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Effects of Action Video Game Training on Visual Working Memory
Kara J. Blacker
Johns Hopkins University Kim M. Curby
Macquarie University
Elizabeth Klobusicky and Jason M. Chein
Temple University
The ability to hold visual information in mind over a brief delay is critical for acquiring information and
navigating a complex visual world. Despite the ubiquitous nature of visual working memory (VWM) in
our everyday lives, this system is fundamentally limited in capacity. Therefore, the potential to improve
VWM through training is a growing area of research. An emerging body of literature suggests that
extensive experience playing action video games yields a myriad of perceptual and attentional benefits.
Several lines of converging work suggest that action video game play may influence VWM as well. The
current study utilized a training paradigm to examine whether action video games cause improvements
to the quantity and/or the quality of information stored in VWM. The results suggest that VWM capacity,
as measured by a change detection task, is increased after action video game training, as compared with
training on a control game, and that some improvement to VWM precision occurs with action game
training as well. However, these findings do not appear to extend to a complex span measure of VWM,
which is often thought to tap into higher-order executive skills. The VWM improvements seen in
individuals trained on an action video game cannot be accounted for by differences in motivation or
engagement, differential expectations, or baseline differences in demographics as compared with the
control group used. In sum, action video game training represents a potentially unique and engaging
platform by which this severely capacity-limited VWM system might be enhanced.
Keywords: visual working memory, training, video games
Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037556.supp
The ability to maintain task-relevant visual information over a
brief delay after direct visual input has been removed (i.e., visual
working memory) is critical for learning new skills, solving novel
tasks, and acquiring new knowledge (e.g., Alloway, Gathercole, &
Elliott, 2010;Alloway, Gathercole, Willis, & Adams, 2004;Gath-
ercole & Pickering, 2000;Logie, 2011). Visual working memory
(VWM) is the fundamental process that allows us to sustain
attended information across saccades and other visual interrup-
tions, to compare objects or scenes based on visual features, and to
navigate the visual world. Because VWM is crucial to so many
basic actions and processes that guide behavior, research has
begun to focus on potential ways to improve this essential system.
The current study focuses on a novel approach to training VWM
through the use of action video game play. This approach is seeded
in two main areas of literature. First, there is a vast literature
regarding individual differences in VWM and how these individ-
ual differences are linked to various aspects of visual attention.
Second, in the past decade, an emerging body of research has
supported the notion that action video game experience enhances
a range of perceptual and attentional skills. As will be discussed
below, considering these two areas of research together suggests
that action video game training may be an exciting and effective
new method for training VWM.
One important feature of VWM, especially with regards to
training, is its fundamental capacity limitation. Although there
is much debate surrounding the nature of the capacity limita-
tion, VWM capacity has commonly been estimated at approx-
imately three or four items (Alvarez & Cavanaugh, 2004;
Cowan, 2001;Luck & Vogel, 1997). Despite consistency in the
literature about the average capacity of VWM, it is also well
documented that VWM capacity varies widely among individ-
uals (Astle & Scerif, 2011;Cowan et al., 2005;Cusack, Leh-
mann, Veldsman, & Mitchell, 2009;Vogel, McCullough, &
Machizawa, 2005). One relevant implication of these known
individual differences in VWM is the prospect of using this
information to inform the potential remediation of VWM. Con-
sidering how crucial VWM is to guiding behavior, investigating
how various factors influence individual differences in VWM
This article was published Online First July 28, 2014.
Kara J. Blacker, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns
Hopkins University; Kim M. Curby, Department of Psychology, Macqua-
rie University; Elizabeth Klobusicky and Jason M. Chein, Department of
Psychology, Temple University.
We thank Gabrielle Nichols and Amanda Viands for their help with data
collection. This work was, in part, supported by an Office of Naval
Research grant (N00014-11–1-0399) to Jason M. Chein; and Kim M.
Curby was supported by a fellowship from the Australian Research Coun-
cil (DE130100969).
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kara J.
Blacker, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Ames Hall,
3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218. E-mail: kara.blacker@jhu.edu
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Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Human Perception and Performance © 2014 American Psychological Association
2014, Vol. 40, No. 5, 1992–2004 0096-1523/14/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037556
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