The DOI matches its Crossref record; 15 of the 15 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Video Games and Spatial Cognition
Abstract
Video game enthusiasts spend many hours at play, and this intense activity has the potential to alter both brain and behavior. We review studies that investigate the ability of video games to modify processes in spatial cognition. We outline the initial stages of research into the underlying mechanisms of learning, and we also consider possible applications of this new knowledge. Several experiments have shown that playing action games induces changes in a number of sensory, perceptual, and attentional abilities that are important for many tasks in spatial cognition. These basic capacities include contrast sensitivity, spatial resolution, the attentional visual field, enumeration, multiple object tracking, and visuomotor coordination and speed. In addition to altering performance on basic tasks, playing action video games has a beneficial effect on more complex spatial tasks such as mental rotation, thus demonstrating that learning generalizes far beyond the training activities in the game. Far transfer of this sort is generally elusive in learning, and we discuss some early attempts to elucidate the brain functions that are responsible. Finally, we suggest that studying video games may contribute not only to an improved understanding of the mechanisms of learning but may also offer new approaches to teaching spatial skills.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Self-efficacy: The exercise of control
Bandura, A., Freeman, W. H., & Lightsey, R. (1999) · Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1891/0889-8391.13.2.158 · Cited by 46,835
Action video game modifies visual selective attention
Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2003) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature01647 · Cited by 2,540
Mechanisms of visual attention in the human cortex
Ungerleider, S. K. A. L. G. (2000) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.23.1.315 · Cited by 2,159
When and where do we apply what we learn?: A taxonomy for far transfer
Barnett, S. M., & Ceci, S. J. (2002) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.612 · Cited by 2,076 · cited 1×
“Typically, however, improvement is specific to the training task (near transfer), and generalization beyond the specific circumstances of the initial learning (far transfer) is rarely seen (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Fahle, 2009; Polat, 2009).”
BackgroundVideo games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life.
Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.78.4.772 · Cited by 1,778
Long-term Effects of Cognitive Training on Everyday Functional Outcomes in Older Adults
Willis, S. L., Tennstedt, S. L., Marsiske, M., Ball, K., Elias, J., Koepke, K. M., Morris, J. N., Rebok, G. W., Unverzagt, F. W., Stoddard, A. M., et al. (2006) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.296.23.2805 · Cited by 1,496
A Motivational Model of Video Game Engagement
Przybylski, A. K., Rigby, C. S., & Ryan, R. M. (2010) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0019440 · Cited by 1,422 · cited 1×
“Ryan and collaborators (Przybylski, Rigby, & Ryan, 2010; Przybylski, Ryan, & Rigby, 2009; Ryan, Rigby, & Przybylski, 2006) have explored the relationship between the enjoyment of video games and the players’ needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.”
BackgroundEvidence for striatal dopamine release during a video game
Koepp, M. J., Gunn, R. N., Lawrence, A. D., Cunningham, V. J., Dagher, A., Jones, T., Brooks, D. J., Bench, C. J., & Grasby, P. M. (1998) · Nature · doi:10.1038/30498 · Cited by 1,279
Overlapping mechanisms of attention and spatial working memory
Awh, E., & Jonides, J. (2001) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(00)01593-x · Cited by 1,229
Interactions between attention and working memory
Awh, E., Vogel, E. K., & Oh, S.-H. (2006) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2005.08.023 · Cited by 883 · cited 2×
“During the multiple stages of processing that mental rotation requires, attention must be switched selectively among the features of the stimulus in working memory to keep them active (Awh, Vogel, & Oh, 2006; Lepsien & Nobre, 2006).”
Background
Cited by
Meta-analysis of action video game impact on perceptual, attentional, and cognitive skills.
Bediou, B., Adams, D. M., Mayer, R. E., Tipton, E., Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2018) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000130 · Cited by 807
Brain plasticity through the life span: Learning to learn and action video games
Bavelier, D., Green, C. S., Pouget, A., & Schrater, P. (2012) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-060909-152832 · Cited by 541
Ferguson, C. J. (2015) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691615592234 · Cited by 524
Human–Agent Teaming for Multirobot Control: A Review of Human Factors Issues
Chen, J. Y. C., & Barnes, M. J. (2014) · IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems · doi:10.1109/thms.2013.2293535 · Cited by 522
The “I's” Have It: A Framework for Serious Educational Game Design
Annetta, L. A. (2010) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0018985 · Cited by 477
Metadata
- Authors
- Spence, I., & Feng, J.
- Venue
- Review of General Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-06
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 92-104
- ISSN
- 1089-2680 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1552
- OpenAlex
- W1998623387
- Cited by
- 504
- References
- 15
- FWCI
- 57.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
How to cite
Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
- This page
- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Video Games and Spatial Cognition. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1037/a0019491
- The paper
- Spence, I., & Feng, J. (2010). Video Games and Spatial Cognition. Review of General Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019491
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.