Revisiting the correlation between video game activity and working memory: evidence from machine learning

Abstract

With the popularity of video games, more and more researchers are trying to understand the relationship between video game activity and cognitive abilities, and one of the important cognitive systems is working memory. Working memory is a limited capacity short-term memory system for processing currently active information and is an important predictor of goal-driven behavioral domains. Its scope of action includes, but is not limited to, fluid intelligence, verbal ability, and mathematical analysis.Due to the importance of working memory for the analysis of human behavior, numerous studies have attempted to describe the architecture and models of working memory. In general, models of working memory can be loosely categorized into content and process models, depending on their focus. The content model focuses on the static material of working memory, which includes mainly verbal and spatial visual material. The process model focuses on the dynamic processes of working memory and includes both Updating and Maintenance of memory.However, this area of research has also been the subject of debate among researchers.Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version). These disputes involve two main assumptions. According to the so-called core training hypothesis, a potential machine for improving cognitive ability through video games is provided by the so-called core training hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, repeated stress on the cognitive system will induce plastic changes in its neural matrix, leading to improved cognitive response performance. According to this hypothesis, repeated strains of the cognitive system can induce plastic changes in its neural matrix, which is an important reason for the improvement of performance. The other proposed basic mechanism is the meta-learning mechanism, that is, learning how to learn. According to this, video games (especially action games) can improve related motor control skills, such as rule learning, cognitive resource allocation, and probabilistic reasoning skills, which are used in many different situations.A recent study showed that the analysis of certain extreme groups showed that video game players performed better than non-game players in all three WM measurements, and that when extended to the entire sample, video game time and visual space WM and n-back performance. In general, the relationship between cognition and playing video games is very weak.This study used the Waris et al, 2019 dataset to re-investigate the correlation between video game activity and three different dimensions of working memory using seven different supervising learning models. It was concluded that video game activity was most highly correlated with the visuospatial component, slightly less correlated with the mnemonic updating component, and least correlated with the verbal component. This partly confirms Waris et al, 2019's view that the analytic method may be the key to the study.