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Full-Text Articles in Cognition and Perception
Age Matters: The Effect Of Onset Age Of Video Game Play On Task-Switching Abilities, Andree Hartanto, Wei Xing Toh, Hwajin Yang
Age Matters: The Effect Of Onset Age Of Video Game Play On Task-Switching Abilities, Andree Hartanto, Wei Xing Toh, Hwajin Yang
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Although prior research suggests that playing video games can improve cognitive abilities, recent empirical studies cast doubt on such findings (Unsworth et al., 2015). To reconcile these inconsistent findings, we focused on the link between video games and task switching. Furthermore, we conceptualized video-game expertise as the onset age of active video-game play rather than the frequency of recent gameplay, as it captures both how long a person has played video games and whether the individual began playing during periods of high cognitive plasticity. We found that the age of active onset better predicted switch and mixing costs than did …