It depends on the game, but certain kinds of games have been shown in a number of studies to improve a wide array of abilities - from daily hand-eye coordination tasks [1] over decision making [2] all the way to problem solving [3]. The only question is if you want your kid to play COD or Starcraft, but the benefits are there and if your kid is not interested in learning an instrument, it's way better to have them play these types of games rather than some low mental effort smartphone attention sink.
But you've got a motley set of studies. The first study says "After they played a driving or first-person-shooter video game for 5 or 10 hr, their visuomotor control improved significantly. In contrast, non–action gamers showed no such improvement after they played a nonaction video game" (emphasis mine). Not toddler's games.
The 2nd article is not only about FPS, but it is very low quality and relies on self report without a control group.
The third article finds a correlation between strategic video games and self-reported problem solving skills and self-reported academic performance, while showing a negative influence from FPS on problem solving.
So I'd say: nothing has been proven, certainly not about toddler's games.
Yeah take that with a massive grain of salt. Most social studies can’t be reproduced. (As in, at least 2/3rds can’t be reproduced, and the remaining 1/3rd often only on the same specific cohort)
During my studies my team tried to replicate some studies showing improved test scores after playing games like Tetris; we tried it on several schools and found literally no effect whatsoever.
So why do you believe that screen time is bad for kids if studies can't be replicated? If you were consistent you would say this for that as well, just scrutinizing one side means you aren't really scrutinizing, you are just confirming your own biases.
Who said I believe that? I surely don’t. I had a lot of screen time as a kid and it taught me a lot, for one I wouldn’t be able to speak English without it.
I personally do believe screen time ought to be limited to some extent, but that’s only because I believe being outside is healthy, not because screen time itself is bad.
I didn't want to go into that, but social sciences is indeed bad at proving things. At best they find a correlation, but a causal relation is very hard to determine. And that's aside from the bad methodology.
But you've got a motley set of studies. The first study says "After they played a driving or first-person-shooter video game for 5 or 10 hr, their visuomotor control improved significantly. In contrast, non–action gamers showed no such improvement after they played a nonaction video game" (emphasis mine). Not toddler's games.
The 2nd article is not only about FPS, but it is very low quality and relies on self report without a control group.
The third article finds a correlation between strategic video games and self-reported problem solving skills and self-reported academic performance, while showing a negative influence from FPS on problem solving.
So I'd say: nothing has been proven, certainly not about toddler's games.