Effects Of Video Games On Executive Control, Aggression and Gaming Motivation

With the advancements of computer technology and accessible internet, playing video games has become immensely popular across all age groups. Increasing research talks about the cognitive benefits of Video Games. At the same time, video games are stereotyped as an activity for the lazy and unproductive. Within this backdrop, our study aims to understand the effect of video games on Executive control (Visual Scanning and Visual Perception), Aggression, and Gaming Motivation. Twenty non-gamers were selected and divided into two groups: Action Video Game Players (AVGP) and Non-Action Video Game Players NAVGP). We used two computerized tests: Gabor Orientation Identification Test and Visual Scanning Test (to assess visual perception and visual scanning, respectively) and two questionnaires (to assess aggression and gaming motivation). We found an improvement in visual perception as well as visual scanning following video game training in AVGPs. Interestingly, aggression did not increase with an increase in video game exposure. We also found insignificant changes in gaming motivation after the training, except for self-gratification motives. Cognitive improvements do not relate to action video games alone, but non-action video games also show promising results to enhance cognition. With better timed and controlled training with video games, aggression as a prospective consequence of video game exposure can also be controlled. We propose targeted video game training as an approach to enhance cognition in non-gamers.

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The Influence of Action Video Games on Attentional Functions Across Visual and Auditory Modalities

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.611778 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Xia Wu ◽

Ying Jiang ◽

Yunpeng Jiang ◽

Guodong Chen ◽

Ying Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Video Games ◽

Video Game ◽

Executive Control ◽

Visual Task ◽

Attention Network ◽

Specific Target ◽

Action Video Game ◽

Action Video Games ◽

Game Players ◽

Auditory Tasks

Attention can help an individual efficiently find a specific target among multiple distractors and is proposed to consist of three functions: alerting, orienting, and executive control. Action video games (AVGs) have been shown to enhance attention. However, whether AVG can affect the attentional functions across different modalities remains to be determined. In the present study, a group of action video game players (AVGPs) and a group of non-action video game players (NAVGPs) selected by a video game usage questionnaire successively participated in two tasks, including an attention network task-visual version (ANT-V) and an attention network task-auditory version (ANT-A). The results indicated that AVGPs showed an advantage in orienting under the effects of conflicting stimuli (executive control) in both tasks, and NAVGPs may have a reduced ability to disengage when conflict occurs in visual task, suggesting that the AVGs can improve guidance toward targets and inhibition of distractors with the function of executive control. AVGPs also showed more correlations among attentional functions. Importantly, the alerting functions of AVGPs in visual and auditory tasks were significantly related, indicating that the experience of AVGs could help us to generate a supramodal alerting effect across visual and auditory modalities.

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Action-Video-Game Experience Alters the Spatial Resolution of Vision

Psychological Science ◽

10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01853.x ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 88-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 459

Author(s):

C.S. Green ◽

D. Bavelier

Keyword(s):

Video Games ◽

Spatial Resolution ◽

Video Game ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Target Identification ◽

Video Game Play ◽

Action Video Game ◽

Causative Relationship ◽

Action Video Games ◽

Game Players

Playing action video games enhances several different aspects of visual processing; however, the mechanisms underlying this improvement remain unclear. Here we show that playing action video games can alter fundamental characteristics of the visual system, such as the spatial resolution of visual processing across the visual field. To determine the spatial resolution of visual processing, we measured the smallest distance a distractor could be from a target without compromising target identification. This approach exploits the fact that visual processing is hindered as distractors are brought close to the target, a phenomenon known as crowding. Compared with nonplayers, action-video-game players could tolerate smaller target-distractor distances. Thus, the spatial resolution of visual processing is enhanced in this population. Critically, similar effects were observed in non-video-game players who were trained on an action video game; this result verifies a causative relationship between video-game play and augmented spatial resolution.

