Video game practice optimizes executive control skills in dual-task and task switching situations Tilo Strobach a, b, ⁎, Peter A. Frensch b , Torsten Schubert a, b a Unit of experimental and general psychology, Department Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany b Unit of general psychology, Department of Psychology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany abstract article info Article history: Received 25 February 2011 Received in revised form 20 October 2011 Accepted 6 February 2012 Available online xxxx JEL classification: 2340 2343 Keywords: Video games Executive control Dual tasks Task switching Learning transfer We examined the relation of action video game practice and the optimization of executive control skills that are needed to coordinate two different tasks. As action video games are similar to real life situations and com- plex in nature, and include numerous concurrent actions, they may generate an ideal environment for prac- ticing these skills (Green & Bavelier, 2008). For two types of experimental paradigms, dual-task and task switching respectively; we obtained performance advantages for experienced video gamers compared to non-gamers in situations in which two different tasks were processed simultaneously or sequentially. This advantage was absent in single-task situations. These findings indicate optimized executive control skills in video gamers. Similar findings in non-gamers after 15 h of action video game practice when compared to non-gamers with practice on a puzzle game clarified the causal relation between video game practice and the optimization of executive control skills. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Recent studies suggest that extensive practice of video games can improve a number of cognitive functions and skills for instance, basic visual attention (Castel, Pratt, & Drummond, 2005; Feng, Spence, & Pratt, 2007; Green & Bavelier, 2003, 2006a, 2006b, 2007; Riesenhuber, 2004), in younger and older adults (Colzato, van Muijden, Band, & Hommel, 2011). For example, Green and Bavelier (2003, 2006b) demonstrated that video gamers show improved spa- tial and temporal visual attention as well as an increased visual atten- tional capacity when compared to non-gamers. Moreover, the authors showed that having participants play action video games for 10 or more hours improves their performance on a number of basic laboratory tasks testing attentional abilities; the latter finding is an indicator for the causal role of action video game playing in the observed improvements. Since not all studies are successful in providing evidence for “transfer effects” between action video game playing and basic cognitive functions and skills (e.g., spatial abilities, Sims & Mayer, 2002; working memory functions, Boot, Kramer, Simons, Fabiani, & Gratton, 2008), the underlying cognitive mecha- nisms of “successful transfers” remain a matter for debate. While ob- served advantages due to action video game playing may result from changes in visual “lower-level” attentional skill (Green & Bavelier, 2003), “higher-level” attentional control (Chisholm, Hickey, Theeuwes, & Kingstone, 2010; Hubert-Wallander, Green, & Bavelier, 2010) top-down strategy use (Clark, Fleck, & Mitroff, 2011), and/or the speed of stimulus–response mapping (Castel et al., 2005; Dye, Green, & Bavelier, 2009), an issue of high importance for psychological research and practice is whether action video game playing also affects executive control skills. 1.1. Why investigate executive control skills in action video games? Executive control skills control and manage other cognitive pro- cesses. They are particularly involved in the processing of complex task situations such as those requiring participants to execute differ- ent tasks simultaneously or sequentially with rapid switches between them (e.g., Logan & Gordon, 2001; Norman & Shallice, 1986). By far, most of the existing research has been concerned with assessing the impact of action video games on subjects' performances in single- task situations; the question of whether or not action video game practice might results in optimizations and transfers of executive control skills that are used to coordinate several different tasks in complex task situations has rarely been addressed (see Green & Bavelier, 2006b, for an example of single-task performance with addi- tional conflicting task information; see Maclin et al., 2011, for simultaneous task performance within the practiced game context). This is surprising given that the particular situation of action video Acta Psychologica 140 (2012) 13–24 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Department Psychology, Leopoldstr.13, 80802 Munich, Germany. Tel.: + 49 89 2180 2975. E-mail address: tilo.strobach@psy.lmu.de (T. Strobach). 0001-6918/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.02.001 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Acta Psychologica journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/ locate/actpsy