Reality Check

Abstract

There is extensive research showing that video game play can improve certain aspects of cognitive ability. Interestingly most of the stereotypes of video game players are overwhelmingly negative. These stereotypes are usually related to social features (e.g., violent, impulsive, unpopular, etc.). The purpose of this study was to examine stereotypes related to cognitive traits. Due to the overwhelming amount of research indicating video game play is positively associated with cognitive ability, we predicted that participants would rate video game players as superior to non-video game players on cognitive ability. A total of 49 participants were run in two separate experiments (one experiment was limited to residents of the United States, and participants in the other experiment were not limited to the United States). As predicted, results from both experiments indicate that video game players are viewed as cognitively superior to non-video game players. Implications of these findings are discussed.