Can playing games like FFR make you smarter?

[hairyhabenaro]

Do you think playing these types of games can improve your mental abilities in any way? To get better you have to learn to comprehend more information accurtately and at a faster and faster pace. Has anyone notice their memory, reading speed, or anything else change since you started playing?

[Doug31]

I think it's made me have a worse memory and lower reading speed, since I feel I can barely remember anything I study for tests this quarter, and I thought I used to be one of the best studiers around. I heard on the news a list of games that were good for the brain, and this certainly wasn't one of them.

This game only lets you comprehend information that is worthless in other activites faster and faster.

[tsugomaru]

Over the last couple of years, IQ has actually gone up because of games like this, but that is only because they are said to improve your reaction speeds which is one of the elements in an IQ test.

~Tsugomaru

[lumphoboextreme]

lol.. oh well. back to playing

[Windscarredfaith]

I don't think it makes you smarter... but it definitely enhances hand-eye-coordination as well as reflexes.

[powerdown]

If anything I would say it makes it makes me stupider. I'll come home from school play a few games, attempt to do homework, and find myself constantly looking back at the notes I've taken to do simple Trig. Call it ADD (which in my opinion DOES NOT EXIST! It's just an excuse as to why your child sucks in school), call it catchy songs, whatever it is, when it comes to mental expansion, FFR definately have a negative effect on myself.

I will not say that it doesnt improve some aspects of the mind/body, i.e Hand-Eye Coordination, Rythmn, Dexterity, etc. However, these things dont play as major a role in day to day life as mental capacity. Sure you can catch a ball better, sure you wont look like a fool when you go to a school dance, but honestly, these things will only get you so far.

[Fantasticone]

I have seen ffr improve my table hockey and badmiton (sorry if spelled wrong) skills, but other than that nothing else.

[Megmo]

I have actually been wondering this myself. I haven't noticed any ability to read text faster, though. I haven't really noticed an improvement in my reflexes as a result of FFR in real life situations. If I drop something it still breaks on the floor before I can catch it. This site has actually made me stupider because it distracts me from homework. I have no hope of preparing well for finals.

[mmeegghhaann]

I completely procrastinate everything thanks to ffr. So if ffr has made me smarter, my grades sure dont show it.

[TheRapingDragon]

FFR will:

I - Increase your reaction time
II - Increase your typing speed due to being able to hit arrows faster, so you should be able to hit any key on the keyboard faster.

FFR will not:

I - Increase your intelligence.
II - Give you muscles.
III - Keep you fit.

[Kashazu]

'Nuff said

[Shashakiro]

I have WAY better reflexes than most people...I haven't lost a game of Egyptian Rat Screw in a REALLY long time rofl

But no, it doesn't make you more intelligent, as far as I know.

[spyke252]

Originally Posted by powerdown

ADD (which in my opinion DOES NOT EXIST! It's just an excuse as to why your child sucks in school)

I totally disagree with this statement.
I have ADD, and I do not suck at school. Therefore, your statement is disproven.


On topic though, umm... I actually am better in band. I'm much better at sightreading hard pieces, because I understand more rhythms and all.

On the topic of procrastination... I did it before, and I don't play much unless I have nothing else to do. Physics AP is the only class I have played this in that matters, but I already understood what we were talking about.

My typing speed has defininitely improved, but I also have many more mistakes. I said definately a second ago, and before ffr I almost never did that.

My wrists also hurt much less when I write a lot... but that could have nothing to do with ffr. I think it does though...

I really want to play ERS now, Shash. I pretty much beat everyone before I started coming here. I wonder how I'll fare now.

But smarter? Nah.

[gerbi7]

Definetly improves your periphial vision, reaction time, physical typing ability, and maybe reading, and rhythm skills.

[Patashu]

I remember reading an article about how a sense of rhythm helped the brain think, and about a program using a metronome to improve this sense, and how it proposed DDR would work just as well as the thousand-dollar sessions.

So, possibly.

[slipstrike0159]

I think as far as sightreading difficult pieces, it helps you subdivide easier and keep things on tempo.

Im convinced it doesnt help with memory expansion at all purely because of the fact that all it is is hitting the next note you see. It mainly only helps your reflexes in that sens, as many others have said.

I procrastinate with or without this game, its a habit that people fall into or maybe even the type of person. I dont think you can purely blame it on one game.

It may help with hitting other keys on the keyboard faster, but it doesnt mean you will be more accurate. I guess if you knew exactly where all the keys were to begin with and you were just having a problem moving your fingers fast enough, then yeah it probably would help a considerable amount.

No matter how you look at it, being addicted to a computer game is bad. Sure you can say how much you are increasing your coordination, but you can improve that by other, healthier, means. If you sit here mainly focusing on the game then you would be working on one area, whereas if you were outside actually playing catch or soccer or whatever, you would still be improving your coordination, and you would be being active which would be better for you.

[gerbi7]

Originally Posted by slipstrike0159

Im convinced it doesnt help with memory expansion at all purely because of the fact that all it is is hitting the next note you see.

Oh, so you can hit one note one after the other on EHHS or something? No, people end up screen shrinking because they can't read the 15 or something arrows on the screen at once. I can still play songs that are easier with hidden on however. And get a good PA.

[ieatyourlvllol]

Normally, playing FFR increases the rate at which visual information is processed and responded to (i.e. input/output). Theoretically speaking, it should increase capabilities in such areas as reading (in this case I refer only to the actual perception and intake of words), which is similar, in a respect, to reading arrows on FFR. However, supposing reading rate does indeed increase, there are still, included within the true intellectual act, other sectors of insight (such as comprehension, interpretation, application, etc.). These areas would likely be wholly unaffected (or at least to the point of imperceptibility). Still, taking into account the relationship between knowledge absorption and reading speed, it's possible that while FFR does not directly take your intelligence to loftier heights, it can help in attaining that level more quickly, even if not significantly so.

As for memory, most players read small patterns (rolls, triplets, etc.) or individual arrows. Nonetheless, everyone still has certain sections of songs that they remember more acutely than others (often due to past difficulty in that particular area). On the other hand, there remain so many unaccounted factors that I find it impossible to say whether FFR really does aid in memory or not.

[dragonschild]

I dont think it enhances anything except reflex rates and coordination, what it does do, after ive been playing for a while, i look at a wall and wonder if im tripping, because the wall is moving down. A result of arrows moving up on the screen, has anyone else noticed that wall moving down visual after playing?

[darkshark]

FFR has increased my reaction time tenfold, speedreading ability slightly, lowered my intelligence because im so distracted, and thanks to ffr i only sleep 3-4 hours a day if im lucky.

But say i accidentally knock something over or drop something, it looks damn near in slow motion in my mind, better reaction time is always a good thing.