Playing video games can sharpen certain thinking skills, increasing cognitive speed in those who play action games and boosting cognitive accuracy in those who play puzzle-solving games, according to a new study. The study involved 20 students who first completed a spatial- location task, then played either an action game or a puzzle- solving game for an hour, after which they repeated the first task. 'Playing a game which requires very fast deployment of visual attention and motor movement could prime a strategy of speed over accuracy,' explained lead researcher Rolf Nelson, a psychology professor at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. 'The main point is that different kinds of video games engage different cognitive and perceptual skills, and there are measurable differences in their effects, even in the short term.' But despite the beneficial aspects garnered from a session or two of gaming, Nelson said more research is needed before making video games part of a child's homework session. 'One difficulty is that video game developers are in the entertainment industry, and the goal is often to capture attention for as long as possible without much regard for how it affects thinking after the game. So, it's not going to be easy to figure out what kinds of effects any given video game has,' he explained. The research findings might change the minds of parents who blame video games for everything from promoting youth violence to contributing to childhood obesity. While gaming might have a place in helping foster certain skills, it can't replace the physical exercise or social interaction that should be part of childhood development, noted Chandramallika Basak, a research scientist at Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois. The findings appear in the December issue of the journal Perception. 