Effects of Action Video Game Play on Cognitive Skills: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The possibility that playing action video games is associated with enhancements in certain aspects of cognitive function has attracted significant interest from researchers in education, psychology, and neuroscience. Previous meta-analyses indicated an overall positive relationship between action video game play and cognitive skills. However, follow-up to this previous work is warranted, not only because the amount of data has grown significantly since previous meta-analyses were conducted, but also because previous work left several issues unresolved (e.g., certain meta-analytic procedures). We conducted a literature search using predefined keywords and inclusion criteria to identify studies that examined the relationship between action video game play and cognitive skills. Data from (a) 105 cross-sectional studies (221 effect sizes) and (b) 28 intervention studies with an active control group (91 effect sizes) were analyzed separately via meta-analytic models for dependent effect sizes with robust variance estimates for correlated and hierarchical effects (CHE) and small-sample corrections. Consistent with our hypotheses, action video game players outperformed nonvideo game players in the cross-sectional meta-analysis (large effect, g = 0.64, 95% CI [0.53, 0.74]). Action video game play was causally related to improvements in cognitive skills in the intervention meta-analysis (small effect, g = 0.30, 95% CI [0.11, 0.50]). Publication bias was detected in the cross-sectional data set, with sensitivity analysis showing high heterogeneous estimates of the average unbiased effect. Publication bias was not detected in the intervention data set, but sensitivity analyses also point to heterogeneity. No significant moderators were found for either data set; however, this may be limited by small sample sizes.