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Computer games have been proposed as effective tools for cognitive enhancement. Especially first-person shooter (FPS) games have been found to yield a range of positive effects, and these positive effects also apply to the domain of executive functioning. Only a particular area of executive functioning has been shown to resist training via FPS game...
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... However, the main difference between those studies and ours was that they included a heterogeneous sample of action-video game players, so the differences among players' profiles could explain this discrepancy. Despite this, Klaffehn et al. (2018) found similar task-switching performance among different genre players (shooter players, real-time strategy players, and non-videogame players) that dismiss the previous argument. Klaffehn et al. (2018) argue that differences in the assessment task applied could explain the mixed results found in the literature. ...
... Despite this, Klaffehn et al. (2018) found similar task-switching performance among different genre players (shooter players, real-time strategy players, and non-videogame players) that dismiss the previous argument. Klaffehn et al. (2018) argue that differences in the assessment task applied could explain the mixed results found in the literature. It is known that the structure of the problem (i.e., the task) determines the cognitive demands (Goel and Grafman, 2000), but also, we consider that the assessment protocol could affect the interpretation of the results. ...
Video games have been postulated as an emerging field for studying the cognition-expertise relationship. Despite this, some methodological practices hinder scientific advance (e.g., heterogeneous samples, an ambiguous definition of expertise, etc.). League of Legends (LOL) is a massively played video game with a moderately defined structure that meets the requirements to overcome current study limitations. The aim of this study was to analyze cognitive differences among expert LOL players, regular LOL players, and non-videogame players. A sample of 80 participants was enrolled in three different groups of expertise. Participants were evaluated with behavioral tests of working memory, attention, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition. Kruskal-Wallis tests for group comparison showed that the experts performed significantly better than regular players and non-videogame players in the working memory test. Significant differences were also found between players and non-videogame players in the attention test. Methodological implications for future research in neuroscience and human-computer interaction are discussed.
... Additionally, it is already known that first-person shooting (FPS) games improve task-switching ability [14]; in addition, not only a single case study but also a meta-analysis study argues that RTS improves task-switching ability [11]. One study has found that FPS games and RTS games have a similar positive effect on task-switching ability [15]. Thus, elite StarCraft players should have superior task-switching ability. ...
This research investigated the difference in aspects of gaze control between esports experts (Expert) and players with lower skills (Low Skill) while playing the real-time strategy game called StarCraft. Three versions of this game at different difficulty levels were made with the StarCraft Editor, and the gaze movements of seven Expert and nine Low Skill players were analyzed while they played the games. The gaze of Expert players covered a significantly larger area in the horizontal direction than the gaze of Low Skill players. Furthermore, the magnitude and number of saccadic eye movements were greater, and saccade velocity was faster in the Expert than in the Low Skill players. In conclusion, StarCraft experts have a specific gaze control ability that enables them to quickly and widely take visual information from all over the monitor. This could be one of the factors enabling StarCraft experts to perform better than players with lower skills when playing games that require task-switching ability.
... However, since most previous studies either excluded RTS players from their "action" video game player samples or treated them as NVGPs, the evidence for their potential to impact cognition is much more limited than in the case of FPS and TPS games. Only a few studies have investigated FPS and RTS players Dale & Green, 2017;Klaffehn et al., 2018), with results suggesting similar but not necessarily equivalent (task dependent) performance advantages in comparison to NVGP controls. More importantly, two training studies have also used RTS games. ...
Recent meta-analyses and meta-analytic reviews of most common approaches to cognitive training broadly converge on describing a lack of transfer effects past the trained task. This also extends to the more recent attempts at using video games to improve cognitive abilities, bringing into question if they have any true effects on cognitive functioning at all. Despite this, video game training studies are slowly beginning to accumulate and provide evidence of replicable improvements. Our study aimed to train non-video game playing individuals in the real-time strategy video game StarCraft II in order to observe any subsequent changes to perceptual, attentional, and executive functioning. Thirty hours of StarCraft II training resulted in improvements to perceptual and attentional abilities, but not executive functioning. This pattern of results is in line with previous research on the more frequently investigated “action” video games. By splitting the StarCraft II training group into two conditions of “fixed” and “variable” training, we were also able to demonstrate that manipulating the video game environment produces measurable differences in the amount of cognitive improvement. Lastly, by extracting in-game behavior features from recordings of each participant’s gameplay, we were able to show a direct correlation between in-game behavior change and cognitive performance change after training. These findings highlight and support the growing trend of more finely detailed and methodologically rigorous approaches to studying the relationship between video games and cognitive functioning.
Using gamification and video games is one of the modern approaches to cognitive enhancement and improving
the abilities and competencies of managers, including strategic thinking skills. Many organizations use video
games in the fields of education, marketing, business, and entrepreneurship. This research aimed to investigate
the role of video games in enhancing managers’ strategic thinking and their potential contribution to developing
cognitive capabilities. The sample included 30 students actively involved in the innovation and entrepreneurship
ecosystem. To measure the strategic thinking of the participants, Pisapia’s strategic thinking questionnaire was
used, and the CANTAB test was employed to measure their cognitive capabilities. To identify the individuals’
game-playing styles, indicators of micro-management, planning, plan recognition, predictions, gathering resources,
partial
observability,
and
damage
avoidance
were
designed.
The
findings
indicated
that
53.3
percent
of
the
participants
had
reflective
thinking,
30
percent
had
systems
thinking,
and
the
rest
had
a
reframing
thinking
style
as
their
strategic
thinking
dominant
dimension.
On
the
other
hand,
given
the
identified
correlation
between
the
damage avoidance criteria with the thinking and reflective style, as well as the inverse and significant
correlation of the gathering resources criteria with the results of the PRM test, it seems that strategic games have
the potential to change and even develop some cognitive functions such as attention, reaction, and memory, and
can be considered as tools to improve cognitive ability. These games can be used to design tasks to enhance
managers’ cognitive abilities and subsequently promote their strategic thinking and decision-making skills.
Competitive gaming, better known as electronic sports (esports), is rapidly growing in popularity. We systematically reviewed the available literature regarding the psychological aspects of esports using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) evidence-based reporting checklist and a Population, Intervention, Comparator, and Outcomes (PICO) framework with the following inclusion criteria: (i) published between 1994 and 2018; (ii) empirical investigation (as the current state of research is dense with positions and opinions but has few empirical investigations); and (iii) focussed on esports games that are associated with either cognitive performance or game performance. The goal of our research was twofold: to present a summary of the empirical evidence addressing the psychological characteristics of both cognitive and game performance in esports, and to integrate esports in the field of sport psychology. More specifically, our goals were to highlight the interplay of psychological aspects of performance and esports and to clearly define the theoretical foundations of the psychological aspects of esports performance. Underlining the differences from video gaming will inform future research directions and stimulate the development of high-quality practice in the applied field of sports and exercise psychology.
