Blacker et al

Question 1

effect of technology on memory

Answer 1

• one component is visual working memoy which is the fundamental procss that allows us to hold visual information in mind, over brief delay, and to navigate the visual world.
• critical for learning new skills, solving novel tasks and acquiring new knowledge
• action video games provide the played with a complex and constantly changining visual environement, enhance VWM

Question 2

aim

Answer 2

to investigate whether action video games cause improvements to the quantity and/or quality of information stored in visual working memory

Question 3

procedure

Answer 3

• collected a sample of 34 male undergraduates who were randomly assigned to the action game training group who played call of duty or the control game group who played the Sims 3 (player controls the life of character)
  -played insingle player assuming different characters and attempting to complete different missions. Both groups played for 30 hours.
• Tests for VWM were used to measure VWM before and after the training and the participants motivation to perform each task was also assessed

Question 4

Results

Answer 4

• individuals who trained on the action games demonstarted significant improvement on VWM capacity and precision compaed with thos who trained on the control game.
• suggest that action games enhance the fundamental process of holding visual information in mind over a breif delay. Individuals can enhance their VWM

Question 5

conclusion

Answer 5

the researchers concluded that playing action video games can lead to improvements in the VWM thus this study clearly demonstrates the positive effects of technology on visual memory.

Question 6

strengths of study

Answer 6

• high in internal validity as it was a lab experiemnt and there was good use of controls
• study is easily replicable, increasing validity and reliability of the findings
• hve implications for the remediation of the VWM deficits and cognitive training more broadly .

Question 7

limitations of the study

Answer 7

• low construct validity -low population valiidity due to the small male population, generalizability limited.
• use of action vidoe games as a training method typically involves violent action games