Can video games enhance children and adolescents' cognitive capabilities? A systematic review of the transfer of video game training to cognitive and psychosocial abilities

MARTINA BOSCOLO; GABRIEL OSVALDO PAZ; ANDREA P. GOLDIN

Congreso; XXXVI Reunión de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias (SAN); 2021

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias (SAN)

Video games are extremely popular, especially among adolescents. Even though the effects they have oncognitive and psychosocial aspects have been widely studied, there is no consensus in the literature on thepredominance of their beneficial or negative effects on children and adolescents? cognition. Evidence on thiscould shed some clarity on the potential of video games as educational resources to stimulate cognitivedevelopment. We conducted a revision on the effects that playing video games has on cognition in people underthe age of 18, and considered its transfer to other aspects of life. After extensive search and filtering processes,34 experimental and correlational studies were analysed. We found that certain video games positively affectexecutive functions, attention, memory, and decision making, among other cognitive capabilities. On thecontrary, other video games are related to an increase in aggressiveness and risk-taking behavior and to adecrease in prosocial behavior. Moreover, various video games that have these effects are very popular andemerge as some of the most-downloaded and most-played nowadays. Given that playing video games mighttrigger experience-dependent plasticity, it is necessary to understand to which extent they affect cognitivedevelopment in ecological settings. This revision allows for a better comprehension of this research field.