Why Paying Attention to Video Games Pays

Attention is a limited resource. Thus, when fully engaged in, say, a telephone conversation, driving a car at the same time could prove hazardous. Like taxes, one needs to pay attention.

Nonetheless, people do talk and drive at the same time. This example is not only employed regularly with regards to safety, it’s also on the minds of cognitive science researchers eager to discover how this human feat is even possible, and to what degree.

The Human Brain’s Attentional Capacity

Our capacity for maintaining attention is limited, though we possess the ability to divide it. In fact recent theories suggest the brain comprises two attentional systems: One which sustains our attention, filters distractions and helps maintain our focus, while the other is sensitive to new stimuli that appear in our environment and allows us to notice what is going on around us.

True, our brain’s attention network develops most rapidly during childhood between the ages of four and six. What’s also true is that, even as adults, we can increase our visual attentional capacity. Indeed, all it takes is playing action video games.

A recent study by a group of scientists determined that adults who played an action game for one hour a day for 10 consecutive days showed significant improvements in their concentration levels. The study measured attentional resources, ability to itemize and accurately report events, ability to allocate spatial attention, and increase attention span.

What’s the catch?

The catch is that you should choose your action games carefully. In this experiment all participants played either an action game or Tetris. However, only those who played an action game improved their attentional capacity.

Chen Rosier Or-Bach (MA) is a Cognitive Consultant at Mind360.com – a leading scientific brain training games developer for boosting your memory, attention, executive functions, reasoning, and other key cognitive skills.