even a little dumb.

With the first meeting of the Entertainment Software and Cognitive Therapeutics Society (ESCoNS) coming up later this month (we’ll be there presenting new research) we wanted to delve into the largest database on human cognition and share some facts about video gamers that might surprise you. We’ve compiled a comprehensive infographic that hits the reset button on 5 of the most common myths about gamers:

Click here to see all the facts and figures as we clear more than a tetris of video game myths!

Our data shows that playing games may in fact correspond with many other positive lifestyle choices. But lest you go straight back to your Playstation for another 36-hour marathon, remember that the surest path to positive results is through playing games designed for both fun and mental fitness. Studies suggest that Lumosity games can improve your attention, speed, memory, and maybe even make you the smartest gamer on the block. Why not play a few games now?

And for those of you who are curious: the data was collected from Lumosity users ages 20 – 30 who have also completed our Brain Grade survey. The “gaming group” indicated that they also played other video games (besides Lumosity training) at least once a week.