Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word: for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
Video Games Foster Creativity?
Video games that foster creative freedom can increase creativity under certain conditions, according to new research from Iowa State University. The experimental study compared the effect f playing Mine-craft(《我的世界》-一款游戏), with or without instruction, to watching a TV show or playing a race video game. Those 【小题1】 (give) the freedom to play Mine-craft without instruction were most creative.
“It’s not just that Mine-craft can help induce creativity. There seems to be something about choosing to do it that also matters,” said Douglas Gentile, a professor of psychology.
【小题2】 you are not familiar with the game, Gentile says Mine-craft is like a virtual Lego world. The game, which has sold more than 100 million copies, allows players to explore unique worlds and create anything they can imagine. Study participants randomly assigned to play Mine-craft were split into two groups. The one receiving instruction was told to play as creatively as possible.
After 40 minutes of play or watching TV, the 352 participants completed several creativity tasks. 【小题3】 (measure) creative production, they were asked to draw a creature from a world much different than Earth. More human like creature scored low for creativity and those less human-like scored high. Surprisingly, those instructed to be creative while playing Mine-craft were the 【小题4】 (creative).
Gentile says there’s no clear explanation for this finding. In the paper published by Creativity Research Journal, he, Jorge Blanco-Herrera, lead author and former master’s student in psychology: and Jeffrey Rokkum, former Ph. D. student in psychology, outlined possible reasons why the instructed Mine-craft group scored lower. Blanco-Herrera says the instructions may have changed subjects’ motivation for play.
“【小题5】 (tell) to be creative may have actually limited their options while playing, resulting in a less creative experience,” Blanco-Herrera said. “It’s also possible they used all their ‘creative juices’ while playing and had 【小题6】 left when it came time to complete the test.”
Video games can have both harmful and beneficial effects. Gentile’s previous research has shown the amount, content and context and video games 【小题7】 (influence) what players learn through repeated experiences. 【小题8】 much of Gentile’s research has focused on aggression or pro-social behavior, he says the same appears to be true for creativity.
Most video games encourage players to practice some level of creativity. For example, players may create a character and story for role-playing games or be rewarded for creative strategies in competitive games. The researchers say even first-person shooter games 【小题9】 potentially inspire creativity as players think about strategy and look for advantages in combat.
“The research is starting to tell a more interesting, nuanced picture. Our results are similar to other gaming research 【小题10】 you get better at what you practice, but how you practice might matter just as much, ” Gentile said.
