Performance of teenaged action video game players on the Developmental Eye Movement and King-Devick tests

Action video game (AVG) players have been reported to demonstrate improved perceptual, cognitive, and motor skills, as well as enhanced eye movements such as saccade latency and accuracy. This study examined if these improvements are also observed in two common clinical eye movement assessments, the Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) and King-Devick tests. Ninth and tenth graders (15-16 years old) without learning disabilities or oculomotor dysfunctions, and who do not regularly play ball sports were tested in the DEM and King-Devick tests in random order. Those playing AVG ≥ 5 hours per week were included in the AVG group, and those playing ≤ 1 h per week were included in the non-video game group (NVG). Participants were asked to read quickly while reading speed and errors were recorded. Two DEM subtests were read vertically and one subtest was read from left to right. All King-Devick subtests were read from left to right. Forty participants (20 AVG, 20 NVG, 15 girls, mean age: 15.7 ± 0.1 years) were included. AVG players were significantly faster in their horizontal DEM times (AVG: 26 ± 5, NVG: 34 ± 7 sec, p < 0.001) and King-Devick times (AVG: 14 ± 2, NVG: 16 ± 4 sec, p = 0.034), but not in their vertical DEM times (AVG: 26 ± 3, NVG: 28 ± 5 sec p = 0.063). King-Devick and horizontal DEM times were significantly correlated for the entire sample (p < 0.01). Teenagers who regularly played AVGs performed better on the DEM and King-Devick tests, indicating that regularly playing this genre of AVGs may enhance oculomotor skills and visual processing speed. Clinicians should take this into account when interpreting results of these clinical tests.