Action video games and informal education: Effects on strategies for dividing visual attention

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the effects of video game expertise on divided visual attention in college students. Divided attention was measured by using response time to targets of varying probabilities at two locations on a computer screen. In one condition the target appeared 10% of the time in one location (low probability position), 80% of the time in the other location (high probability position), and 10% of the time in both locations. In the other condition the target appeared 45% of the time in each position (equiprobable or neutral positions) and 10% of the time in both positions. The subjects for Experiment 1 represented two extremes of video game skill (labeled experts, novices), whereas the subjects for Experiment 2 were an unselected group with a continuous distribution of video game performance (labeled more skillful, less skillful). Experiment 1 established that video game experts were similar to novices in manifesting an attentional benefit (manifested in faster response time) at the high probability position (relative to a neutral or equiprobable position). However, unlike novices, experts did not show an attentional cost (manifested as slower response time) at the low probability position (again relative to a neutral position). Experts also had significantly faster response times than novices at both the 10% and 80% positions, but not at the 45% position. Experiment 2 established that video game experience was a causal factor in improving strategies of divided attention. Five hours of play on a video game called Robotron produced a significant decrease in response time at the 10% location, the locus of the expert-novice difference in Experiment 1.