Many classical studies examining sex differences in visuospatial abilities have shown a male advantage in measures of skills like mental
rotation and spatial navigation. However, a number of investigations of strategy selection differences between men and women have begun to
question the notion that individual differences in general skills may be the primary explanation for the observed sex differences in
performance. Another line of individual-differences-focused research has examined the effects of videogame experience on development of
visuospatial skills, and several studies have found that individuals with an extensive history of action videogame play demonstrate superior
performance on tasks demanding dynamic spatial cognition. Some researchers have proposed the likely explanatory mechanism for this phenomenon is
that action videogame play encourages growth of generalizable enhancements to attentional control or cognitive flexibility. Extending from these
findings, the effects of sex differences and videogame experience have recently come together in a series of studies positing that action
videogame training can reduce observed sex differences in visuospatial skills. One of the major limitations of the existing videogame training
literature is that very little behavioral data is typically collected during the training tasks, so it is unclear what patterns of behavior
these participants are executing while performing the tasks. Thus, many of the conclusions regarding the role of individual differences in
explaining participant performance are made without considering how participant strategy selection may also be contributing to performance.
Additionally, individuals with extensive action videogame experience may become highly familiarized with a particular control interface, which
could vary considerably from game to game, and the design of the control interface may have a nontrivial influence on learning a novel
visuospatially-demanding task. The present study examined sex differences, the effect of prior action videogame experience, and the influence of
varying control interfaces on participants' development of control performance across ten games of a novel action videogame, Space Fortress.
Latent curve analyses revealed significant sex differences in control skill performance, indicating non-gamer men displayed better performance
overall than non-gamer women. A significant gaming experience by interface interaction indicated that men with extensive action videogame
experience outperformed men with very little gaming experience, but this performance advantage was limited to playing with the keyboard
interface. Investigation of player behavior revealed that a participants' ship control behaviors were associated with observed sex and gaming
experience differences. Additionally, it was found that playing the game with a keyboard-and-mouse interface was generally associated with
better performance than playing with a joystick-and-mouse interface. Finally, analysis of variance testing was performed to compare levels of
understanding of the game's control mechanics across sex and gaming experience categories, revealing that men and gamers displayed greater
knowledge of Space Fortress ship control procedures than women and non-gamers, respectively. Results are discussed in the context of existing
sex differences and videogame training literature. The present investigation extends previous research by presenting evidence that strategy
selection differences may play a crucial role in explaining the origins of sex differences and calls into question current models of complex
skill learning that argue extensive action videogame experience may be associated with enhanced cognitive processes. / A Thesis submitted to the department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science. / Fall Semester 2018. / August 22, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / K. Anders Ericsson, Professor Directing Thesis; Walter R. Boot, University Representative; Colleen M.
Ganley, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_661195 |
| Contributors | Harwell, Kyle W. (Kyle William) (author), Ericsson, Anders, 1947- (professor directing thesis), Boot, Walter Richard (university representative), Ganley, Colleen M. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Psychology (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, master thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (76 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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