<p>The concept of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_rotation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">mental rotation</a> was introduced by Shepard &amp; Metzler (1971). The 3D assemblages of cubes were part of their original experiment. <a href="http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.1978.47.2.599" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Vandenburg and Kuse (1978)</a> later developed a paper-and-pencil test based on this prior experiment, named the Vandenberg and Kuse’s Mental Rotation Test (VMRT).</p>

<p>The study which Bavelier most likely refers to is one done by <a href="http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.x" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Feng et al. (2007)</a>. <a href="http://ixdcth.se.hemsida.eu/courses/2012/ciu185/sites/default/files/files/2007_GenderDifferenceSpatialAbility.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">[PDF]</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In Experiment 2, we compared spatial attention and cognition in men
  and women before and after 10 hr of action-video-game training. <strong>A
  control group trained for 10 hr with a non-action game</strong>. [...] In
  addition, we assessed higher-level spatial abilities using a mental
  rotation test (MRT; see Fig. 1b). We expected to ﬁnd enhanced MRT
  performance as a by-product of improvements in spatial attentional
  capacity after training.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The games played were <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur-_GbLgiTI" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault</a> by the experimental group, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBp1NtdNCtg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ballance, a 3-D puzzle game</a> by the control group.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>We had not originally
  planned a follow-up testing session; however, we were able to contact
  and retest all 20 subjects after an average interval of about 5 months
  (16–24 weeks).</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Results</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Both males and females in the experimental group improved, but there
  was no signiﬁcant change from pretest to posttest in the control group</strong>
  [...] furthermore, the improvement in the experimental group was larger
  for females (2.0 to 2.7) than for males (2.9 to 3.2), F(1, 8) 5
  5.193, prep 5 .87, Z 2 5 .39, and the performance of the females on the posttest was indistinguishable from that of the males in the
  control group. Although the gender difference on the MRT was not
  eliminated, its size was much reduced (see Fig. 3, lower left panel).</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p>Although not the exact study which Bavelier demonstrated, a study done by <a href="http://dx.doi.org/DOI:10.1007/s11199-008-9498-z" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Isabelle D. Cherney (2008)</a> demonstrates similar results using the VMRT test. A huge section of the paper reviews existing relevant research which might be interesting to look into. The focus of this particular study is to ...</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>... examine whether the type (3-D vs. 2-D) and
  delivery (massed vs. distributed practice) affect the degree of
  improvement of males’ and females’ mental rotation performance and how
  individual differences such as anxiety, prior spatial experiences such
  as computer game play, and mathematical performance might affect
  performance. Two existing visuospatial tests, Vandenberg and Kuse’s
  (1978) mental rotation test and the card rotation test (CRT;
  Educational Testing Services Sanders et al. 1982) that have shown
  gender differences and that are of different levels of difficulty,
  were used.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Tested games were The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4cGpH0QHCk" rel="nofollow noreferrer">3-D Antz© racing computer game</a>, the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8UehuIYl2c" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2-D Tetrus© computer game</a>, or several paper-and-pencil logic games.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>An equal number of men and women were then randomly assigned to [the games] for a half hour. Participants returned to the laboratory for
  another three times for 1 h of practice each. About half of the
  participants in each practice condition were randomly exposed to
  either: (a) distributed practice sessions (they completed the three
  1-h practice sessions over more than 2 weeks) or (b) massed practice
  sessions (they completed the three 1-h practice sessions within 3
  days). During the final session, after a half hour of practice,
  participants completed the two mental rotation tests as a posttest.
  Participants were exposed to a total of four training hours. They were
  asked to abstain to play any computer games between the practice
  sessions.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Practice effect analyses</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Bonferroni adjusted paired sample t-tests on both mental rotation
  pre-and posttest scores showed that, <strong>for the VMRT there were
  significant improvements for women, t(30)=−3.6, p=.001, but not for
  men</strong></p>
</blockquote>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/1T6AQ.png" alt="VMRT practice effect results"></p>

