Gaming's Effect on Working Memory Capacity and Multitasking Ability

In the August 2006 issue of the journal Cognition, researchers Daphne Bavelier and C. Shawn Green published a study suggesting that playing video games is correlated with an increase in one's working memory capacity and multitasking ability. For the study, Green and Bavelier conducted a series of five experiments, two of which showed that video game players (VGPs) outperform non-video game players (NVGPs) in measures of rapid counting and multiple object tracking, one of which showed that improved performance was not related to after-image effects or increased subitizing range, and (most importantly) two of which showed that NVGPs' ability to count rapidly and track multiple objects improves after practicing action video games.

The main measurement obtained in the first three experiments was each subject's ability to rapidly count arrays of squares as they flashed on a screen. As subjects' experience with action video games increased, their ability to accurately recall the number of squares flashed onscreen also increased. Green and Bavelier attribute this finding to an improvement in the subjects' working memory (caused by playing action video games). One reason they believe working memory improved is because playing action video games caused VGPs' response times to increase as the number of squares increased. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it makes sense: NVGPs answered faster, but with greater error--because they couldn't remember what had been flashed on the screen. VGPs took longer--but answered more accurately--because their memories contained greater fidelity of the flashed images, rendering the squares countable.

The main measurement obtained in the fourth and fifth experiments was each subject's capacity to keep track of multiple objects (up to 7 specific circles out of 16) bouncing randomly across a screen. This test "requires subjects to dynamically allocate attention to multiple objects and sustain that attention for several seconds" (Green & Bavelier, 2006, p 235). Green and Bavelier found that as each subject's experience with action video games increased, the number of objects he could accurately track also increased--i.e. technology caused their multitasking ability to improve. Green and Bavelier did not conclude whether subjects processed the locations of the objects simultaneously or whether they rapidly switched their attention from one object to the next cyclically. Regardless, the observable performance improved.

Although working memory is not synonymous with dual-task performance, it is a likely candidate to facilitate it. Indeed, the results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that working memory helps people multitask--action video games improved subjects' working memory capacity, enabling them to keep track of multiple items (simultaneously or cyclically).

The specific results of Green and Bavelier's study indicate that VGPs are able to accurately count two more items flashed onscreen than NVGPs. The VGP's advantage disappears at a ceiling around 10-12 items. Green and Bavelier's results also show that VGPs are able to track up to 6 items with 6% greater accuracy than NVGPs. When tracking seven or more items, VGPs perform no better than NVGPs. Those differences seem small. I wonder whether they would have a noticable impact on one's success in real life. In the game of life, I suppose the difference between "winning" and "losing" is only one point, so maybe small advantages are important. Can those differences be enlarged and can the ceilings be raised with more training?

It looks like I have more research to do.

Reference:
Green, C., & Bavelier, D. (2006, August). Enumeration versus multiple object tracking: the case of action video game players. Cognition 101(1), 217-245. Retrieved April 8, 2009, doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2005.10.004