Visual short-term memory in action and non-action video game players: A focus on short and long delay intervals

Visual short-term memory in action and non-action video game players: A focus on short and long delay intervals | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Visual short-term memory in action and non-action video game players: A focus on short and long delay intervals Andrea Pavan, Seyma Koc Yilmaz, Hulusi Kafaligonul, Julia Föcker, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4700741/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Previous research suggests that individuals who play action video games tend to outperform non-action video game players in various cognitive functions. In the current study, we compare the precision of visual short-term memory for the direction of coherent motion among action video game players (AVGPs) and age and gender-matched non-action video game players (NAVGPs). Participants were tasked with remembering the direction of up to four random dot kinematograms (RDKs) presented in a sequence, with the number of RDKs varying randomly between one and four in each trial. After the sequence, a probe number appeared on the screen, indicating which RDK the participant needed to reproduce. Following either a brief (0.5 s) or a longer interval (3 s), participants reproduced the direction of a designated RDK. To reach a specific performance level with a single RDK stimulus, participants underwent initial training. The training results revealed that AVGPs required slightly fewer training blocks than NAVGPs to reach the desired performance level. While the two groups did not differ in precision for the short delay, AVGPs performed the task more precisely than NAVGPs when tasked with reproducing the motion direction of a single RDK after a long interval. Using a complementary model-fitting methodology, we investigated the distribution of memory resources within the two groups. Our analysis revealed that, in contrast to the AVGPs, NAVGPs exhibited higher neural costs relative to the behavioral advantages linked to memory encoding. This was particularly evident during the long retention interval, resulting in NAVGPs allocating a reduced amount of memory-related resources in this condition. Future training studies could explore the integration of models that account for the allocation of memory resources, balancing the behavioral benefits of encoding precision against the neural costs involved. Biological sciences/Psychology Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour working memory resource-rational model action-video game players video games random-dot kinematograms Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files VSTMSupplementaryMaterialfinal.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4700741","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":335702562,"identity":"8390463c-a34d-4a96-8aaa-5c890e9ba6c8","order_by":0,"name":"Andrea Pavan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA7UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACAwTzQwUDA5sEkJFArBbGGWdgWvDrQWhh5m0DkiAt+Kzhn9287cOHGoY8/hnJzx7wzjucxyfdfIDh4Q/cWiTuHCueOeMYQ7HEjTRzA8lth4vZZI4l4HfYjRxjZh42hsSGMwfMJAy3HU5sk8gxwKtFHqTlzz+GxPlnjn+TSJxDhBYDkBbGNobEDcd7zCQONhChxfBGWjFjb59EseHxnjLJhmPpiW1AvxxISMOtRe5G8maGH99s8uQOs2+T/lNjnTh/dvPBhz9s8HgfAiRQHXKAoAYGgilkFIyCUTAKRjQAAFj+UziABt0rAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"University of Bologna","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andrea","middleName":"","lastName":"Pavan","suffix":""},{"id":335702563,"identity":"a38a5c4a-a0f1-42bf-9f9e-506217ae4ab6","order_by":1,"name":"Seyma Koc Yilmaz","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bilkent University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Seyma","middleName":"Koc","lastName":"Yilmaz","suffix":""},{"id":335702564,"identity":"e575a8cb-7bfb-448f-92d0-e804ffce0429","order_by":2,"name":"Hulusi Kafaligonul","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bilkent University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hulusi","middleName":"","lastName":"Kafaligonul","suffix":""},{"id":335702565,"identity":"a9795810-5e75-4e68-9731-91a13764eab2","order_by":3,"name":"Julia Föcker","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Lincoln","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Julia","middleName":"","lastName":"Föcker","suffix":""},{"id":335702566,"identity":"8bcab240-080b-4b36-abcf-92d1b3ab5d04","order_by":4,"name":"Mark W. 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