Relationships between violent video games and cognition

Abstract

Objectives: The differential effects of playing violent video games on information processing havebecome an issue of concern. Neuropsychological studies provide inconsistent results regarding the effects ofplaying excessive video games on information processing. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of violent video games on various cognitive processes, specifically working memory, object recognition, and visual-spatial perception. The relationships between violent video game addiction and aggression, personality, and craving were also investigated. Method: 54 university students were classified into three different groups (addicted, risk, and control) according to the time they spent game playing and their Game Addiction Scale scores. Results: Game addicted individuals have higher scores on aggression, craving, urging, and psychoticism than other groups. Significant differences in reaction times during cognitive tasks were also found. The game addicted group’s reaction times were significantly faster than for risk and non-player groups. Conclusion: This study supports previous findings that violent game playing is related with aggressive thoughts, craving, and urging. However, violent game addiction does not have negative effects on working memory, object recognition, and visual-spatial perception.