The Relationship Between Cognitive Resource Consumption During Gameplay and Postgame Aggressive Behaviors: Between-Subjects Experiment

Bibliographic Details
Title: The Relationship Between Cognitive Resource Consumption During Gameplay and Postgame Aggressive Behaviors: Between-Subjects Experiment
Authors: Huina Teng, Lixin Zhu, Xuanyu Zhang, Boyu Qiu
Source: JMIR Serious Games, Vol 11, Pp e48317-e48317 (2023)
Publisher Information: JMIR Publications, 2023.
Publication Year: 2023
Collection: LCC:Information technology
LCC:Public aspects of medicine
Subject Terms: Information technology, T58.5-58.64, Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270
More Details: Abstract BackgroundThe question of how video games can shape aggressive behaviors has been a focus for many researchers. Previous research has focused on how violent video game content leads to postgame aggressive behaviors. However, video games not only convey violence or prosocial content to players but also require cognitive effort from individuals. Since human cognitive resources are limited, consuming more cognitive resources in a game leads to less cognitive resources to suppress aggressive impulses. Therefore, the depletion of cognitive resources from playing video games may also lead to changes in postgame aggressive behaviors. ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the relationship between cognitive resources consumed in video games and postgame aggressive behaviors. MethodsA total of 60 participants (age: mean 20.22; range 18-24 y) were randomly assigned to either the high-load group or the low-load group. Participants from both groups played a video game centered around college life. In the low-load group, participants followed the gameplay instructions to complete it. In the high-load group, participants were given an extra digital memory task to complete while playing the game. Participants in both groups played the video game for about 25 minutes. A maze selection task was then conducted to measure the participants’ helping and hurting behaviors. ResultsThe independent samples 2-tailed tt58Pdt58Pd ConclusionsAs more cognitive resources are consumed in a video game, more hurting behaviors are exhibited after the game. This finding proposes an alternative route by which video games impact aggressive behaviors, adding to previous theories and raising concerns about the popularity of cognitive training games.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2291-9279
Relation: https://games.jmir.org/2023/1/e48317; https://doaj.org/toc/2291-9279
DOI: 10.2196/48317
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/ee141f58b2d74e12a0d1fc24270612dd
Accession Number: edsdoj.141f58b2d74e12a0d1fc24270612dd
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:22919279
DOI:10.2196/48317
Published in:JMIR Serious Games
Language:English