A new article in the journal Psychophysiology presents findings regarding cognitive control–the authors define this as “the ability to maintain goal-directed information processing in the face of distraction or competing response alternatives” (Bailey, West & Anderson, p. 34)–and video game usage. Here is the abstract for the article, “A Negative Association Between Video Game Experiences and Proactive Cognitive Control”:

Some evidence demonstrates that video game experience has a beneficial effect on visuospatial cognition. In contrast, other evidence indicates that video game experience may be negatively related to cognitive control. In this study we examined the specificity of the influence of video game experience on cognitive control. Participants with high and low video game experience performed the Stroop task while event-related brain potentials were recorded. The behavioral data revealed no difference between high and low gamers for the Stroop interference effect and a reduction in the conflict adaptation effect in high gamers. The amplitude of the medial frontal negativity and a frontal slow wave was attenuated in high gamers, and therewas no effect of gaming status on the conflict slow potential. These data lead to the suggestion that video game experience has a negative influence on proactive, but not reactive, cognitive control.

The authors base this on previous findings that “high levels of video game consumption may be associated with a reduction in the efficiency of those processes supporting cognitive control that arise from interactions between anterior cingulate and lateral frontal cortex (Botvinick, Braver, Barch, Carter, & Cohen, 2001)” (p. 34). The theoretical framework upon which these findings rest is called the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control Theory, which states one’s cognitive control is limited to being either proactive or reactive, depending on environmental factors.

So what does that mean? The study seems to suggest that those who play video games a lot (the authors chose the unfortunate moniker “high gamers” for these people) are less proactive in their cognitive control. This seems to be the trade-off when considering there is a large amount of literature–much of which Bailey, West & Anderson address–that supports the improvement of, as they say in the abstract, “visuospatial cognition”, reaction time and, in some cases, general intelligence. It will be interesting to see where this research goes.

One Response to “Cognitive Control”

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   January 3, 2010 at 8:26 pm

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