Researchers With Game
Researchers With Game
Researchers With Game
By Cole Hatcher
August 04, 2020
Summary
OWU Connection Experience: Buraima, Rodriguez, and Shenoy are completing research titled "Examining Cognitive and Brain Functions through Video Games" under the mentorship of Kira Bailey, Ph.D., assistant professor of Neuroscience and Psychology.
Buraima: "We are researching cognitive and brain functions through video game experience," Buraima says.
"To better understand the research surrounding video game consumption and its associated changes in video game consumption, we are designing a video game that replicates a cognitive control task. The mundane nature of typical cognitive tests may influence performance and, as such, making them into action game versions may yield interesting results! Additionally, we get to develop a game that is designed specifically to test cognitive abilities through gameplay."
Rodriguez: "Commercial video consumption has been associated to changes in cognitive control; however, they are not designed to train cognitive abilities," Rodriguez adds.
"We are researching how to create a video game that imitates a standard psychological task so that behavioral and brain data can be collected from participants which is closely associated to behavioral data from action video games."
Shenoy: "Video game experience has been found to affect cognitive control - the process that allows us to make goals and work toward them," Shenoy continues, "But the results are mixed. While some studies suggest that action video games improve cognitive abilities, others say that the games harm attention and cognition. This is because, unlike psychological tasks used in laboratories, commercial video games are not designed to test cognitive functions. So, we have no way of knowing what aspects of cognitive control are being affected by these games."
Buraima: "We hope to learn more about research methods in the field as well as how best to produce valid results using atypical experimental set-ups. That kind of flexibility proves extremely valuable in a rapidly changing society like ours. The results we yield may help provide insight into the cerebral mechanisms responsible for specific goal-directed behavior and how well a video game setting is able to influence our ability to sustain attention for said goal-directed behaviors. Whatever answers we unearth may also have some relevant implications for the process of learning with regards to cerebral pathway biases."
Rodriguez: "This research could be used to support the recommendation of using action video games to enhance visual attention and cognition."
Shenoy: "The EEG and behavioral data gathered from playing these games will eliminate the limitations posed by commercial games, and enable us to learnhow gaming experience influences cognitive control. This knowledge can be useful in designing games that can improve specific cognitive functions in different groups of people, such as children, older adults, pilots, etc."
Rodriguez: "This research enhances my classroom learning because I am actively learning how video game tasks are created which can potentially affect the brain in a positive way."
Reference
Hatcher, C. (2020, August 4). Researchers With Game. Retrieved August 07, 2020, from https://www.owu.edu/news-media/details/researchers-with-game/