Dataset Information

Cognitive & motor skill transfer across speeds: A video game study.

ABSTRACT: We examined the detailed behavioral characteristics of transfer of skill and the ability of the adaptive control of thought rational (ACT-R) architecture to account for this with its new Controller module. We employed a simple action video game called Auto Orbit and investigated the control tuning of timing skills across speed perturbations of the environment. In Auto Orbit, players needed to learn to alternate turn and shot actions to blow and burst balloons under time constraints imposed by balloon resets and deflations. Cognitive and motor skill transfer was assessed both in terms of game performance and in terms of the details of their motor actions. We found that skill transfer across speeds necessitated the recalibration of action timing skills. In addition, we found that acquiring skill in Auto Orbit involved a progressive decrease in variability of behavior. Finally, we found that players with higher skill levels tended to be less variable in terms of action chunking and action timing. These findings further shed light on the complex cognitive and motor mechanisms of skill transfer across speeds in complex task environments.

SUBMITTER: Gianferrara PG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8509974 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Cognitive & motor skill transfer across speeds: A video game study.

Gianferrara Pierre Giovanni PG Betts Shawn S Anderson John Robert JR

PloS one 20211012 10

We examined the detailed behavioral characteristics of transfer of skill and the ability of the adaptive control of thought rational (ACT-R) architecture to account for this with its new Controller module. We employed a simple action video game called Auto Orbit and investigated the control tuning of timing skills across speed perturbations of the environment. In Auto Orbit, players needed to learn to alternate turn and shot actions to blow and burst balloons under time constraints imposed by ba ...[more]

PMID: 34637460

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Project description:Cognitive control is defined by a set of neural processes that allow us to interact with our complex environment in a goal-directed manner. Humans regularly challenge these control processes when attempting to simultaneously accomplish multiple goals (multitasking), generating interference as the result of fundamental information processing limitations. It is clear that multitasking behaviour has become ubiquitous in today's technologically dense world, and substantial evidence has accrued regarding multitasking difficulties and cognitive control deficits in our ageing population. Here we show that multitasking performance, as assessed with a custom-designed three-dimensional video game (NeuroRacer), exhibits a linear age-related decline from 20 to 79 years of age. By playing an adaptive version of NeuroRacer in multitasking training mode, older adults (60 to 85 years old) reduced multitasking costs compared to both an active control group and a no-contact control group, attaining levels beyond those achieved by untrained 20-year-old participants, with gains persisting for 6 months. Furthermore, age-related deficits in neural signatures of cognitive control, as measured with electroencephalography, were remediated by multitasking training (enhanced midline frontal theta power and frontal-posterior theta coherence). Critically, this training resulted in performance benefits that extended to untrained cognitive control abilities (enhanced sustained attention and working memory), with an increase in midline frontal theta power predicting the training-induced boost in sustained attention and preservation of multitasking improvement 6 months later. These findings highlight the robust plasticity of the prefrontal cognitive control system in the ageing brain, and provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, of how a custom-designed video game can be used to assess cognitive abilities across the lifespan, evaluate underlying neural mechanisms, and serve as a powerful tool for cognitive enhancement.

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Dataset Information

Cognitive & motor skill transfer across speeds: A video game study.

Publications

Cognitive & motor skill transfer across speeds: A video game study.

Similar Datasets

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