The Influence of Action Video Games on Attentional Functions Across Visual and Auditory Modalities

Xia Wu; Xia Wu; Xia Wu; Xia Wu; Ying Jiang; Yunpeng Jiang; Yunpeng Jiang; Yunpeng Jiang; Guodong Chen; Ying Chen; Xuejun Bai; Xuejun Bai; Xuejun Bai

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.611778

Frontiers in Psychology (Jun 2021)

The Influence of Action Video Games on Attentional Functions Across Visual and Auditory Modalities

Xia Wu,
Xia Wu,
Xia Wu,
Xia Wu,
Ying Jiang,
Yunpeng Jiang,
Yunpeng Jiang,
Yunpeng Jiang,
Guodong Chen,
Ying Chen,
Xuejun Bai,
Xuejun Bai,
Xuejun Bai

Affiliations

Xia Wu: Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
Xia Wu: Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
Xia Wu: Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students’ Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin, China
Xia Wu: Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Ying Jiang: Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
Yunpeng Jiang: Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
Yunpeng Jiang: Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
Yunpeng Jiang: Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students’ Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin, China
Guodong Chen: Zhonghuan Information College, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin, China
Ying Chen: Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
Xuejun Bai: Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
Xuejun Bai: Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
Xuejun Bai: Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students’ Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.611778
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12

Abstract

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Attention can help an individual efficiently find a specific target among multiple distractors and is proposed to consist of three functions: alerting, orienting, and executive control. Action video games (AVGs) have been shown to enhance attention. However, whether AVG can affect the attentional functions across different modalities remains to be determined. In the present study, a group of action video game players (AVGPs) and a group of non-action video game players (NAVGPs) selected by a video game usage questionnaire successively participated in two tasks, including an attention network task-visual version (ANT-V) and an attention network task-auditory version (ANT-A). The results indicated that AVGPs showed an advantage in orienting under the effects of conflicting stimuli (executive control) in both tasks, and NAVGPs may have a reduced ability to disengage when conflict occurs in visual task, suggesting that the AVGs can improve guidance toward targets and inhibition of distractors with the function of executive control. AVGPs also showed more correlations among attentional functions. Importantly, the alerting functions of AVGPs in visual and auditory tasks were significantly related, indicating that the experience of AVGs could help us to generate a supramodal alerting effect across visual and auditory modalities.

Published in Frontiers in Psychology

ISSN: 1664-1078 (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Philosophy. Psychology. Religion: Psychology
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology

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