Enhanced disengagement of auditory attention and phonological skills in action video gamers
Date
2022Author
Mancarella, M.
Antzaka, A.
Bertoni, S.
Facoetti, A.
Lallier, M.
Metadata
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M. Mancarella, A. Antzaka, S. Bertoni, A. Facoetti, M. Lallier, Enhanced disengagement of auditory attention and phonological skills in action video gamers, Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 135, 2022, 107344, ISSN 0747-5632, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107344.
Computers in Human Behavior
Computers in Human Behavior
Abstract
Video games play a major role in the everyday life of children, teenagers, and adults. Several studies show that
action video games (AVGs) improve visual attentional efficiency. AVGs also appear to improve reading speed and
phonological skills in children with developmental dyslexia. These results have been linked to the intrinsic
characteristics of AVGs, in which fast disengagement of multisensory attention allows for efficient extraction of
relevant dynamic information, a skill that is crucially also involved in phonological and reading skills. We tested
the hypothesis that AVG players demonstrate faster auditory attention disengagement in an auditory spatial
cuing task, as well as better phonological and reading performance than non-players. We found that AVG players
were faster in spatial localization of auditory targets and showed enhanced attentional disengagement as indexed
by a smaller cuing effect. AVG players also showed better phonological decoding and working memory skills.
Moreover, the beneficial effects of AVGs, as measured by faster attentional disengagement, were linked to better
phonological and reading skills in adult AVG players. We suggest that a more efficient attentional disengagement
- controlled by the posterior parietal cortex - induces enhanced multisensory processing in AVG players.