<p><sub>
Shepard, R. N., &amp; Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science 171, 701-703.<br>
Steven, G. V., &amp; ALLAN, R. (1978). <a href="http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.1978.47.2.599" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and motor skills</a>, 47(2), 599-604.<br>
Cherney, I. D. (2008). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/DOI:10.1007/s11199-008-9498-z" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mom, let me play more computer games: They improve my mental rotation skills.</a> Sex Roles, 59(11), 776-786.<br>
Feng, J., Spence, I., &amp; Pratt, J. (2007). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.x" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition.</a> Psychological Science, 18(10), 850-855. <a href="http://ixdcth.se.hemsida.eu/courses/2012/ciu185/sites/default/files/files/2007_GenderDifferenceSpatialAbility.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">[PDF]</a>
</sub></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-20T10:52:17.357Z
The graph looks like the effect is significant for women..
Oriesok Vlassky
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-20T11:17:49.773Z
@OriesokVlassky That's something that has been measured in many previous studies as well. The effect of practice always seems to have a bigger effect on women. I recall reading about possible explanations e.g. boys when growing up playing with more 'mechanical' toys which have a more positive effect on mental rotation. If you are interested in the gender differences, both referenced papers go into great detail into this issue, but that wasn't what I was after when reading these papers.
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-20T13:04:56.647Z
The statistics in the Feng et al. study seem rather weak, I guess. For example, in Experiment 2 no significant interaction between group and time was reported, which normally should be necessary to interpret a group specific group effect, right? Nevertheless, they do interpret the effects of video gaming...
H.Muster
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-20T13:36:48.137Z
I just checked out [what the Ballance game looked like](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBp1NtdNCtg), and I'm a bit puzzled about why they chose this game as a control group now. The pencil-and-paper logic games in the second study seem to be a better control group to me.
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-19T23:26:54.233Z
2012-11-20T13:38:37.057Z
2012-11-20T13:38:37.057Z
Steven Jeuris
<p>I've just watched <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a TED talk by Daphne Bavelier</a>, who seems to be <a href="http://cms.unige.ch/fapse/people/bavelier/publications/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a major researcher on plasticity and video games</a>. In it she presents results from a controlled lab study in which participants needed to perform mental rotations (around 14 minutes into the video), before and after having played 10 hours of action video games over a period of 2 weeks. She demonstrates results which show an improvement up to 5 months after having gotten the 'training'.</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/car09.png" alt="Improvement of spatial rotations chart"></p>

<p>I'm interested in finding out more about this research and the methodologies it followed. So my first question is whether somebody could link me to the original research.</p>

<ul>
<li>Did they take into account learning effects?</li>
<li>Did they use a control group?</li>
</ul>

<p>My skepticism comes from <a href="https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/20/21">a previous question on video games</a> in which D. Bavelier is mentioned often. It has gotten some <a href="https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/529/21">concerned responses involving methodological flaws</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-19T21:21:52.217Z
For starters, the 3D blocks used (and the concept of mental rotation) [seem to originate from Shepard & Metzler (1971)](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mental-imagery/mental-rotation.html)
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-19T21:31:44.410Z
This Bachelor's thesis by Mika Hirvasoja (2004) provides an overview of past research on ["Improving Spatial Skills Through Computer Games"](http://users.jyu.fi/~jorma/kandi/2004/Kandi_Hirvasoja.pdf). I didn't find the particular study demonstrated.
Steven Jeuris
<reference-request><plasticity><video-games><spatial-cognition>
Do action video games have an effect on spatial skills?
Steven Jeuris
# Do action video games have an effect on spatial skills?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-11-19)

I've just watched [a TED talk by Daphne Bavelier](http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games.html), who seems to be [a major researcher on plasticity and video games](http://cms.unige.ch/fapse/people/bavelier/publications/). In it she presents results from a controlled lab study in which participants needed to perform mental rotations (around 14 minutes into the video), before and after having played 10 hours of action video games over a period of 2 weeks. She demonstrates results which show an improvement up to 5 months after having gotten the 'training'.

![Improvement of spatial rotations chart](https://i.sstatic.net/car09.png)

I'm interested in finding out more about this research and the methodologies it followed. So my first question is whether somebody could link me to the original research.

* Did they take into account learning effects?
* Did they use a control group?

My skepticism comes from [a previous question on video games](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/20/21) in which D. Bavelier is mentioned often. It has gotten some [concerned responses involving methodological flaws](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/529/21).

**Tags:** reference-request, plasticity, video-games, spatial-cognition

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: For starters, the 3D blocks used (and the concept of mental rotation) [seem to originate from Shepard & Metzler (1971)](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mental-imagery/mental-rotation.html)  
> **username_0**: This Bachelor's thesis by Mika Hirvasoja (2004) provides an overview of past research on ["Improving Spatial Skills Through Computer Games"](http://users.jyu.fi/~jorma/kandi/2004/Kandi_Hirvasoja.pdf). I didn't find the particular study demonstrated.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2012-11-19. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The concept of [mental rotation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_rotation) was introduced by Shepard & Metzler (1971). The 3D assemblages of cubes were part of their original experiment. [Vandenburg and Kuse (1978)](http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.1978.47.2.599) later developed a paper-and-pencil test based on this prior experiment, named the Vandenberg and Kuse’s Mental Rotation Test (VMRT).

