More Academic Studies

A Yale research from 2004 endorses that the Mind Lab method improves math & verbal scores. Following is the research summary by Prof. Donald Green from Yale University in the US (See the Word file on the right for the complete paper):

" ... The data presented above indicate that the Mind Lab curriculum had two statistically significant effects. First, as expected, it improved game-playing performance, as gauged by the number of puzzles each child solved during each session. Prior to the experimental intervention, the control group enjoyed a slight edge in game-playing performance; after the intervention, the treatment group significantly outplayed the control group.

Second, and more importantly, the treatment group outperformed the control group in standardised testing. The results were more decisive for verbal than for math scores; nevertheless, the findings lend surprising support for the idea that instruction in strategic reasoning improves academic scores.

Additional research is needed to understand why the Mind Lab curriculum improved verbal and math scores. One possibility is that the curriculum helped students in the treatment group negotiate standardized tests - they might have become more sensitive to the strategy of picking the best option from a field of choices. Another possibility is that games made ordinary schoolwork more fun for the children in the treatment group, enhancing their attentiveness to their lessons. A small post-intervention interview of the children lends some support to both of these hypotheses, as children expressed widespread enthusiasm for the Mind Lab curriculum, claimed that it gave them confidence, and often said that it helped them in their all around academic performance. "

Various other sources support similar hypotheses, for example:

University College London research published in 2003 found that those who regularly engaged in logic and memory games such as cards, chess and backgammon performed better on short-term memory, mathematical reasoning and vocabulary tests than those who did not.

According to Ofsted head David Bell (Daily Mail 31/01/05) children whose parents play traditional board games such as Scrabble, Monopoly and Cluedo with them do better at school. He said the games helped children grasp skills such as learning to think for themselves, to wait their turn and to hold a conversation with adults. Mr Bell is concerned that computer games and television discourage children from activities that better stimulate their imagination.