Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Associations Between Avid Action and Real-Time Strategy Game Play and Cognitive Performance: a Pilot Study

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Cognitive Enhancement Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Over the past 15 years, numerous studies have demonstrated that action video game players outperform non-gamers on a variety of cognitive measures. However, few researchers have examined the potential beneficial effects of playing real-time strategy games or the effect of playing multiple game genres. As such, the purpose of the current study was to (a) replicate the existing findings that show cognitive differences between action gamers (AVGPs) and non-gamers (NVGPs), (b) examine whether real-time strategy gamers (SVGPs) also differ from NVGPs on various cognitive tasks, and (c) examine how multi-genre video game players (“Tweeners”) compare to both AVGPs and NVGPs. We created a large task battery that tapped into various aspects of cognition (i.e., reaction time, selective attention, memory, executive control, and fluid intelligence) in order to examine the tasks that differed between our three gamer groups and non-gamers. Our results largely replicated the majority of the findings to date, such that AVGPs outperformed NVGPs on a wide variety of cognitive tasks, but the two groups do not differ in memory performance or fluid intelligence. We also demonstrated that SVGPs had numerically faster response times on several tasks as compared to the NVGPs. This pattern of results was similar to what was found with the AVGPs, although in the case of the SVGPs not all of the results reached the level of statistical significance. Lastly, we demonstrated that Tweeners perform similarly to genre-pure gamers in that their performance on several cognitive tasks was numerically better than for NVGPs, although the performance of the Tweeners was numerically lower than for both the AVGPs and the SVGPs. Overall, these findings have several implications for game studies, particularly with respect to how SVGPs and Tweeners are considered going forward.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams, D. M., & Mayer, R. E. (2012). Examining the connection between dynamic and static spatial skills and video game performance. Building Bridges Across Cognitive Sciences Around the World: Proceedings of the 34th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci 2012), (1), 1254–1259.

  • Appelbaum, L. G., Cain, M. S., Darling, E. F., & Mitroff, S. R. (2013). Action video game playing is associated with improved visual sensitivity, but not alterations in visual sensory memory. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 75(6), 1161–1167. doi:10.3758/s13414-013-0472-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apperley, T. H. (2006). Genre and game studies: toward a critical approach to video game genres. Simulation & Gaming, 37(1), 6–23. doi:10.1177/1046878105282278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, K., & Owsley, C. (1993). The useful field of view test: a new technique for evaluating age-related declines in visual function. Journal of the American Optometric Association, 64(1), 71–79.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Basak, C., Boot, W. R., Voss, M. W., & Kramer, A. F. (2008). Can training in a real-time strategy video game attenuate cognitive decline in older adults? Psychology and Aging, 23(4), 765–777. doi:10.1037/a0013494.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bavelier, D., Green, C. S., Pouget, A., & Schrater, P. (2012). Brain plasticity through the life span : Learning to learn and action video games. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 35, 391–416. doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-060909.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bediou, B., Adams, D. M., Mayer, R. E., Green, C.S, & Bavelier, D. (under review). Meta-analysis of action video game impact on perceptual, attentional, and cognitive skills. Psychological Bulletin.

  • Boot, W. R., Kramer, A. F., Simons, D. J., Fabiani, M., & Gratton, G. (2008). The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychologica, 129(3), 387–398. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.09.005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boot, W. R., Blakely, D. P., & Simons, D. J. (2011). Do action video games improve perception and cognition? Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 226. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00226.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Boot, W. R., Simons, D. J., Stothart, C., & Stutts, C. (2013). The pervasive problem with placebos in psychology why active control groups are not sufficient to rule out placebo effects. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(4), 445–454. doi:10.1177/1745691613491271.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brainard, D. (1997). The psychophysics toolbox. Spatial Vision, 433–436. doi:10.1163/156856897X00357

  • Castel, A. D., Pratt, J., & Drummond, E. (2005). The effects of action video game experience on the time course of inhibition of return and the efficiency of visual search. Acta Psychologica, 119(2), 217–230. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2005.02.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colzato, L. S., van Leeuwen, P. J. A., van den Wildenberg, W. P. M., & Hommel, B. (2010). DOOM’d to switch: superior cognitive flexibility in players of first person shooter games. Frontiers in Psychology, 1(April), 8. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00008