The study which Bavelier most likely refers to is one done by [Feng et al. (2007)](http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.x). [[PDF]](http://ixdcth.se.hemsida.eu/courses/2012/ciu185/sites/default/files/files/2007_GenderDifferenceSpatialAbility.pdf)

> In Experiment 2, we compared spatial attention and cognition in men
> and women before and after 10 hr of action-video-game training. **A
> control group trained for 10 hr with a non-action game**. [...] In
> addition, we assessed higher-level spatial abilities using a mental
> rotation test (MRT; see Fig. 1b). We expected to ﬁnd enhanced MRT
> performance as a by-product of improvements in spatial attentional
> capacity after training.

The games played were [Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur-_GbLgiTI) by the experimental group, and [Ballance, a 3-D puzzle game](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBp1NtdNCtg) by the control group.

> We had not originally
> planned a follow-up testing session; however, we were able to contact
> and retest all 20 subjects after an average interval of about 5 months
> (16–24 weeks).

Results

> **Both males and females in the experimental group improved, but there
> was no signiﬁcant change from pretest to posttest in the control group**
> [...] furthermore, the improvement in the experimental group was larger
> for females (2.0 to 2.7) than for males (2.9 to 3.2), F(1, 8) 5
> 5.193, prep 5 .87, Z 2 5 .39, and the performance of the females on the posttest was indistinguishable from that of the males in the
> control group. Although the gender difference on the MRT was not
> eliminated, its size was much reduced (see Fig. 3, lower left panel).

---

Although not the exact study which Bavelier demonstrated, a study done by [Isabelle D. Cherney (2008)](http://dx.doi.org/DOI:10.1007/s11199-008-9498-z) demonstrates similar results using the VMRT test. A huge section of the paper reviews existing relevant research which might be interesting to look into. The focus of this particular study is to ...

> ... examine whether the type (3-D vs. 2-D) and
> delivery (massed vs. distributed practice) affect the degree of
> improvement of males’ and females’ mental rotation performance and how
> individual differences such as anxiety, prior spatial experiences such
> as computer game play, and mathematical performance might affect
> performance. Two existing visuospatial tests, Vandenberg and Kuse’s
> (1978) mental rotation test and the card rotation test (CRT;
> Educational Testing Services Sanders et al. 1982) that have shown
> gender differences and that are of different levels of difficulty,
> were used.

Tested games were The [3-D Antz© racing computer game](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4cGpH0QHCk), the [2-D Tetrus© computer game](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8UehuIYl2c), or several paper-and-pencil logic games.

> An equal number of men and women were then randomly assigned to [the games] for a half hour. Participants returned to the laboratory for
> another three times for 1 h of practice each. About half of the
> participants in each practice condition were randomly exposed to
> either: (a) distributed practice sessions (they completed the three
> 1-h practice sessions over more than 2 weeks) or (b) massed practice
> sessions (they completed the three 1-h practice sessions within 3
> days). During the final session, after a half hour of practice,
> participants completed the two mental rotation tests as a posttest.
> Participants were exposed to a total of four training hours. They were
> asked to abstain to play any computer games between the practice
> sessions.

Practice effect analyses

> Bonferroni adjusted paired sample t-tests on both mental rotation
> pre-and posttest scores showed that, **for the VMRT there were
> significant improvements for women, t(30)=−3.6, p=.001, but not for
> men**

![VMRT practice effect results](https://i.sstatic.net/1T6AQ.png)

Shepard, R. N., & Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science 171, 701-703.  
Steven, G. V., & ALLAN, R. (1978). [Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and motor skills](http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.1978.47.2.599), 47(2), 599-604.  
Cherney, I. D. (2008). [Mom, let me play more computer games: They improve my mental rotation skills.](http://dx.doi.org/DOI:10.1007/s11199-008-9498-z) Sex Roles, 59(11), 776-786.  
Feng, J., Spence, I., & Pratt, J. (2007). [Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition.](http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.x) Psychological Science, 18(10), 850-855. [[PDF]](http://ixdcth.se.hemsida.eu/courses/2012/ciu185/sites/default/files/files/2007_GenderDifferenceSpatialAbility.pdf)

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The graph looks like the effect is significant for women..  
> **username_0**: @OriesokVlassky That's something that has been measured in many previous studies as well. The effect of practice always seems to have a bigger effect on women. I recall reading about possible explanations e.g. boys when growing up playing with more 'mechanical' toys which have a more positive effect on mental rotation. If you are interested in the gender differences, both referenced papers go into great detail into this issue, but that wasn't what I was after when reading these papers.  
> **username_2**: The statistics in the Feng et al. study seem rather weak, I guess. For example, in Experiment 2 no significant interaction between group and time was reported, which normally should be necessary to interpret a group specific group effect, right? Nevertheless, they do interpret the effects of video gaming...  
> **username_0**: I just checked out [what the Ballance game looked like](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBp1NtdNCtg), and I'm a bit puzzled about why they chose this game as a control group now. The pencil-and-paper logic games in the second study seem to be a better control group to me.  

---

