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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 9, 2025

Combining Computer Game-Based Behavioural Experiments With High-Density EEG and Infrared Gaze Tracking

Combining Computer Game-Based Behavioural Experiments With High-Density EEG and Infrared Gaze Tracking

Published on: December 16, 2010

Nothing else matters: Video games create sustained attentional selection away from task-irrelevant features.

Joe Cutting¹, Paul Cairns², Gustav Kuhn³

¹Digital Creativity Labs, University of York, York, UK. Joe.Cutting@york.ac.uk.

Attention, Perception & Psychophysics

|September 12, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Video games can reduce image retention by creating sustained attentional selection, especially when immersive and task-relevant. This effect stems from attentional set, not limited processing resources.

Keywords:

Attention: Divided Attention and Inattention Attention: Interactions with Memory Attention: Selective

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

Attention allocates cognitive resources, prioritizing certain stimuli while diminishing others.
Sustained attentional selection typically requires continuous engagement with a distractor task.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if sustained attentional selection can be achieved in video games without a distractor task.
To explore the impact of game immersion and task relevance on feature-based attention and subsequent memory retention.

Main Methods:

Four experiments utilized self-paced video games, including two versions of 'Two Dots'.
Manipulated game immersion levels and the relevance of visual stimuli to the game's objective.
Assessed post-game image recognition as a measure of retention.

Main Results:

Higher game immersion led to significantly lower image recognition.
Task-irrelevant images showed very low recognition, while task-relevant images had higher recognition.
Reduced retention was linked to attentional set differences, not processing resource limitations.

Conclusions:

Video games can induce sustained attentional selection, reducing retention of task-irrelevant features, even when visually present.
The degree of attentional selection and subsequent memory impact is moderated by the game's immersion level.
Findings suggest implications for designing serious games and understanding attentional mechanisms.