  • Colzato, L. S., van den Wildenberg, W. P. M., & Hommel, B. (2013a). Cognitive control and the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism: genetic modulation of videogame training and transfer to task-switching efficiency. Psychological Research, 78(5), 670–678. doi:10.1007/s00426-013-0514-8.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colzato, L. S., van den Wildenberg, W. P. M., Zmigrod, S., & Hommel, B. (2013b). Action video gaming and cognitive control: playing first person shooter games is associated with improvement in working memory but not action inhibition. Psychological Research, 77(2), 234–239. doi:10.1007/s00426-012-0415-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dorval, M., & Pepin, M. (1986). Effect of playing a video game on a measure of spatial visualization. Perceptual Motor Skills, 62, 159–162.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dye, M. W. G., Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2009a). Increasing speed of processing with action video games. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(6), 321–326. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01660.x.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Dye, M. W. G., Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2009b). The development of attention skills in action video game players. Neuropsychologia, 47(8–9), 1780–1789. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.02.002.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Feng, J., Spence, I., & Pratt, J. (2007). Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition. Psychological Science, 18(10), 850–855. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon, D. (1985). Videogames and spatial skills: An exploratory study. ECTJ, 33(4), 263–275. doi:10.1007/BF02769363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glass, B. D., Maddox, W. T., & Love, B. C. (2013). Real-time strategy game training: Emergence of a cognitive flexibility trait. PloS One, 8(8), e70350. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070350.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2003). Action video game modifies visual selective attention. Nature, 423(6939), 534–537. doi:10.1038/nature01647.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2006). Enumeration versus multiple object tracking: the case of action video game players. Cognition, 101(1), 217–245. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2005.10.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2007). Action-video-game experience alters the spatial resolution of vision. Psychological Science, 18(1), 88–94. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01853.x.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2008). Exercising your brain: a review of human brain plasticitiy and training-induced learning. Psychology and Aging, 23(4), 692–701. doi:10.1037/a0014345.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2015). Action video game training for cognitive enhancement. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 4, 103–108. doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.04.012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, C. S., Sugarman, M. A., Medford, K., Klobusicky, E., & Bavelier, D. (2012). The effect of action video game experience on task-switching. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(3), 984–994. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2011.12.020.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Green, C. S., Kattner, F., Eichenbaum, A., Bediou, B., Adams, D. M., Mayer, R. E., & Bavelier, D. (2017). Playing some video games but not others is related to cognitive abilities—a critique of Unsworth et al. (2015). Psychological Science.

  • Greenberg, L. M., Kindschi, C. L., Dupuy, T. R., & Hughes, S. J. (1994). Test of variables of attention continuous performance test. Los Alamitos: Universal Attention Disorders.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, P. M. (2014). Mind and media: the effects of television, video games, and computers. Psychology Press.

  • Greenfield, P. M., Brannon, C., & Lohr, D. (1994a). Two-dimensional representation of movement through three-dimensional space: the role of video game expertise. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15(1), 87–103. doi:10.1016/0193-3973(94)90007-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, P. M., DeWinstanley, P., Kilpatrick, H., & Kaye, D. (1994b). Action video games and informal education: effects on strategies for dividing visual attention. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15(1), 105–123. doi:10.1016/0193-3973(94)90008-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, J. L., Voloschin, P., Gibb, G. D., & Bailey, J. R. (1983). Differences in eye-hand motor coordination of video-game users and non-users. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 57, 155–158. doi:10.2466/pms.1983.57.1.155.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hull, D. C., Williams, G. a., & Griffiths, M. D. (2013). Video game characteristics, happiness and flow as predictors of addiction among video game players: a pilot study. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2(3), 145–152. doi:10.1556/JBA.2.2013.005.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., Jonides, J., & Perrig, W. J. (2008). Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(19), 6829–6833. doi:10.1073/pnas.0801268105.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Jarosz, A. F., & Wiley, J. (2014). What are the odds? A practical guide to computing and reporting Bayes factors. The Journal of Problem Solving, 7, 2–9. doi:10.7771/1932-6246.1167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karle, J. W., Watter, S., & Shedden, J. M. (2010). Task switching in video game players: benefits of selective attention but not resistance to proactive interference. Acta Psychologica, 134(1), 70–78. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2009.12.007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King, D., Delfabbro, P., & Griffiths, M. (2010). Video game structural characteristics: a new psychological taxonomy. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 8(1), 90–106. doi:10.1007/s11469-009-9206-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirchner, W. K. (1958). Age differences in short-term retention of rapidly changing information. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 55(4), 352. doi:10.1037/h0043688.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kleiner, M., Brainard, D., Pelli, D., Ingling, A., Murray, R., & Broussard, C. (2007). What’s new in Psychtoolbox-3. Perception, 36(14), 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, J., Selker, R., Verhagen, J., Marsman, M., Gronau, Q. F., Jamil, T., Smira, M., Epskamp, S., Wild, A., Morey, R., Rouder, J. & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2015). JASP (Version 0.6)[Computer software].

