Gaming studies

Video Games Can Aid Students, Surgeons
Researchers who gathered in Boston for the American Psychological Association Convention detailed a series of studies suggesting video games can be powerful learning tools -- from increasing younger students' problem-solving potential to improving the suturing skills of laparoscopic surgeons.
In one Fordham University study, 122 students in fifth, sixth and seventh grades were asked to think out loud for 20 minutes while playing a game they had never seen before.While older children seemed more interested in just playing the game, younger children showed more interest in setting up a series of short-term goals needed to help them learn the game.
An Ohio State University study of 33 laparoscopic surgeons found that those who played video games were 27 percent faster at advanced surgical procedures and made 37 percent fewer errors than those who didn't.
Uniuversity of Wisconsin-Madison researchers found that World of Warcraft encouraged scientific thinking, like using systems and models for understanding situations and using math and testing to investigate problems.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hbKvyM2mVu6ANEdM7aJTl3ZoPwbwD92KQT9O1