There is mixed evidence regarding whether video games affect executive function. The inconsistent results in this area may have to do with researchers’ conceptualizations of executive function as a unified construct or as a set of independent skills. In the current study, 120 university students were randomly assigned to play a video game or to watch a screen record of the video game. They then completed a series of behavioral tasks to assess the shifting, updating and inhibiting subcomponents of executive function. Scores on these tasks were also used as indicators of a component-general latent variable. Results based on analysis of covariance showed that, as predicted, the inhibition subcomponent, but not the updating or the shifting subcomponent, was significantly enhanced after gaming. The component-general executive function was not enhanced after gaming once the results were controlled for other subcomponents. The results were unrelated to participants’ self-reported positive and negative affect. The findings add key evidence to the literature on executive function and potentially contribute to the therapeutic use of video games to maintain executive function in the aged population.
In recent years, adolescent sleep problems have received increasing attention. Stressful life events have been found to be a risk factor for sleep problems, but little is known about the components that may explain or influence this association. To investigate this, present research tested whether depressive symptoms mediated the association between stressful life events and adolescents' sleep problems, as well as whether emotional regulation skills decreased this process. A sample of 513 Chinese university students (32.2% males, mean age = 19.04 years, SD = 1.21) completed anonymous questionnaires regarding stressful life events, depressive symptoms, emotional regulation and sleep problems (examined using Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Response to Stress Questionnaire). The studies included covariates such as gender, age, and socioeconomic level. Depressive symptoms were shown to partially mediated the association between stressful life events and sleep problems in structural equation models. Emotional regulation buffered the negative effects of stressful life events on depressive symptoms. The results show that promoting emotional regulation could be beneficial in preventing and intervening sleep problems related to stressful life events.
Whether stress impairs available cognitive resources and affects multiple cognitive functions is under debate. The current study used a relatively direct measure of available cognitive resources (i.e., the cognitive control capacity) to test the effect of acute stress and found that cognitive control capacity did not differ between conditions (stress and control) by using both the p-value and Bayes factor as indicators. We argue that stress might not impair higher cognitive functions through depleted cognitive resources after checking the effectiveness of the manipulations. The results potentially contribute to understanding the psychological consequence of stress-related disorders.
Cognitive control, although it has limited capacity, serves an essential role in supporting a broad range of cognitive functions. The backward masking majority function task (MFT-M) is a commonly used and validated behavioral method for measuring the capacity of cognitive control (CCC), but the administration is lengthy. We tested the relative efficiency of administering the MFT-M using an adaptive method based on the principles of computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Participants were 40 healthy young adults aged 18-26. Scores on the adaptive version were highly correlated with scores based on the original approach to administration and showed high test-retest reliability. In addition, the original 864 trials were reduced to 216, and administration time was reduced from 86 minutes to less than 20 minutes. The results suggest that computerized adaptive testing is a valid and more efficient method for assessing CCC than the MFT-M. This study provides an example of adaptive trial selection in task administration, an approach that can advance the methodology of behavioral science.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.