Since their creation, video games have been associated with several negative concepts: juvenile delinquency, laziness, violence. Over time, however, psychologists have studied this form of entertainment and found that it can be a strong aid to our cognitive processes. Studies have shown that those who play video games even non-regularly often have improved perception, attention levels and reaction times than those who do not. Some of these improvements to cognitive processes are even believed to carry over into real-world tasks unrelated to the game (Boot et al., 2011).
Perception refers to our recognition and interpretation of sensory information. Video games would require a person to use their visual and auditory senses above others. In games where you have to defeat an enemy, the player would have to perceive a threat based on their visual appearance or an auditory cue. Bottom-up processing would occur when our receptors turn the environmental energy into action potential through transduction. The brain would then receive the action potential and we’d react by identifying the enemy in the game. If we’re playing a new game or face an unfamiliar enemy, top-down processing may be involved and we’d rely on our past information and experience to interpret a threat as such. This is a very common scenario in video games and going through it numerous times could certainly improve our perception.
Attention is our ability to control what information we focus on among all that is available in our environment. Just like the real world, video games tend to throw a ton of information at the player at once. Some games require the player to focus on one specific target and even manage several abilities or resources at once. Most video games have a very dynamic environment like this and therefore, I’d say a player’s attention is object-based. They’d need to focus on a specific object among many across the screen. Those unfamiliar with the game could be overwhelmed by this but with experience, it becomes clear where our attention needs to be focused based on the given scenario.
Psychologists have been using video games to study their effect on these cognitive processes since the 1980s. At that time, they created a video game known as Space Fortress with the purpose of measuring players’ attention, memory and task ability (Boot, 2015). More modern video games, like the ones I described, have expanded on these ideas and now challenge players to strategize while offering numerous paths to success. All games require some perception and attention to be efficient and these cognitive processes are believed to improve in those who play. Some researchers don’t actually believe there’s a large difference in regard to the amount of time a game is played and the effect it has on the player’s cognitive abilities (Boot et al., 2008). It seems even minimal time spent playing games could have a positive effect on a person’s mental abilities.
References
Boot, W. R. (2015). Video games as tools to achieve insight into cognitive processes. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00003
Boot, W. R., Blakely, D. P., Simons, D. J. (2011). Do action video games improve perception and cognition? Frontiers in Psychology, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00226
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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.09.005
I wonder if the type of games that you play could affect your cognitive skills more than others. Some horror games cause the player to have a great attention span due to the atmosphere of the world they are playing in. Ex: playing a horror game that requires you to unlock puzzles, but also getting chased by a killer/monster. In some instances, you may get overwhelmed by playing these types of games as your fight or flight kicks in. You may scream, jump, flinch or stay put once a “jump scare” pops up on the screen. However, there would be intense memory usage and perception of your surroundings. Such as solving the puzzles and making to the end of the quest before getting caught. Dopamine and stress levels would spike as well.
Aliyari H, Sahraei H, Daliri MR, Minaei-Bidgoli B, Kazemi M, Agaei H, Sahraei M, Hosseini SMAS, Hadipour MM, Mohammadi M, Dehghanimohammadabadi Z. The Beneficial or Harmful Effects of Computer Game Stress on Cognitive Functions of Players. Basic Clin Neurosci. 2018 May-Jun;9(3):177-186. doi: 10.29252/nirp.bcn.9.3.177. PMID: 30034648; PMCID: PMC6037427.
I am so surprised! I have NEVER seen an article on the positives of gaming!
I am a gamer myself as is my husband. When we were first married, we would spend HOURS online playing a game called EverQuest. It was so easy to get “lost” in that virtual world. And as you stated above, not pay attention to anything else. It certainly did teach an individual how to pay attention. It was quite easy to focus only on the object in front of us. However, as I think about it from a view based on what we are currently studying in this class, it also used extensive cognitive skills, such as perception, problem solving, and critical thinking.
However, I wanted to bring up an aspect of gaming, that you did not discuss in your original post. That is the addiction of gaming. There is such a draw to these online worlds that it is very easy to get addicted to them and the positives that may be present, really become not positive anymore! Despite being a gamer myself (and at some point, honestly, probably addicted to the MMORPG, EverQuest), I wondered what it is that drives the players to become so obsessed, putting hours of play time into a world that is not even real.
“MMORPGs are networks of players, who interact with each other to achieve goals, go on missions, and reach high scores in a fantasy world (Young, 2006).” While this can be innocent and fun. There is always that “line” that can be crossed into addiction. I have read many article that describe these game designers as using psychological tactics to make these MMORPG games even move addictive. I even found a marketing site online that is actually using the psychology of the addiction to these games to help market their products!
According to Neurosciencemarketing.com, the first way that game designers draw in players is by using “Reward Escalation.” Zane Claes, a game designer explains that “two major neurochemical reactions are at play, here. First there is the adrenaline induced by the challenge itself, and second there is the dopamine involved in anticipating reward (Claes).” A second way that MMORPG gamers are drawn in is by the social aspect of the online world. Working together with someone just makes that “reward escalation” all the more exciting. Finally, Claes explains that “Time, Money, and Sunk Costs” play into the addictive nature of the games. Claes explains this tactic as a decision, “consciously or not, the fact that he (the gamer) has poured so much time into the game will make him more likely to spend money (Claes).”
I didn’t mean to go so overboard. I don’t think you mentioned a specific type of gaming in your post. I am focusing on online gaming, and there has, unfortunately, been FAR more research to support that online gaming may not be beneficial. While there is a lot of top-down processing in gaming when using the higher cognitive functions, the fact that that the bottom-up processing is so incredibly intense, makes me wonder if our senses drive us more than our brains? I guess that is the whole point of addiction – needing that sensory input so desperately!
In my opinion, EVERYTHING in moderation!
As a side note:
I was looking through Penn States online course catalogue. There will be a course starting 12/18/2023 called “Psychology of Gaming (GAMING 434).” Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it will be held at World Campus at this time. But I find the whole topic fascinating!
Claes, Z. (n.d). 3 Neuromarketing lessons from video games. Neuromarketing. https://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/neuromarketing-video-games.htm
Young, K. (2006, November 16), Addiction to MMORPGs: Symptoms and treatment. Online Gamers Anonymous. https://www.olganon.org/forum/professionals-forum/addiction-mmorpgs-symptoms-and-treatment
Hello Thomas,
I have seen studies in the past about video games associated with cognitive studies, but the stigma was always perceived negatively. Similarly, the thought of playing video games was best the same as being a “couch potato” or “glued to the tv”. This ties with my post on how video games have been tailored with the digital age, but I posted on how the digital age has changed the way we study and how we learn. With memorization, there isn’t such a need for most of it because we have information at the tip of our fingers and that should be put into education to be more applicable to teaching on how to apply the information rather than just focus on the memorization of what they are learning. When testing 2000 children, the studies showed that playing 3-4 hours a day vastly performed better on cognitive skills tests involving impulse control and working memory compared to children that never played it (NIDA, 2022). These studies can in fact show how they can be helpful, especially with working memory.
Garnett, C. (2022, November 11). Do Video Games Improve Cognitive Performance. NIH.GOV. Retrieved June 6, 2023, from https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2022/11/11/do-video-games-improve-cognitive-performance