Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
5-2016
Abstract
Although prior research suggests that playing video games can improve cognitive abilities, recent empirical studies cast doubt on such findings (Unsworth et al., 2015). To reconcile these inconsistent findings, we focused on the link between video games and task switching. Furthermore, we conceptualized video-game expertise as the onset age of active video-game play rather than the frequency of recent gameplay, as it captures both how long a person has played video games and whether the individual began playing during periods of high cognitive plasticity. We found that the age of active onset better predicted switch and mixing costs than did frequency of recent gameplay; specifically, players who commenced playing video games at an earlier age reaped greater benefits in terms of task switching than did those who started at a later age. Moreover, improving switch costs required a more extensive period of video-game experience than did mixing costs; this finding suggests that certain cognitive abilities benefit from different amounts of video game experience.
Keywords
Executive functions, Mixing costs, Onset age of active video game play, Switch costs, Task switching, Video game
Discipline
Cognition and Perception | Cognitive Psychology
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics
Volume
78
Issue
4
First Page
1125
Last Page
1136
ISSN
1943-3921
Identifier
10.3758/s13414-016-1068-9
Publisher
Springer
Citation
HARTANTO, Andree, TOH, Wei Xing, & YANG, Hwajin.(2016). Age matters: The effect of onset age of video game play on task-switching abilities. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 78(4), 1125-1136.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2086
Copyright Owner and License
Publisher
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-016-1068-9