This is basically the "you throw like a girl" phenomenon. With a sister who played NCAA Division I varsity softball, I can assure you that girls can learn to "throw like a boy", and then some. And yet, many more girls than boys "throw like a girl" (hence the stereotype). The reason is simple: throwing well takes practice, and boys throw more than girls. <p>But <i>why</i> do boys throw more? Boys and girls have different preferences, and many of these preferences have biological as well as cultural roots. (Indeed, are there any cultures where athletic prowess is more valued in women than in men?) And so we're right back on the African savannah, where men who liked to throw learned to throw well, and thus killed more game. <p>It seems that, even with a "cultural" explanation, you can't escape nature.
"That has several implications.... one is that playing violent computer games can have beneficial effects."<p>I doubt this study demonstrated that the 3D game has to be violent.<p>Logically, 3D game which involve aiming and tracking mechanisms help raise situational awareness in ways two-dimensional puzzle games cannot--it's very likely that non-violent 3D aiming and moving games, if they existed, would also work.
If males are driven to playing fast twitch games because of their biology, then are the subsequent physiological adaptations considered biological or cultural?
The study mentioned by the article failed to take any biological recordings from the participants. My guess would be that playing the violent video games causes a rise in testosterone. Since women have less, a rise in their testosterone levels would impact them more hence the evening out of the test scores. Just my theory.