Chess and Cognitive Ability Revision Does Chess Enhance Cognitive Ability?

PSYC 317, Fall 2012

Psychologists and cognitive researchers have long suspected a link between the ability to play chess proficiently and superior intelligence levels. By conducting a thorough review of the prevailing research concerning chess and the enhancement of cognitive abilities, as well as studies which fail to establish conclusive links between the two, it is possible to form a more fully informed conclusion. Research studies focused on deductive reasoning, mathematics, and logical analysis and their use in the game of chess will be compared and examined for error or bias, in an effort to synthesize the findings of several researchers over a period of decades into a coherent conclusion.

Does Chess Enhance Cognitive Ability

Chess is a complex game of strategy, the best practitioners of which excel at deductive reasoning, visualization and memorization of concrete events that transpire on the board. The merits of all game-winning moves and variations can be verified in a highly deductive manner that guarantees absolute certainty. Exceptional chess players tend to excel at mathematics, logic and other endeavors that require competence in deductive reasoning. A wealth of empirical studies has evinced that young children who learn to play chess at an early age tend to significantly improve their academic abilities with respect to reading,...

To a slightly lesser extent, same evidence suggests that adult players are also able to improve their intellectual abilities by playing chess. Chess and Educational Advancement By practicing chess on a routine basis through the structured environment provided by the primary school classroom, individuals of all intelligence levels can improve their cognitive abilities. Studies of schoolchildren who learned to play chess in the classroom setting have demonstrated that "learning chess had a positive influence on the development of both numerical and verbal aptitudes" (Ferguson, Jr., 1995), and it is imperative that all avenues, including the insertion of chess into overall curricula, be considered to improve the overall delivery of quality education. The Complexity of Chess Playing chess is a way to practice thinking deductively through the act of reaching conclusions on the basis of multiple-outcome variable situations. Players practice visualization by imagining various possible scenarios that may ensue in the course of the game. The most proficient chess players continually practice memorization by studying their games, determining where they have made mistakes and using past games as a point of reference for future improvement. In other words, the art of learning from one's mistakes requires one to memorize complex scenarios and learn to apply them in new situations. Players cultivate the intellectual virtue of broad-mindedness by considering…