Do video game players have faster reaction times than non-players

Although video games have often been criticized for having possible harmful consequences and for promoting violence, it has also been found that there are positive side effects to playing video games. Orosy-Fildes and Allan (1989) studied college students' reaction times for responding to multiple stimuli of different colored lights. It was found that when participants were given 15 minutes of video game playing time they had overall significantly faster reaction times than those who did not play the video game. A later study found that kindergarteners who have past video game playing experience score much faster mean reaction times for discriminating colors and shapes of similar pictures than children who are non-players (Yuji, 1996). A different study by Kuhlman and Beitel (1991) measured the anticipation of seven through nine year old children who were categorized as non-experienced, moderately experienced, or highly experienced video game players. The researchers found that children with extensive experience playing video games can more accurately and consistently anticipate the arrival of a stimulus. To calculate anticipation, this study and many others that do not examine the effect of video game playing use a runway of lights that illuminate in sequence (Kuhlman & Beitel, 1991; Haywood, 1977; Long & Vogel, 1998; Overdorf, Schweighardt, Page & McGrath, 2004). The scores are measured by how accurate the participants respond to the final light illuminating, showing that the subjects begin to anticipate the arrival of light. In the studies done on the effect of video game playing on reaction time, only the total, or mean, reaction time has been measured (Orosy-Fildes & Allan, 1989; Yuji, 1996). However, it stands to reason that in repeated trials with equal time intervals between trials, the reaction time of participants will begin to improve as they learn to anticipate the stimulus. Schmidt explains that anticipation is predicting the "time arrival of stimulus events" (as cited in Long & Vogel, 1998, p.379). He does not say that anticipation must be measured a particular way, only that it occurs by predicting arrival times. Therefore, if participants who perform repeated reaction time trials with consistent stimulus arrivals over time gradually improve their reaction time scores, it must be because they begin to anticipate the event. The improvement of anticipation and reaction times due to video game playing may possibly be a result of practice effects. It has been found that practice improves performance and proficiency of motor skills, and that randomized practice is better at improving long-term learning than single task repetition (Overdorf, Schwighardt, Page & McGrath, 2004). Therefore, video game playing may be described as random practice because it does not involve specifically practicing the single task of anticipation or reaction time but instead involves performing many simultaneous tasks at once. The fact that video game playing can be considered practice is reflected in the fact that participants who had a history of video game playing experience had faster anticipation scores (Kuhlman & Beitel, 1991) and reaction times (Yuji, 1996), and also that reaction times increase immediately after playing a video game (Orsosy-Fildes & Allan, 1989). Either playing a video game or having a history of playing video games have both been shown to improve motor skills, but which one has the most profound effect is not yet known. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between video game playing and anticipation. In doing so, it examined the effects that video game playing, video game playing experience, and a combination of both have on anticipation. It was hypothesized that participants who had more video game playing experience and who also played a video game before being tested would have the highest anticipation scores. Anticipation was measured by changes in reaction time over continuous trials.