Do enhanced states exist? Boosting cognitive capacities through an action video-game

Kozhevnikov, Maria; Li, Yahui; Wong, Sabrina; Obana, Takashi; Amihai, Ido

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2018.01.006

Cited by 34 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Engelhardt et al (2015) found that high task difficulty (where a video game intervention is experienced as overly difficult) was associated with worse executive attention. Kozhevnikov et al (2018) found attention enhancements for those in an optimally challenged condition, with no improvements for under-and overchallenged groups. This was the only study to examine these effects in relation to the flow state.…”

Section: Cognitive Challenge and Attentionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Video games are by far the most popular, widely available interactive technology and thus have received the most attention concerning the effects on cognition. Two of the studies modified the content of the video games to produce different levels of experienced difficulty (Engelhardt et al, 2015;Kozhevnikov et al, 2018). One study purposefully included or excluded a story narrative at the beginning of the game to change participant's level of engagement (Hwang and Lu, 2018).…”

Section: Technology Intervention Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Out of the 13 experiments, there were five positive effects on attention, although two of these used additional attention measures where positive effects were not found (Barcelos et al, 2015;Kozhevnikov et al, 2018). From the studies reporting positive effects, only Kozhevnikov et al (2018) used a comparative intervention that can attest to the significance of the findings against non-interactive/immersive interventions (i.e., playing the video game vs. passive observation). The remaining studies reporting positive effects had either no comparative intervention or used just a slightly modified form of the IIT intervention as a control.…”

Section: Nature Of the Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three studies manipulated the cognitive challenge imposed by IIT interventions to explore the impact on attentional functioning. These used a combination of different approaches: comparing an immersive intervention with and without a challenging gameplay component (Barcelos et al, 2015), comparing video games set at different difficulty levels between groups (Engelhardt et al, 2015;Kozhevnikov et al, 2018), and one case where game difficulty was continuously adjusted to match the skill and performance levels of individual participants (Kozhevnikov et al, 2018). Attentional improvements related to an immersive bicycle tour were greater with the addition of a challenging gameplay component (Barcelos et al, 2015).…”

Section: Cognitive Challenge and Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The role of arousal for attention appeared mixed. Kozhevnikov et al (2018) reported a direct association between arousal and the enhanced attentional states resulting from the challenging video game intervention. On the other hand, Qiu et al (2018) found improved UFOV performance following a video game intervention but an inconsistent relationship with arousal responses.…”

Section: Arousal and Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Immediate Attention Enhancement and Restoration From Interactive and Immersive Technologies: A Scoping Review

2020

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Interactive and immersive technologies such as video games, exergames, and virtual reality are typically regarded as entertainment mediums. They also offer a multitude of health and well-being benefits. They have the capacity to incorporate established well-being techniques (e.g., mindfulness, exercise, and play) and expose users to beneficial environment settings with greater ease, improved access, and a broader appeal. The authors conducted a scoping review to explore whether these technologies could be used to benefit attention in healthy adults, that is, in a regulatory sense such as during periods of cognitive fatigue or attention-critical tasks. Research efforts have typically focused on long-term practice methods for attention enhancement with these technologies. Instead, this review provides the first attempt to unify a broad range of investigations concerned with their immediate impact on attention through state-change mechanisms. This applies the concept of attention state training and a growing evidence base, which suggests that meditative practices, exercise bouts, and nature exposures can provide short-term improvements in attentional performance following brief interactions. A systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO databases resulted in 11 peer-reviewed articles (13 experimental trials) each including at least one objective measure of attention directly following the use of an interactive or immersive technology. Most studies involved interactive technologies (i.e., video games and exergames), whereas there were three immersive interventions in the form of virtual reality. The comparisons between baseline and postintervention showed mostly no effect on attention, although there were five cases of improved attention. There were no instances of negative effects on attention. The results are significant considering mounting concerns that technology use could be detrimental for cognitive functioning. The positive effects reported here indicate a need to specify the type of technology in question and bring attention to positive vs. negative technology interactions. Implications for the literature concerning attention state training are discussed considering promising effects of technology exposures geared toward flow state induction. Significant gaps in the literature are identified regarding the implementation of traditional attention state training practices.

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Section: Cognitive Challenge and Attentionmentioning

confidence: 86%