A new study from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that young adults who play video games consistently tend to have improved executive functioning. The study compared the performance of those who game frequently (11 hours/per week on average) and those who are casual gamers (1.5 hours per week on average).
When reviewing their success on reaction time tests and decision-making, experienced gamers were more successful than casual gamers. These results may provide more clues as to how video gaming can improve executive functioning.
Video games have been increasing in popularity since the 1980s, when gaming consoles became easily accessible. Today gaming is so popular and relevant that high schools and colleges include e-sports teams as part of their extracurricular lineup.
Initially, researchers were interested in the negative consequences of video gaming. The violence depicted in many games became the focus of concern. However, the results of this research focus did not deter the public’s interest in video games, and a new focus emerged on the positive consequences of video gaming.
Researchers at the University of L’Aquila sought to expand what is known about the positives of video games by assessing attention performance and decision-making without controlling for the video game genre. Prior research has focused on the type of video game played, not just the act of gaming on its own. The research team hypothesized that experienced gamers, regardless of the type of video game played, will do better at executive functioning tasks.
Participants were university students with an average age of 23. They were recruited via flyers and social media. Two hundred fifty-seven were applied, and 38 males fit the study criteria. One-half of the participants were in the experienced gamers group, and the remaining 19 were casual gamers. Participants were invited into a laboratory setting, where they took computerized assessments. These included several attention assessments, a dice game that mimicked a high stakes gambling situation, a test of decision-making speed, and a task switching test.
These assessments revealed that experienced gamers, regardless of the type of video game played, was more alert, accurate and faster at attention tasks. They were also much better at decision-making. “More specifically, the results from ANT (attention task) indicated a clear alerting effect of videogaming: experienced gamers were faster and, at the same time, more accurate in a task requiring visual attention and vigilance,” reports the research team.
Limitations included the small sample size and the single-gender makeup of the group. Determining if these results are consistent with women would be a valuable endeavor. In addition, the cross-sectional approach could be improved using a longitudinal design.
Finding individuals who do not game frequently and increasing their gaming time, then measuring any improvement in executive functioning may be a more accurate way to answer these questions. Those with excellent executive functioning are more likely to play many video games.
The researchers conclude that this study contributes to the research that may lead to using video games or gaming skills to improve executive functioning. In their words, “Present results can be a useful starting point to develop new and innovative executive training protocols, based on and inspired by video games dedicated to clinical populations with dysexecutive impairment.”
The study, “Videogaming frequency and executive skills in young adults” was authored by Sara Peracchia, Giulia D’Aurizio, and Giuseppe Curcio.