  • McDermott, A. F., Bavelier, D., & Green, C. S. (2014). Memory abilities in action video game players. Computers in Human Behavior, 34, 69–78. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morey, R. D., & Rouder, J. N. (2011). Bayes factor approaches for testing interval null hypotheses. Psychological Methods, 16(4), 406–419. doi:10.1037/a0024377.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oei, A. C., & Patterson, M. D. (2013). Enhancing cognition with video games: a multiple game training study. PloS One, 8(3), e58546. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058546.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Okagaki, L., & Frensch, P. A. (1994). Effects of video game playing on measures of spatial performance: gender effects in late adolescence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15(1), 33–58. doi:10.1016/0193-3973(94)90005-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelli, D. G. (1997). The VideoToolbox software for visual psychophysics: transforming numbers into movies. Spatial Vision, 10(4), 437–442. doi:10.1163/156856897X00366.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raven, J. (2000). The Raven’s Progressive Matrices: change and stability over culture and time. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 1–48. doi:10.1006/cogp.1999.0735.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond, J. E., Shapiro, K. L., & Arnell, K. M. (1992). Temporary suppression of visual processing in an RSVP task: an attentional blink? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 18(3), 849–860. doi:10.1037/0096-1523.18.3.849.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Redick, T. S., Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T. L., Hicks, K. L., Fried, D. E., Hambrick, D. Z., … Engle, R. W. (2013). No evidence of intelligence improvement after working memory training: a randomized, placebo-controlled study. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 142(2), 359–79. doi:10.1037/a0029082

  • Rouder, J. N., Speckman, P. L., Sun, D., Morey, R. D., & Iverson, G. (2009). Bayesian t tests for accepting and rejecting the null hypothesis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16(2), 225–237. doi:10.3758/PBR.16.2.225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spence, I., & Feng, J. (2010). Video games and spatial cognition. Review of General Psychology, 14(2), 92–104. doi:10.1037/a0019491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strobach, T., Frensch, P. A., & Schubert, T. (2012). Video game practice optimizes executive control skills in dual-task and task switching situations. Acta Psychologica, 140(1), 13–24. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.02.001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Subrahmanyam, K., & Greenfield, P. M. (1994). Effect of video game practice on spatial skills in girls and boys. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 13–32. doi:10.1016/0193-3973(94)90004-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. L., & Engle, R. W. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, 28(2), 127–154. doi:10.1016/0749-596X(89)90040-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, R. T. A., Griffiths, M. D., Chappell, D., & Davies, M. N. O. (2004). The structural characteristics of video games: a psycho-structural analysis. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7(1), 1–10. doi:10.1089/109493104322820057.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yung, A., Cardoso-Leite, P., Dale, G., Bavelier, D., & Green, C. S. (2015). Methods to test visual attention online. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 96, 1–15. doi:10.1016/bs.mcb.2015.01.016.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1202 W. Johnson St, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Gillian Dale & C. Shawn Green

Authors
  1. Gillian Dale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Shawn Green
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gillian Dale.

Additional information

This research was supported by a grant from the Office of Naval Research N00014-14-1-0512 to C.S.G.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 27 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dale, G., Green, C.S. Associations Between Avid Action and Real-Time Strategy Game Play and Cognitive Performance: a Pilot Study. J Cogn Enhanc 1, 295–317 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-017-0021-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-017-0021-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation