The Changes of Cognition in Teenagers after Playing Video Games
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v10i2.1748Keywords:
video games, SART, League of Legends, PASAT, Stroop task, non-video game players, change in cognition, time, custom test, working memory, selective attention, sustained attention, teenagers, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, spatial cognition, ANOVAAbstract
Recent studies have shown that video games alter cognition in teenagers, but it is unknown how teen cognition changes in the short-term directly after playing video games. This study measured the differences in selective attention, processing speed, sustained attention, and cognitive flexibility of video-game playing (VGP) adolescents at different time intervals after playing video games. Three different reasoning tests were used: the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), and the Stroop Task. A custom 250 question arithmetic test was also used, but was unable to uncover processing speed differences between VGPs after playing video games. All VGP participants in the study underwent reasoning tests before playing video games, played League of Legends (LoL)—known for its intensive use of spatial awareness, cognitive decision making, and working memory—for an hour, and then took reasoning tests once again at different times after having played LoL. This experiment affirms that video games create cognitive enhancement, though the experiment uncovered that VGP teens have worsened selective and sustained attention as time elapses after playing video games. Future research may want to extend the variable of time to test how video games affect attention or cognition by time in a longer term with a larger sample size.
Downloads
References or Bibliography
Ackerman S. Discovering the Brain. (1992). Major Structures and Functions of the Brain. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234157/
Aliyari, H., Sahraei, H., Daliri, M. R., Minaei-Bidgoli, B., Kazemi, M., Agaei, H., Sahraei, M., Hosseini, S., Hadipour, M. M., Mohammadi, M., & Dehghani Mohammad Abadi, Z. (2018). The Beneficial or Harmful Effects of Computer Game Stress on Cognitive Functions of Players. Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, 9(3), 177–186. doi.org/10.29252/nirp.bcn.9.3.177
Aliyari, H., Kazemi, M., Tekieh, E., Salehi, M., Sahraei, H., Daliri, M. R., Agaei, H., Minaei-Bidgoli, B., Lashgari, R., Srahian, N., Hadipour, M. M., Salehi, M., & Aghdam, A. R. (2015). The Effects of Fifa 2015 Computer Games on Changes in Cognitive, Hormonal and Brain Waves Functions of Young Men Volunteers. Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, 6(3), 193–201.
Aliyari, H., Sahraei, H., Erfani, M., Mohammadi, M., Kazemi, M., Daliri, M. R., Minaei-Bidgoli, B., Agaei, H., Sahraei, M., Seyed Hosseini, S. M. A., Tekieh, E., Salehi, M., & Farajdokht, F. (2020). Changes in Cognitive Functions Following Violent and Football Video Games in Young Male Volunteers by Studying Brain Waves. Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, 11(3), 279–288. https://doi.org/10.32598/bcn.9.10.335
Anguera, J. A., Boccanfuso, J., Rintoul, J. L., Al-Hashimi, O., Faraji, F., Janowich, J., Kong, E., Larraburo, Y., Rolle, C., Johnston, E., & Gazzaley, A. (2013). Video game training enhances cognitive control in older adults. Nature, 501(7465), 97–101. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12486
Arnsten A. F. (2009). The Emerging Neurobiology of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: The Key Role of the Prefrontal Association Cortex. The Journal of Pediatrics, 154(5), I–S43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2009.01.018
Ayas, T. (2012). The Relationship between Internet and Computer Game Addiction Level & Shyness among High School Students. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 12(2), 632–636.
Baniqued P. L., Kranz M. B., Voss M. W., Lee H., Cosman J. D., Severson J. & Kramer A. F. (2014). Cognitive training with casual video games: points to consider. Front. Psychol. 4(1010). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.01010
Bavelier, D. et al. (2012). Neural bases of selective attention in action video game players. Vision Research, 61, 132–143. doi:10.1016/j.visres.2011.08.007
Bavelier, D., Green, C. S., Han, D. H., Renshaw, P. F., Merzenich, M. M., & Gentile, D. A. (2011). Brains on video games. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 12(12), 763–768. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3135
Bruinsma, T. J., Sarma, V. V., Oh, Y., Jang, D. P., Chang, S. Y., Worrell, G. A., Lowe, V. J., Jo, H. J., & Min, H. K. (2018). The Relationship Between Dopamine Neurotransmitter Dynamics and the Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent (BOLD) Signal: A Review of Pharmacological Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 12, 238–245. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.00238
Cain, M. S., Prinzmetal W., Shimamura A. P., & Landau A. N. (2014). Improved control of exogenous attention in action video game players. Front. Psychol. 5(69). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00069
Clemenson, G. D., & Stark, C. E. (2015). Virtual Environmental Enrichment through Video Games Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory. The Journal of Neuroscience : The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 35(49), 16116–16125. doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2580-15.2015
Cole, S. W., Yoo, D. J., & Knutson, B. (2012). Interactivity and reward-related neural activation during a serious videogame. PloS one, 7(3). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033909
Dong, G., Huang, J., & Du, X. (2012). Alterations in regional homogeneity of resting-state brain activity in internet gaming addicts. Behavioral and Brain Functions : BBF, 8(41). doi.org/10.1186/1744-9081-8-41
Entertainment Software Association (2019). 2019 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry. https://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-
Essential-Facts-About-the-Computer-and-Video-Game-Industry.pdf
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), 1–7. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0070350
Gong D., Yao Y., Gan X., Peng Y., Ma W. & Yao D. (2019). A Reduction in Video Gaming Time Produced a Decrease in Brain Activity. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 13(134). doi.org/ 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00134
Grabner, R., & Stern, E. (2010). Measuring Cognitive Ability. Building on Progress: Expanding the Research Infrastructure for the Social, Economic, and Behavioral Sciences, 1, 753–768.
Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2007). Action-video-game experience alters the spatial resolution of vision. Psychological science, 18(1), 88–94. doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01853.x
Hall, C. N., Howarth, C., Kurth-Nelson, Z., & Mishra, A. (2016). Interpreting BOLD: towards a dialogue between cognitive and cellular neuroscience. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 371(1705), 20150348. doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0348
Han, Doug Hyun et al. (2011). Brain activity and desire for Internet video game play. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 52(1), 88–95. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.04.004
Hasan, Y., Bègue, L., & Bushman, B. J. (2013). Violent Video Games Stress People Out and Make Them More Aggressive. Aggressive Behavior, 39(1), 64–70. doi.org/10.1002/ab.214
Hisam, A., Mashhadi, S. F., Faheem, M., Sohail, M., Ikhlaq, B., & Iqbal, I. (2018). Does playing video games effect cognitive abilities in Pakistani children?. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 34(6), 1507–1511. doi.org/10.12669/pjms.346.15532
Hummer, T., Wang, Y., Kronenberger, W., Mosier, K., Kalnin, A., Dunn, D., & Mathews, V. (2010). Short-Term Violent Video Game Play by Adolescents Alters Prefrontal Activity During Cognitive Inhibition. Media Psychology, 13(2), 136–154. doi.org/10.1080/15213261003799854
Kätsyri J., Hari R., Ravaja N. & Nummenmaa L. (2013). Just watching the game ain't enough: striatal fMRI reward responses to successes and failures in a video game during active and vicarious playing. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 7, 278. doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00278
King, Daniel L. et al. (2017). Tolerance in Internet gaming disorder: A need for increasing gaming time or something else?. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6(4) : 525–533. doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.072
Kranz, M. B., Baniqued, P. L., Voss, M. W., Lee, H., & Kramer, A. F. (2017). Examining the Roles of Reasoning and Working Memory in Predicting Casual Game Performance across Extended Gameplay. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 203. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00203
Kühn, S et al. (2011). The neural basis of video gaming. Translational Psychiatry, 1(11), e53. doi.org/10.1038/tp.2011.53
Liu, Shuyan, et al. (2019). Short-Term Effects of Video Gaming on Brain Response during Working Memory Performance. PLoS ONE, 14(10), 1–13. EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223666
Loton, D., Borkoles, E., Lubman, D., & Polman, R. (2016). Video Game Addiction, Engagement and Symptoms of Stress, Depression and Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Coping. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, 14(4), 565–578. doi.org/10.1007/s11469-015-9578-6
Newzoo (2017). 2017 Global Games Market Report: Trends, Insights, and Projections Toward 2020. http://progamedev.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Newzoo_Global_Games_Market_Report_2017_Light.pdf
Özçetin, M., Gümüştaş, F., Çağ, Y., Gökbay, İ. Z., & Özmel, A. (2019). The relationships between video game experience and cognitive abilities in adolescents. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 15, 1171–1180. doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S206271
Pan, W., Gao, X., Shi, S., Liu, F., & Li, C. (2018). Spontaneous Brain Activity Did Not Show the Effect of Violent Video Games on Aggression: A Resting-State fMRI Study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2219. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02219
Pohl C., Kunde W., Ganz T., Conzelmann A., Pauli P. & Kiesel A. (2014). Gaming to see: action video gaming is associated with enhanced processing of masked stimuli. Front. Psychol. 5(70). doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00070
Roohi-Azizi, M., Azimi, L., Heysieattalab, S., & Aamidfar, M. (2017). Changes of the brain's bioelectrical activity in cognition, consciousness, and some mental disorders. Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 31(1), 307–312. doi.org/10.14196/mjiri.31.53
Shoham, Shy, et al. (2005). Rapid Neurotransmitter Uncaging in Spatially Defined Patterns. Nature Methods, 2(11), 837–843. EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.1038/nmeth793
Spence I, Feng J. (2010). Video Games and Spatial Cognition. Review of General Psychology. 14(2), 92–104. doi.org/10.1037/a0019491
Tereshchenko S, Kasparov E. (2019). Neurobiological Risk Factors for the Development of Internet Addiction in Adolescents. Behav. Sci, 9(6), 62. doi.org/10.3390/bs9060062.
Von der Heiden, J. M., Braun, B., Müller, K. W., & Egloff, B. (2019). The Association Between Video Gaming and Psychological Functioning. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1731. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01731
West, G. L., Drisdelle, B. L., Konishi, K., Jackson, J., Jolicoeur, P., & Bohbot, V. D. (2015). Habitual action video game playing is associated with caudate nucleus-dependent navigational strategies. Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 282(1808), 20142952. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2952
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2021 Kunsh Singh; Karen Molloy
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright holder(s) granted JSR a perpetual, non-exclusive license to distriute & display this article.
