Authors:

Jack MeNiel

Date Created:

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About Paper:

Spatial cognition refers to how individuals think and reason about spaces, locations, and objects [1], relying on a set of spatial skills which are highly malleable and can be improved with training [2], as well as being strongly linked to success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines [1]. While playing action-related video games can significantly enhance spatial skills [3], there exists little work exploring how broader game genres and modalities (e.g., desktop, tablet, console) affect these skills. An initial survey was administered to undergraduate students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology (N = 193). The survey assessed participants' gaming history, playing contexts, and primary playing modality. The survey also included questions to assess participants' self-perceived spatial skills. Data from this survey, complemented by 17 follow-up interviews, were used to benchmark popular games and identify game components participants perceived as spatial. A second survey was administered (N = 64) to validate the initial findings with a standardized measure, achieved by including a mental rotation test—a common, standardized measure of spatial skills—as well as gaming tendencies, preferences, and typical weekly hours of play. On the first survey (N = 193), linear regressions showed that higher game frequency significantly predicted higher spatial scores overall (p < .001) and across all modalities: console (p = .029), mobile (p < .001), and PC/laptop (p < .001). The second survey (N = 64) replicated this; a simple linear regression showed that total weekly game hours predicted higher scores on a mental rotation test (p = .005). Video game experience, across genres and modalities, is linked to spatial skills, expanding existing research beyond specific genre foci. Given the link between spatial skills and STEM success, these results suggest that a wide variety of everyday video games may be powerful and accessible tools for developing spatial skills vital to STEM pipelines.

Source:

Northwestern University

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Co-authors:

Jack MeNiel