Action videogame playing can improve visual-motor control without affecting vision

Abstract

We examined how action videogame playing affects visual-motor control using a manual control task in which participants used a joystick to keep a blob centered on a large display as its horizontal position was randomly perturbed. Six naive Non-Videogame Players were trained with an action videogame (Mario Kart Wii, Nintendo), and six were trained with a strategy videogame (Roller Coaster Tycoon III, Atari) for 1–2 hours a day for 10 hours in total. Their performance on the manual control task was measured before the training, after 5-hour training, and after 10-hour training, and their contrast sensitivity function (CSF) was measured before and after training. For the group trained with the action videogame, the RMS error of their performance on the manual control task decreased by 14% (SD: 8%) after 5-hour training and by 20% (SD: 6%) after 10-hour training, and their overall control response (gain) increased by 24% (SD: 11%) after 5-hour training and by 32% (SD: 15%) after 10-hour training. The improvement sustained when they were retested on the manual control task between 2–4 months later. In contrast, no change of RMS or gain was observed for the group trained with the strategy videogame. For both groups, no change in CSF was found. We conclude that action videogame playing can improve visual-motor control without affecting vision.