Do action video games improve perception and cognition?

Frontiers in Psychology

Volumn 2, Issue SEP, 2011, Pages

  Boot, Walter R ^a   Blakely, Daniel P ^a   Simons, Daniel J ^b  

^a FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA CHAMPAIGN   (United States)

Author keywords

Cognitive training; Perceptual learning; Perceptual learningvideo games; Transfer of training; Video games

Indexed keywords

EID: 84867077951     PISSN: None     EISSN: 16641078     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00226     Document Type: Article

References (36)

1. Ackerman, P. L., Kanfer, R., and Calderwood, C. (2010). Use it or lose it? Wii brain exercise practice and reading for domain knowledge. Psychol. Aging 25, 753-766.
2. Anderson, A. F., Bavelier, D., and Green, C. S. (2010). "Speed-accuracy tradeoffs in cognitive tasks in action game players," in Presented at the 10th Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, Sarasota, FL.
3. Andrews, G., and Murphy, K. (2006). "Does video-game playing improve executive function?" in Frontiers in Cognitive Sciences, ed. M. A. Vanchevsky (New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.), 145-161.
4. Ball, K., Berch, D. B., Helmers, K. F., Jobe, J.B., Leveck, M.D., Marsiske, M., Morris, J. N., Rebok, G. W., Smith, D. M., Tennstedt, S. L., Unverzagt, F. W., Willis, S. L., and Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Study Group. (2002). Effects of cognitive training interventions with older adults: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 288, 2271-2281.
5. Basak, C., Boot, W. R., Voss, M., and Kramer, A. F. (2008). Can training in a real-time strategy videogame attenuate cognitive decline in older adults? Psychol. Aging 23, 765-777.
6. Berry, A. S., Zanto, T. P., Clapp, W. C., Hardy, J. L., Delahunt, P. B., Mahncke, H. W., and Gazzaley, A. (2010). The influence of perceptual training on working memory in older adults. PLoS ONE 5, 1-8. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011537.
7. Bialystok, E. (2006). Effect of bilingualisim and computer video game experience on the simon task. Can. J. Exp. Psychol. 60, 68-79.
8. Boot, W. R., Kramer, A. F., Simons, D. J., Fabiani, M., and Gratton, G. (2008). The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychol. (Amst.) 129, 387-398.
9. Castel, A. D., Pratt, J., and 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 Psychol. (Amst.) 119, 217-230.
10. Chisholm, J. D., Hickey, C., Theeuwes, J., and Kingston, A. (2010). Reduced attentional capture in video game players. Atten. Percept. Psychophys. 72, 667-671.
11. Clark, K., Fleck, M. S., and Mitroff, S. R. (2011). Enhanced change detection performance reveals improved strategy use in avid action video game players. Acta Psychol. (Amst.) 136, 67-72.
12. Colzato, L. S., van Leeuwen, P. J. A., van den Wildenberg, W. P. M., and Hommel, B. (2010). DOOM'd to switch: superior cognitive flexibility in players of first person shooter games. Front. Psychol. 1, 1-5. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00008.
13. Donohue, S. E., Woldorff, M. G., and Mitroff, S. R. (2010). Video game players show more precise multisensory temporal processing abilities. Atten. Percept. Psychophys. 72, 1120-1129.
14. Dye, M. G. W., Green, C. S., and Bavelier, D. (2009). The development of attention skills in action video game players. Neuropsychologia 47, 1780-1789.
15. Dye, M. W., and Bavelier, D. (2010). Differential development of visual attention skills in school-age children. Vision Res. 50, 452-459.
16. Feng, J., Spence, I., and Pratt, J. (2007). Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition. Psychol. Sci. 18, 850-855.
17. Ferguson, C. J. (2007). The good, the bad, and the ugly: a metaanalytic review of positive and negative effects of violent video games. Psychiatr. Q. 78, 309-316.
18. Granek, J. A., Gorbet, D. J., and Sergio, L. E. (2010). Extensive video-game experience alters cortical networks for complex visuomotor transformations. Cortex 46, 1165-1177.
19. Green, C. S., and Bavelier, D. (2003). Action video game modifies visual selective attention. Nature 423, 534-537.
20. Green, C. S., and Bavelier, D. (2006a). Effect of action video games on the spatial distribution of visuospatial attention. J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform. 1465-1468.
21. Green, C. S., and Bavelier, D. (2006b). Enumeration versus multiple object tracking: the case of action video game players. Cognition 101, 217-245.
22. Green, C. S., and Bavelier, D. (2007). Action video game experience alters the spatial resolution of attention. Psychol. Sci. 18, 88-94.
23. Green, C. S., Pouget, A., and Bavelier, D. (2010). A general mechanism for learning with action video games: improved probabilistic inference. Curr. Biol. 20, 1573-15792.
24. Hertzog, C., Kramer, A. F., Wilson, R. S., and Lindenberger, U. (2009). Enrichment effects on adult cognitive development. Psychol. Sci. Public Interest 9, 1-65.
25. Irons, J. L., Remington, R. W., and McLean, J. P. (2011). Not so fast: rethinking the effects of action video games on attentional capacity. Aust. J. Psychol. 63. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-9536.2011.00001.x. [Epub ahead of print].
26. Karle, J. W., Watter, S., and Shedden, J. M. (2010). Task switching in video game players: benefits of selective attention but not resistance to proactive interference. Acta Psychol. (Amst.) 134, 70-78.
27. Langer, E., Djikic, M., Pirson, M., Madenci, A., and Donohue, R. (2010). Believing is seeing: using mindlessness (mindfully) to improve visual acuity. Psychol. Sci. 21, 661-666.
28. Li, R., Polat, U., Makous, W., and Bavelier, D. (2009). Enhancing the contrast sensitivity function through action video game training. Nat. Neurosci. 12, 549-551.
29. Li, R., Polat, U., Scalzo, F., and Bavelier, D. (2010). Reducing backward masking through action game training. J. Vis. 10, 33, 1-13.
30. Mahncke, H. W., Connor, B. B., Appelman, J., Ahsanuddin, O. N., Hardy, J. L., Wood, R. A., Joyce, N. M., Boniske, T., Atkins, S. M., and Merzenich, M. M. (2006). Memory enhancement in healthy older adults using a brain plasticity-based training program: a randomized, controlled study. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 12523-12528.
31. Mishra, J., Zinni, M., Bavelier, D., and Hillyard, S. A. (2011). Neural basis of superior performance of action videogame players in an attentiondemanding task. J. Neurosci. 31, 992-998, 2011.
32. Murphy, K., and Spencer, A. (2009). Playing video games does not make for better visual attention skills. J. Articles Support Null Hypothesis 6, 1-20.
33. Nelson, R. A., and Strachan, I. (2009). Action and puzzle video games prime different speed/accuracy tradeoffs. Perception 38, 1678-1687.
34. Owen, A. M., Hampshire, A., Grahn, J. A., Stenton, R., Dajani, S., Burns, A. S., Howard, R. J., and Ballard, C. G. (2010). Putting brain training to the test. Nature 465, 775-779.
35. Trick, L. M., Jaspers-Fayer, F., and Sethi, N. (2005). Multiple-object tracking in children: the"catch the spies"task. Cogn. Dev. 20, 373-387.
36. West, G. L., Stevens, S. S., Pun, C., and Pratt, J. (2008). Visuospatial experience modulates attentional capture: evidence from action video game players. J. Vis. 8, 1-9.