Gaming hours and genre effects on memory, reaction times, attention, logical reasoning and time management skills
Authors
Robertson, Rebecca
Issue Date
2023-03
Degree
BA in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
Abstract
The study aimed to investigate the relationship between the genre and hours spent gaming and cognitive skills (short term memory, time management, attention, logical reasoning, and reaction times). There were 61 participants who played less than 1 hour (N=26), 1-15 hours (N=25) or more than 15 hours (N=10). The genre breakdown of the participants is as follows; 8 action-adventure, 1 fighting, 14 first-person shooter, 2 MMO, 3 platformers, 8 puzzle, 5 roleplaying, 2 sports, 18 played no games. The Time Management Personal Assessment, Stroop, a simple digit span test and Wisconsin card sorting test was used. The study was a cross-sectional analysis, correlational, between groups and quasi-experimental. No significant difference was found between genre and hours spent gaming on time management, attention, short term memory and logical reasoning. There was a significant difference between reaction times on the genre and hours spent gaming. Gamers, specifically first-person shooter gamers, had faster reaction times.