Short-Term Arcade-Action Video Gaming Enhances Working Memory Precision
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Objective
Action video games are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance cognitive capacities, including working memory (WM). However, most studies require extensive training or prior gaming experience. We examined whether a single, short-term session of “Snail Mail,” an arcade-action video game, could boost WM precision compared to a passive control condition.
Method
Thirty-six healthy adults (18–34 years) were randomly assigned to either play “Snail Mail” (Intervention) or watch episodes of “Shaun the Sheep” (Control) for 30 minutes. Two participants were excluded for unstable performance, yielding a final sample of 34. Participants completed a face emotion recognition memory task before and after the intervention, wherein the absolute error served as the primary metric of WM precision. A mixture model further characterized memory precision, and random guessing.
Results
The Intervention group showed a significant reduction in absolute error from pre- to post-test, whereas the Control group exhibited a negative effect size, indicating worsened post-test performance. Mixture-model results revealed a significant increase in precision for the Intervention group.
Conclusion
These findings indicate that a 30-minute arcade-action game session can meaningfully enhance WM precision, highlighting the feasibility of brief, targeted gaming interventions. Future research should explore longer-term outcomes, generalizability to other cognitive tasks, and optimal intervention protocols for sustained benefits.
