Abstract
The current study aimed at identifying mechanisms associated with video game-related gains in cognitive functioning. Seventy-nine older adults (mean age = 72.72, SD = 7.16) participated in a pretest-posttest intervention study. A video game that required four cognitive abilities was developed. The game had two modes: (1) variable priority training (VPT) and (2) single priority training (SPT). After a pretest session, participants completed a battery of cognitive tasks and were randomly assigned to either the VPT (n = 42) or the SPT mode (n = 37) for an average of 15.94 (SD = 2.15) 1-h game play sessions. Posttesting was administered within 1 week after completion of training. Time (pretest/posttest) by game mode (VPT/SPT) interactions was examined using multivariate repeated measure ANOVAs. No significant multivariate training effects were observed. Results suggest that VPT may not be the underlying mechanism responsible for video game-related gains in cognition. Our results also cast doubts on whether playing video games could lead to cognitive enhancements in older adults.
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This research was supported by grant R21 AG044782-01A1 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded to Jason C. Allaire.
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Zhang, S., Grenhart, W.C.M., Sprufera, J.F. et al. Using Variable Priority Training to Examine Video Game-Related Gains in Cognition. J Cogn Enhanc 4, 274–284 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-019-00148-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-019-00148-1