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Towards an Understanding of the Relationship Between Executive Functions and Learning Outcomes from Serious Computer Games

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Abstract

There is accumulating evidence that playing games leads to a range of cognitive and perceptual advantages. In addition there has been speculation that digital games can support higher level thinking. In this paper we propose that viewing these gains from the perspective of executive functions can help to provide a more coherent approach to understanding the cognitive benefits of playing games. Executive functions refer to a range of higher level cognitive processes that regulate, control and manage other cognitive processes. Three models are considered: Baddeley’s model of working memory [1], and two models of executive functions, that of Anderson [2], and that of Diamond [3]. The implications for serious games research and games design and for future research are considered.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Games and Learning Alliance (GaLA) - Network of Excellence for Serious Games via a grant to the second author under the European Community Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007 2013), Grant Agreement no. 258169.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, 40 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1QE, UK

    James Boyle

  2. School of Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, High Street, Paisley, PA1 2BE, UK

    Elizabeth A. Boyle

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  1. James Boyle
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  2. Elizabeth A. Boyle
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Correspondence to James Boyle .

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  1. University of Genova, Genova, Italy

    Alessandro De Gloria

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Boyle, J., Boyle, E.A. (2014). Towards an Understanding of the Relationship Between Executive Functions and Learning Outcomes from Serious Computer Games. In: De Gloria, A. (eds) Games and Learning Alliance. GALA 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8605. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12157-4_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12157-4_15

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