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Association Between Action Video Game Playing Experience and Visual Search in Real-life Multisensory scenes

10.1101/2021.10.04.462750 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Hamzeloo ◽

Daria Kvasova ◽

Salvador Soto-Faraco

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Video Games ◽

Video Game ◽

Attentional Control ◽

Search Task ◽

Visual Search Task ◽

Real Life ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Action Video Game ◽

Action Video Games

Prior studies investigating the effects of playing action video games on attentional control have demonstrated improvements on a variety of basic psychophysical tasks. However, as of yet, there is little evidence indicating that the cognitive benefits of playing action video games generalize to naturalistic multisensory scenes - a fundamental characteristic of our natural, everyday life environments. The present study addressed the generalization of attentional control enhancement due to AVGP experience to real-life like scenarios by comparing the performance of action video-game players (AVGPs) with non-players (NVGPs) on a visual search task using naturalistic, dynamic audio-visual scenes. To this end, a questionnaire collecting data on gaming habits and sociodemographic data as well as a visual search task was administered online to a gender-balanced sample of 60 participants of age 18 to 30 years. According to the standard hypothesis, AVGPs outperformed NVGPs in the search task overall, showing faster reaction times without sacrificing accuracy. In addition, in replication of previous findings, semantically congruent cross-modal cues benefited performance overall. However, according to our results, despite the overall advantage in search, and the multisensory congruence benefit, AVGPs did not exploit multisensory cues more efficiently than NVGPs. Exploratory analyses with gender as a variable indicated that the advantage of AVG experience to both genders should be done with caution.

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The Lateralization of Attentional Functions in Action Video Game Players

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000522 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 68 (4) ◽

pp. 198-205

Author(s):

Xia Wu ◽

Yan Zhang ◽

Maojie Guo ◽

Yunpeng Jiang ◽

Xiaozhuang Wang

Keyword(s):

Left Hemisphere ◽

Video Game ◽

Executive Control ◽

Right Hemisphere ◽

Hemispheric Lateralization ◽

Functional Networks ◽

Action Video Game ◽

Game Players ◽

The Right

Abstract. Action video game players (AVGPs) are proven to be significantly different from non-AVGPs (NAVGPs) in attention, which is proposed to be divided into three functional networks: alerting, orienting, and execution control. However, whether the hemispheric lateralization of attentional functions is influenced by the action video game is unclear. In the present study, we examined the lateralization of the three attentional functions in a group of AVGPs ( n = 33) compared to NAVGPs ( n = 34). The results showed that, relative to NAVGPs, the interactions between orienting and executive control in the left hemispheres of AVGPs were higher than those in the right hemisphere. Moreover, the correlations among the functions are much more sensitive in the left hemisphere. These results suggest significant left lateralization of the attentional functions in AVGPs.

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Is action video gaming related to sustained attention of adolescents?

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1080/17470218.2017.1310912 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 71 (5) ◽

pp. 1033-1039 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Daniela Carmen Trisolini ◽

Marco Alessandro Petilli ◽

Roberta Daini

Keyword(s):

Video Games ◽

Sustained Attention ◽

Video Game ◽

Video Gaming ◽

Attention Task ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Action Video Game ◽

Action Video Games ◽

Game Player ◽

Video Game Player

Over the past few years, an increasing number of studies have shown that playing action video games can have positive effects on tasks that involve attention and visuo-spatial cognition (e.g., visual search, enumeration tasks, tracking multiple objects). Although playing action video games can improve several cognitive functions, the intensive interaction with the exciting, challenging, intrinsically stimulating and perceptually appealing game environments may adversely affect other functions, including the ability to maintain attention when the level of stimulation is not as intense. This study investigated whether a relationship existed between action video gaming and sustained attention performance in a sample of 45 Italian teenagers. After completing a questionnaire about their video game habits, participants were divided into Action Video Game Player (AVGP) and Non–Action Video Game Player (NAVGP) groups and underwent cognitive tests. The results confirm previous findings of studies of AVGPs as they had significantly enhanced performance for instantly enumerating a set of items. Nevertheless, we found that the drop in performance over time, typical of a sustained attention task, was significantly greater in the AVGP compared with the NAVGP group. This result is consistent with our hypothesis and demonstrates a negative effect of playing action video games.

