Expertise in the Game of Go and Levels of Visuospatial and Pattern Recognition Abilities

Abstract

AbstractThe results of existing research indicate higher levels of visuospatial and pattern recognition abilities in experts in the game of Go compared to novices. However, the tasks included in the research have been focused only on Go‐game situations. This study aimed to verify the hypothesis that experts in the game of Go would achieve higher scores, compared to novices, on behavioral tests measuring visuospatial abilities and that pattern recognition tests would be a predictor of group membership (experts, low‐skill players, novices). We consider that the game of Go can be treated as a special case of tasks related to visuospatial abilities and pattern recognition. Sixty men participated in the study, including 17 experts in the game of Go, 13 low‐skill players, and 30 novices. The results of behavioral tests—the advanced version of Raven's Progressive Matrices and the APIS‐Z Test's Visuospatial Abilities subscale, which measure pattern recognition and visuospatial abilities, respectively—confirmed the hypotheses.