Psychophysiological, but Not Behavioral, Indicator of Working Memory Capacity Predicts Video Game Proficiency

Abstract

Visual working memory (VWM) is the ability to actively maintain visual information over short periods of time and is strongly related to global fluid intelligence and overall cognitive ability. In our study, we used two indices of visual working memory capacity: the behavioral estimate of capacity (K) and contralateral delay activity (CDA) in order to check whether training in a Real-Time Strategy (RTS) video game StarCraft II can influence the VWM capacity measured by the change detection task. We also asked a question whether individual differences in behavioral and psychophysiological indices of VWM can predict the effectiveness of video game training. Sixty-two participants (non-players) were recruited to the experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to either experimental (Variable environment), active control (Fixed environment), and passive control groups. Experimental and active control groups differed in the type of training received. Training consisted of 30 h of playing the StarCraft II game. Participants took part in two EEG sessions (pre- and post-training) during which they performed the VWM task. Our results showed that working memory capacity (K calculated according to Pashler’s formula) increases after training in both experimental groups, but not in a control group. We have also found a correlation between average visual working memory capacity (calculated as K) and mean CDA amplitude no matter which group we are looking at. And, last but not least, we have found that we can predict the amount of improvement in the RTS video game by looking at the psychophysiological indices (CDA amplitude) recorded at baseline (before training), but only in the experimental group. We think that the strength of the psychophysiological indicator of VWM capacity might be a marker of the future success in video game acquisition.

Video game proficiency predicted by EEG oscillatory indexes of visual working memory

“…Behavioral results obtained from the current study were independently analyzed (together with the CDA potential, which also belongs to neurophysiological indicators of VWM) in one of previously published articles prepared by our lab. 13 As our previous investigation found that the behavioral indicators were not predictive in terms of in-game achievements and this property has already been described in detail, this time they were omitted in advance.…”

“…As presented results constitute only a part of actual data that was collected for a bigger-scaled project, detailed analysis for behavioral data and its interpretation in relation to EEG and telemetric results can be found in a paper by Jakubowska and colleagues. 13 For electrophysiological data, the mean power for theta (4-8 Hz) and alpha (8-12 Hz) frequency bands were the outcome variables. We decided to calculate power spectral densities using the full epoch time window (up to 1490 ms after the stimuli), from single electrodes: electrode Pz for alpha-band and electrode FCz for theta-band.…”

“…9 Previous studies have shown that playing video games enhance working memory performance, including VWM. [10][11][12][13] However, it should be noted that in some studies no cognitive improvement was observed after gaming training. 14,15 From various games categories, action video gaming (AVG) gain substantial interest in research as they require engaging many cognitive functions, mainly WM, inhibitory control and visual attention.…”

Pre-reading activities may reduce processing demands in working memory

“…The term differs from the conception of short-term memory, which refers "to the simple temporary storage of information, in contrast to WM, which implies a combination of storage and manipulation" (BADDELEY, 2012, p. 4). As a psychometric construct, WM influences performance in highly demanding cognitive tasks such as learning novel words (GRAY et al, 2022), long-term memory encoding (FORSBERG et al, 2021;MELROSE et al, 2020), mathematical problem-solving (SWANSON; ARIZMENDI; LI, 2021), and video game acquisition (JAKUBOWSKA et al, 2021), among others.…”