Action Video Game Play Facilitates "learning to Learn"

Overview

Journal Commun Biol

Specialty Biology

Date 2021 Oct 15

PMID 34650216

Citations 17

Authors

Ru-Yuan Zhang

Adrien Chopin

Kengo Shibata

Zhong-Lin Lu

Susanne M Jaeggi

Martin Buschkuehl

C Shawn Green

Daphne Bavelier

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

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.

Citing Articles

Learning and Transfer: A Perspective From Action Video Game Play.

Bavelier D, Green C Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2025; 34(1):43-50.

PMID: 39950191 PMC: 11813694. DOI: 10.1177/09637214241287171.

Playing stereoscopic video games enhances the precision but not the accuracy of depth perception.

Li R, Li B, Chat S, Levi D Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):31709.

PMID: 39738325 PMC: 11686073. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-82194-0.

Technology acceptance of the video game-based swallowing function training system among healthcare providers and dysphagia patients: A qualitative study.

Zhang B, Ding P, Hui V, Wong K, Liu Y, Liu Z Digit Health. 2024; 10:20552076241284830.

PMID: 39484647 PMC: 11526405. DOI: 10.1177/20552076241284830.

Enhanced "learning to learn" through a hierarchical dual-learning system: the case of action video game players.

Gao Y, Fang Z, Zhou Q, Zhang R BMC Psychol. 2024; 12(1):460.

PMID: 39215348 PMC: 11365284. DOI: 10.1186/s40359-024-01952-x.

Longitudinal Dynamic Relationships Between Videogame Use and Symptoms of Gaming Disorder and Depression Among Chinese Children and Adolescents.

Zhang M, Nie Q, Ye W, Wang Y, Yang Z, Teng Z J Youth Adolesc. 2024; 54(2):426-438.

PMID: 39133422 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-024-02068-6.

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