A Cognitive Consequences Approach to Game Research: What Is Learned From Playing Video Games?

• In Event: Game Design Issues for Learning and Assessment

Abstract

Do people learn anything useful from playing a video game such as the classic puzzle game, Tetris? The cognitive consequences approach to game research involves comparing the performance on cognitive skill tasks of people who were assigned to play a particular type of video game for a substantial time period versus people who engaged in a control activity. In a recent meta-analysis, people who were assigned to play Tetris showed substantially greater improvements than a control group on mental rotation of Tetris shapes (d = .82 based on 6 comparisons) and mental rotation of other 2-D shapes (d = .38 based on 5 comparisons) but not on mental rotation of 3-D shapes (d = 0.22 based on 3 comparisons), perceptual attention tasks (d = 0.15 based on 5 comparisons), or other spatial cognition tasks (d = 0.04 based on 14 comparisons).
In a follow-up study involving playing Tetris, providing students with supplemental training in spatial strategies for playing Tetris did not result in improvements in cognitive skills beyond mental rotation of Tetris shapes. Students who played Tetris along with training in spatial strategies for playing Tetris did not differ on changes in cognitive skills from students who simply played Tetris. Research on the cognitive consequences of playing Tetris has implications for theory and practice. Concerning educational practice, this line of research suggests that if you want to improve a particular cognitive skill you should play a game that requires using that skill repeatedly in varying contexts with increasing levels of challenge. In conclusion, the cognitive consequences of playing a video game such as Tetris appear to be narrowly focused on cognitive tasks that require the same skill as practiced in the game.

Authors

• Celeste Pilegard, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Richard E. Mayer, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Deanne Marie Adams, University of Notre Dame