2015
Castell, Suzanne, Larios, Hector, Jenson, Jennifer, Smith, David Harris
The role of video game experience in spatial learning and memory Journal Article
In: Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 21–40, 2015, ISSN: 1757-1928.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: expertise
@article{intel:/content/journals/10.1386/jgvw.7.1.21_1,
title = {The role of video game experience in spatial learning and memory},
author = {Suzanne Castell and Hector Larios and Jennifer Jenson and David Harris Smith},
url = {https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jgvw.7.1.21_1},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw.7.1.21_1},
issn = {1757-1928},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds},
volume = {7},
number = {1},
pages = {21--40},
publisher = {Intellect},
abstract = {Abstract Video game playing has been associated with improvements in cognitive abilities that predict success in STEM fields, and therefore understanding this relationship is important. In two experiments, we used a virtual Morris Water Maze (VMWM) with and without proximal cues to measure spatial learning as a total of 82 video game experts and novices completed a search task across several trials. We measured the participants’ path lengths and tested their mental rotation abilities. The results showed that proximal cues improved overall performance. With no visible cues, experts exhibited better performance than novices when their memory for the general location of the platform was probed. With visible cues, video game experts travelled shorter path lengths than novices to the exact location of the hidden platform. Mental rotation ability correlated with overall maze performance only when no cues were visible, and only novices’ scores correlated with path length in this condition. These studies showed that the VMWM is a useful paradigm in examining how past video game experience influences human spatial cognition.},
keywords = {expertise},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Abstract Video game playing has been associated with improvements in cognitive abilities that predict success in STEM fields, and therefore understanding this relationship is important. In two experiments, we used a virtual Morris Water Maze (VMWM) with and without proximal cues to measure spatial learning as a total of 82 video game experts and novices completed a search task across several trials. We measured the participants’ path lengths and tested their mental rotation abilities. The results showed that proximal cues improved overall performance. With no visible cues, experts exhibited better performance than novices when their memory for the general location of the platform was probed. With visible cues, video game experts travelled shorter path lengths than novices to the exact location of the hidden platform. Mental rotation ability correlated with overall maze performance only when no cues were visible, and only novices’ scores correlated with path length in this condition. These studies showed that the VMWM is a useful paradigm in examining how past video game experience influences human spatial cognition.