The paper presents the results of a comparative study of cognitive functions in preschoolers (5—7 years old, n=50), elementary school students (7—11 years old, n=50), younger adolescents (12—13 years old, n=53), and older adolescents (14—16 years old, n=47) with different intensity of daily use of digital devices: low, medium, controlled high, and uncontrollably high. A battery of neuropsychological methods was used to study the state of cognitive functions. The main differences in accordance with online activity were found in groups of elementary school students and younger adolescents: results were obtained confirming that children using the Internet at medium frequency (1—3 hours per day) are effective in performing a number of cognitive tasks (regulation, control, dynamical praxis, verbal and visual-spatial functions, and neurodynamics). In this study, a certain optimum of online activity time was outlined for different age groups, in the presence of which higher levels of development of certain cognitive functions are recorded.
IntroductionVideo games are becoming increasingly popular among children (Lenhart et al., 2015). There is a lack of research that studies the impact of online games on children’s neurocognitive functions.ObjectivesThe aim is to study neurocognitive functions in children and adolescents playing and not playing online games.MethodsThe sample comprises 100 children aged 5-10 years and 100 adolescents aged 11-16 years. The following neuropsychological indexes (Akhutina, 2016) are studied: programming and control, serial organization of movements, auditory and visual memory, left and right hemispheric functions, and neurodynamic component of mental activity. Wexler’s Awareness and Comprehension Tests were used to study verbal functions. The game activity are measured by social-psychological questionnaire.ResultsChildren who play online games have a serial organization of movements (smooth switching from one component of the program to another) (F=14,46, p<0,01) and a neurodynamic component (F=13,07, p<0,01), which are worse developed than children who do not play online games. Adolescents playing online games have better analytical (left hemispheric) functions (F=13,37, p<0,01), mathematical abilities (F=3,47, p=0,063), and Awareness subtest (F=3,47, p=0,065) scores than nonplaying adolescents.ConclusionsChildren playing online games have lower results on neurocognitive functions directly related to motor development. Teenagers playing online games had higher scores in mathematical ability, analytical functions and awareness. The results indicate the need to develop an optimal time for digital gaming activities depending on the age of the child. The reported study was funded by RFBR, project No. 19-29-14181.Conflict of interestThe reported study was funded by RFBR, project 19-29-14181.
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