Action video game play facilitates “learning to learn”
Abstract
Previous work has demonstrated that action video game training produces enhancements in a wide range of cognitive abilities. Here we evaluate a possible mechanism by which such breadth of enhancement could be attained: that action game training enhances learning rates in new tasks (i.e., “learning to learn”). In an initial controlled intervention study, we show that individuals who were trained on action video games subsequently exhibited faster learning in the two cognitive domains that we tested, perception and working memory, as compared to individuals who trained on non-action games. We further confirmed the causal effect of action video game play on learning ability in a pre-registered follow-up study that included a larger number of participants, blinding, and measurements of participant expectations. Together, this work highlights enhanced learning speed for novel tasks as a mechanism through which action video game interventions may broadly improve task performance in the cognitive domain.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 14, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1038/s42003-021-02652-7
Entities
People
- Adrien Chopin
- C. Shawn Green
- Daphne Bavelier
- Kengo Shibata
- Martin Buschkuehl
- Ru-yuan Zhang
- Susanne M. Jaeggi
- Zhong-Lin Lu
Organizations
- National Eye Institute
- National Institute on Aging
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Office of Naval Research Global