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Selective Association Between Tetris Game Play and Visuospatial Working Memory: A Preliminary Investigation
Alex Lau-Zhu1,2, Emily A Holmes1,3, Sally Butterfield1
1Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit Cambridge UK.
Applied Cognitive Psychology
|March 16, 2018
Summary
Playing Tetris may help disrupt unwanted mental imagery by engaging visuospatial working memory (WM). This study found Tetris performance correlates with visuospatial WM, suggesting its potential in therapeutic interventions.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Maladaptive mental imagery, such as intrusive trauma memories, can be disruptive.
- Visuospatial working memory (WM) is hypothesized to play a role in maintaining such imagery.
- Tetris game play has been proposed as a potential intervention to disrupt maladaptive imagery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between Tetris performance and cognitive abilities, specifically visuospatial working memory (WM).
- To determine if Tetris performance is selectively associated with visuospatial WM compared to other cognitive measures.
- To explore the potential of Tetris as a tool for disrupting maladaptive visual imagery.
Main Methods:
- Forty-six young adults completed standardized tests of verbal and non-verbal reasoning, short-term memory, and WM.
- Participants also completed measures of visuospatial WM.
- Tetris game performance was recorded and analyzed in relation to cognitive measures.
Main Results:
- A significant, moderate positive correlation was found between Tetris scores and visuospatial WM performance.
- No significant associations were observed between Tetris performance and other cognitive ability measures (e.g., verbal WM, reasoning).
- Findings suggest Tetris game play utilizes both storage and processing aspects of visuospatial WM.
Conclusions:
- Tetris game play is strongly associated with visuospatial working memory capabilities.
- These results support the hypothesis that Tetris can engage cognitive resources involved in visual imagery.
- Tetris may serve as a basis for developing computer-game interventions to mitigate intrusive visual memories.
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