en
Scientific article
English

Enhancing reading skills through a video game mixing action mechanics and cognitive training

Published inNature human behaviour, vol. 6, no. 4, p. 545-554
Publication date2022-01-17
First online date2022-01-17
Abstract

In modern societies, training reading skills is fundamental since poor-reading children are at high risk of struggling both at school and in life. Reading relies not only on oral language abilities but also on several executive functions. Considering their importance for literacy, training executive functions—particularly, attentional control has been suggested as a promising way of improving reading skills. For this reason, we developed a video game-based cognitive intervention aimed at improving several facets of executive functions. This game is composed of mini-games that apply gamified versions of standard clinical exercises linked through a game environment with action video game dynamics. Here, in a study involving 151 typically reading children, we demonstrated that after this general-domain behavioural intervention reading abilities, as well as attentional and planning skills, were significantly improved. Our results showed that training attentional control can translate into better reading efficiency, maintained at a follow-up test 6 months later.

eng
Keywords
  • Education
  • Human behavior
  • Langage and linguistics
  • Cognitive intervention
  • Reading
  • Training
  • Attentional control
Citation (ISO format)
PASQUALOTTO, Angela et al. Enhancing reading skills through a video game mixing action mechanics and cognitive training. In: Nature human behaviour, 2022, vol. 6, n° 4, p. 545–554. doi: 10.1038/s41562-021-01254-x
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Article (Published version)
Identifiers
ISSN of the journal2397-3374
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Technical informations

Creation06/08/2022 9:09:00 AM
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