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The Contrasting Effects of an Action Video Game on Visuo-Spatial Processing and Proactive Cognitive Control

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17145160 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (14) ◽

pp. 5160

Author(s):

Robert West ◽

Edward L. Swing ◽

Craig A. Anderson ◽

Sara Prot

Keyword(s):

Video Games ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Video Game ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Spatial Processing ◽

Control Group ◽

Action Video Game ◽

Action Video Games ◽

Before And After ◽

Causal Nature

First person shooter or action video games represent one of the most popular genres within the gaming industry. Studies reveal that action gaming experience leads to enhancements of visuo-spatial processing. In contrast, some correlational evidence reveals that experience with action video games may be associated with reduced proactive cognitive control. The two primary goals of the current study were to test the causal nature of the effect of action gaming on proactive cognitive control and to examine whether an increase in visuo-spatial processing and a decrease in proactive cognitive control arise from the same amount of experience playing an action video game. Participants completed tasks measuring visuo-spatial processing and cognitive control before and after 10 practice sessions involving one of three video games or were assigned to a no gaming experience control group. The data revealed the typical increase in visuo-spatial processing and a decrease in proactive, but not reactive, cognitive control following action game training. The sizes of these two training effects were similar in magnitude, but interpretation of the effects was constrained by baseline differences between the four groups of subjects. The possibility of a causal effect of action gaming on proactive cognitive control is interesting within the context of correlational evidence linking greater action gaming experience to reduced cognitive control, poor decision making, and increased impulsivity.

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Short-Term Effects of Video-Games on Cognitive Enhancement: the Role of Positive Emotions

Journal of Cognitive Enhancement ◽

10.1007/s41465-021-00220-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sandro Franceschini ◽

Sara Bertoni ◽

Matteo Lulli ◽

Telmo Pievani ◽

Andrea Facoetti

Keyword(s):

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Video Games ◽

Visual Perception ◽

Video Game ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Cognitive Enhancement ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Short Term ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Short Term Effects

AbstractAccording to established background knowledge, playing is essential in human development and a power remediation tool in clinical populations. In clinical interventions, the beneficial roles of playing have often been sought and investigated in the specific features of the game, rather than in the positive emotions generated by playing. However, regardless of game specifications, cognitive enhancement could be driven by the emotions linked to play. Establishing the causal connections between play and cognitive enhancement should allow us to determine how to involve play in therapy, prevention and educational programmes. Today, video-gaming is one of the most diffused forms of play. In the first crossover randomized controlled trial, we compared the short-term effects induced by shooting and puzzle video-games in visual perception, sensorimotor and reading skills in children with developmental coordination disorder and dyslexia. The funnier and more activating game enhanced breadth of visual perception and reduced sensorimotor and reading disorders. Visual perception, sensorimotor and reading improvements correlated with fun. In the second crossover randomized controlled trial, comparing the effects of the same shooting with a fighting video-game in healthy young adults, we show that regardless of game characteristics, changes in positive emotions correlated with contextual reading enhancement, while play-driven biochemical activation boosted single word and pseudoword reading. The short-term effects induced by play could be a useful clinical tool for the prevention and treatment of multiple cognitive disorders.

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Non-religious Players Asking Big Questions: Video Game Worlds Affording Affinities of Meaningful Encounters

Journal of Religion and Popular Culture ◽

10.3138/jrpc.2020-0012 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. e20200012

Author(s):

Heidi Rautalahti

Keyword(s):

Popular Culture ◽

Video Games ◽

Video Game ◽

Meaning Making ◽

Qualitative Interview ◽

Personal Lives ◽

Interview Method ◽

Search For Self ◽

Game Players

The article examines player narratives on meaningful encounters with video games by using an argumentative qualitative interview method. Data gathered among Finnish adult video game players represents narratives of important connections in personal lives, affinities that the article analyzes as further producing three distinctive themes on meaningful encounters. Utilizing a study-of-religion framework, the article discusses meaning making and emerging ways of meaningfulness connected to the larger discussion on the “big questions” that are asked, explored, and answered in popular culture today. Non-religious players talk about intricate and profound contemplations in relation to game memories, highlighting how accidental self-reflections in mundane game worlds frame a continuing search for self.

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