A Cognitive Clash : Exploring the Problem Solving Skills of Gamers and Non-gamers

Gaming, undeniably, has become a part of the culture of today’s society. However, the topic of what gaming can do to a person’s life is still considered an issue to many, and the debate whether it has more positive effects than negative is still definitely present. With regard to this statement, the researchers have conducted a causal-comparative study about what possible effect gaming has on the problem-solving skills of student gamers and non-gamers. If the research results prove fruitful, gaming may be used as a medium for the development of the skills needed when facing problems in real life. All respondents were taken from the Grade 10 students of Bulacan State University with a group of gamers and non-gamers consisting of 30 purposively sampled people each. In order to establish a result, the research questionnaire dealt with the four domains of problem-solving between the two groups. All data was gathered through a combination of printed and online survey questionnaire. After the data has been analyzed via a Mann-Whitney U Test, it has been found out that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the three domains of problem-solving skills, namely the identification and description the problem, generation of ideas relevant in establishing a solution and the actions done in response to the outcome of the solution. The last domain, implementation of the solution, was the only skillset that showed a significant difference between the two groups. The null hypothesis, that states that no significant difference exists between the problem-solving skills of the two groups, proved mostly true. Future researchers may adopt different research designs, change their population, increase their sample size and even try and use different genres of games or different skills as their variables