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Executive functions (EF), the skills required to plan, monitor and control cognitive processes, are linked to many important educational and developmental outcomes. The Alien Game is a digital game developed to train the EF subskill of shifting . High school students ( N = 82; age range 14–18 years; average = 15.5 years) were asked to play the Alien Game for 20 min per week for 6 consecutive weeks. Two EF measures were administered before and after this intervention: the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task (a measure of shifting) and the Flanker task (a measure of inhibition). Students had a significant pre- to posttest increase in DCCS, t (81) = 4.29, p < 0.001, d = 0.54, and Flanker, t (77) = 2.93, p = 0.004, d = 0.22. Controlling for pretest score, gains in shifting were significantly predicted by a measure of game performance in the Alien Game . These findings provide evidence that the Alien Game is having the intended effect of improving EF, and argue that video games can be effective tools for training cognitive skills when they are explicitly designed for this purpose and when a rigorous design approach is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive functions' (EF) role in adolescents' advanced theory of mind (aToM) was examined. In Study 1, adolescents (N = 189 in 2017, Mage = 13.1 years, 55.6% female from racially/ethnically diverse schools) completed the Flexibility and Automaticity of Social Cognition task (FASC), and shifting and inhibition measures. Study 2 (N = 289 in 2018 and 2019, Mage = 15.7 years, 59.9% female, 56.4% Hispanic/Latino) replicated Study 1 in older adolescents using automated scoring of FASC flexibility. Flexibility of social cognition varied based on ambiguity and language use; automaticity of social cognition varied by ambiguity. The role of EF was less conclusive; shifting and inhibition predicted some flexibility and automaticity measures. Ambiguity, language, and EF, particularly shifting, influence aToM into adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present study was to determine whether it is possible to design a video game that could help students improve their executive function skill of shifting between competing tasks and the conditions under which playing the game would lead to improvements on cognitive tests of shifting. College students played a custom video game, Alien Game, which required the executive function skill of shifting between competing tasks. When students played for 2 h over 4 sessions they developed significantly better performance on cognitive shifting tests compared to a control group that played a different game ( d = 0.62), but not when they played for 1 h over 2 sessions. Students who played Alien Game at a high level of challenge (i.e., reaching a high level in the game) developed significantly better performance on cognitive shifting tests compared to controls when they played for 2 h (Experiment 1, d = 1.44), but not when they played for 1 h (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 replicated the results of Experiment 1 using an inactive control group, showing that playing Alien Game for 2 h resulted in significant improvements in shifting skills ( d = 0.78). Results show the effectiveness of playing a custom-made game that focuses on a specific executive function skill for sufficient time at an appropriate level of challenge. Results support the specific transfer of general skills theory, in which practice of a cognitive skill in a game context transferred to performance on the same skill in a non-game context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]