Age matters: The effect of onset age of video game play on task-switching abilities

Abstract

Although prior research suggests that playing video games can improve cognitive abilities, recent empirical studies cast doubt on such findings (Unsworth et al., 2015). To reconcile these inconsistent findings, we focused on the link between video games and task switching. Furthermore, we conceptualized video-game expertise as the onset age of active video-game play rather than the frequency of recent gameplay, as it captures both how long a person has played video games and whether the individual began playing during periods of high cognitive plasticity. We found that the age of active onset better predicted switch and mixing costs than did frequency of recent gameplay; specifically, players who commenced playing video games at an earlier age reaped greater benefits in terms of task switching than did those who started at a later age. Moreover, improving switch costs required a more extensive period of video-game experience than did mixing costs; this finding suggests that certain cognitive abilities benefit from different amounts of video game experience.Keywords Task switching . Video game . Onset age of active video game play . Switch costs . Mixing costs . Executive functions Video games are a ubiquitous entertainment medium, with an estimated 40 % of adults and 83 % of teenagers in the United States playing them regularly (Williams, Yee, & Caplan, 2008). Video games often present players with challenging situations that necessitate strategic monitoring, coordination of multiple task demands, and goal prioritization. For instance, first-person shooter games require players to tactically navigate a three-dimensional environment while eliminating multiple enemy targets that appear at random. Similarly, realtime strategy games typically immerse players in war-like scenarios requiring simultaneous management of several tasks, such as constructing edifices and deploying combat units to secure areas of a map or to invade and destroy opponents' territories and units. Success in such games requires continual tracking of various goals and the ability to shift flexibly from one task to another in the face of changing environmental demands. Therefore, an interesting question arises as to whether extensive video-game experience could facilitate task-switching performance (e.g., Cain, Landau, & Shimamura, 2012;Green, Sugarman, Medford, Klobusicky, & Bavelier, 2012).Task switching is the ability to shift back and forth between multiple tasks or mental sets (Monsell, 2003). The efficiency of task switching can be empirically measured using taskswitching paradigms, which yield two performance indicators: switch costs and mixing costs (Rubin & Meiran, 2005). Switch costs refer to the slower responses observed in taskswitch trials than in task-repeat trials, whereas mixing costs refer to the slower responses in task-repeat trials in mixed-task blocks than in task-repeat trials in pure blocks (Rubin & Meiran). These two costs reflect distinct control mechanisms in task-switching performance: namely, switch costs are...

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