Does Playing a Commercial Off-the-Shelf Pattern Comparison Game Improve Visuospatial Cognition in Organic Chemistry?

• In Event: Perception, Creativity, and Outcomes Related to Gamification

Abstract

This study explored how playing a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf pattern comparison game – tile matching game Mahjong – influences visuospatial cognition in the context of an authentic visuospatial task in Organic Chemistry. Sixty undergraduates new to organic chemistry completed a series of cognitive tests and a stereochemistry task before and after playing either Mahjong (treatment) or Daily Crossword for 20 minutes each day for a month. The results showed that playing Mahjong produced beneficial effects relative to a) the development of visuospatial working memory capacity (as evidenced by symmetry span test scores), and b) performance on an authentic stereochemistry task involving comparison of molecular models. Interestingly, the effects of playing Mahjong resulted in improved task performance for female students but decreased performance for males.

Authors

• Pasha Antonenko, University of Florida

• Don Kim, University of Florida

• Zhen Xu, University of Florida

• Ruohan Liu, University of Florida

• Andrea Burgess, University of Florida