Effects of Electronic Sports on the Cognitive Skills of Attention, Working Memory, and Cognitive Flexibility.

The growing popularity of electronic sports (esports) prompted the authors of this paper to examine their effects on cognitive skills, specifically attention, working memory, and cognitive flexibility among gamers. A total of 40 undergraduate physical education students with no prior experience in e...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Perceptual & Motor Skills Vol. 133; no. 4; pp. 1134 - 1158
Autores principales: Imanian, Maryam, Khatibi, Amin, Victor Sousa, Caio, Heydarinejad, Sedighe, Veisia, Esmaeil, Saemi, Esmaeel
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Aug2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=194971911&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 194971911
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00315125
        PSK
      jtl: Perceptual & Motor Skills
      issn: 00315125
      maglogo: Y
    pubinfo:
      dt: Aug2026
      vid: 133
      iid: 4
      pid: 344
      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
    artinfo:
      ui:
        194971911
        10.1177/00315125251381007
      ppf: 1134
      ppct: 24
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Effects of Electronic Sports on the Cognitive Skills of Attention, Working Memory, and Cognitive Flexibility.
      aug:
        au:
          Imanian, Maryam
          Khatibi, Amin
          Victor Sousa, Caio
          Heydarinejad, Sedighe
          Veisia, Esmaeil
          Saemi, Esmaeel
        affil:
          Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran
          Department of Health and Human Sciences, Loyola Marymount University (LMU), Los Angeles, CA, USA
          Department of Motor Behavior and Sport Psychology, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran
      su:
        Task performance
        Undergraduates
        Executive function
        Randomized controlled trials
        Attention
        Video games
        Cognitive testing
        T-test (Statistics)
        Two-way analysis of variance
        Questionnaires
        Statistical sampling
        Descriptive statistics
        Pre-tests & post-tests
        Neuropsychological tests
        One-way analysis of variance
        Short-term memory
        Data analysis software
        Cognitive flexibility
        Physical therapy students
        Nonparametric statistics
      sug:
        subj:
          Task performance
          Undergraduates
          Executive function
          Randomized controlled trials
          Attention
          Video games
          Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling
          Video game design and development services
          Video game publishers
          Home entertainment equipment merchant wholesalers
          Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing
          Cognitive testing
          T-test (Statistics)
          Two-way analysis of variance
          Questionnaires
          Statistical sampling
          Descriptive statistics
          Pre-tests & post-tests
          Neuropsychological tests
          One-way analysis of variance
          Short-term memory
          Data analysis software
          Cognitive flexibility
          Physical therapy students
          Nonparametric statistics
      keyword:
        attention
        cognitive flexibility
        cognitive skill
        electronic sport (esport)
        working memory
        attention
        cognitive flexibility
        cognitive skill
        electronic sport (esport)
        working memory
      ab: The growing popularity of electronic sports (esports) prompted the authors of this paper to examine their effects on cognitive skills, specifically attention, working memory, and cognitive flexibility among gamers. A total of 40 undergraduate physical education students with no prior experience in esports participated in this study. The students were randomly assigned to two groups: Single Players and Co-Players. Both groups played the esports game FIFA in either single-player or co-player mode over a period of eight weeks. Attention was assessed using the Stroop task, working memory was measured through the N-back task, and cognitive flexibility was evaluated with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. In addition, a paired-sample t-test was used to assess changes within each group, while differences between the two groups were analyzed using a two-way ANOVA. The results indicated that FIFA can improved attention and working memory in both the single-player and co-player groups. However, improvements in cognitive flexibility were observed only in the co-player group. These findings suggest that esports can enhance several cognitive skills, including attention, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, and that such activities may be applied to diverse objectives such as learning and instruction.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N