Previous studies have reported gender differences in performance when two bars have to be set parallel to each other haptically, with females having significantly larger deviations than males. Recent results comparing male participants with and without action video game experience showed that the former performed significantly better than the latter in the aforementioned haptic parallelity task. Considering that males more often engage in action video gaming, the observed performance differences between male and female participants might be related to gaming experience rather than gender. This was investigated in the current study by comparing haptic parallelity performance in males with action video gaming experience and in males and females without this experience. The results showed that male participants with as well as without action video gaming experience performed significantly better than female participants. These results suggest that differences in haptic parallelity matching between males and females seem to be related to gender, rather than action video gaming experience. When performing the parallelity task visually, no significant differences were found between the three groups, corroborating earlier hypotheses that women are less able to ignore the bias of the egocentric hand-centered reference frame than men when haptically paralleling orientations.
References
[1]
Annett, M. (2004). Hand Preference Observed in Large Healthy Samples: Classification, Norms and Interpretations of Increased Non-Right-Handedness by the Right Shift Theory. British Journal of Psychology, 95, 339-353. https://doi.org/10.1348/0007126041528130
[2]
Bavelier, D., Bediou, B., & Green, C. S. (2018). Expertise and Generalization: Lessons from Action Video Games. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 20, 169-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.01.012
[3]
Bediou, B., Adams, D. M., Mayer, R. E., Tipton, E., Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2018). Meta-Analysis of Action Video Game Impact on Perceptual, Attentional, and Cognitive Skills. Psychological Bulletin, 144, 77-110. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000130
[4]
Boot, W. R., Blakely, D. P., & Simons, D. J. (2011). Do Action Video Games Improve Perception and Cognition? Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 226. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00226
[5]
Boot, W. R., Kramer, A. F., Simons, D. J., Fabiani, M., & Gratton, G. (2008). The Effects of Video Game Playing on Attention, Memory, and Executive Control. Acta Psychologica, 129, 387-398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.09.005
[6]
Bosco, A., Longoni, A. M., & Vecchi, T. (2004). Gender Effects in Spatial Orientation: Cognitive Profiles and Mental Strategies. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18, 519-532. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1000
[7]
Cuijpers, R. H., Kappers, A. M. L., & Koenderink, J.J. (2000). Large Systemic Deviations in Visual Paralellelism. Perception, 29, 1467-1482. https://doi.org/10.1068/p3041
[8]
Cuijpers, R. H., Kappers, A. M. L., & Koenderink, J.J. (2003). The Metrics of Visual and Haptic Space Based on Parallelity Judgements. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 47, 278-291. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-2496(03)00004-X
[9]
Desai, R. A., Krishnan-Sarin, S., Cavallo, D., & Potenza, M. N. (2010). Video-Gaming among High School Students: Health Correlates, Gender Differences, and Problematic Gaming. Pediatrics, 126, e1414-e1424. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-2706
[10]
Dobrowolski, P., Hanusz, K., Sobczyk, B., Skorko, M., & Wiatrow, A. (2015). Cognitive Enhancement in Video Game Players: The Role of Video Game Genre. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 59-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.051
[11]
Donohue, S. E., Woldorff, M. G., & Mitroff, S. R. (2010). Video Game Players Show More Precise Multisensory Temporal Processing Abilities. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 72, 1120-1129. https://doi.org/10.3758/APP.72.4.1120
[12]
Feng, J., Spence, I., & Pratt, J. (2007). Playing an Action Video Game Reduces Gender Differences in Spatial Cognition. Psychological Science, 18, 850-855. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.x
[13]
Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2003). Action Video Game Modifies Visual Selective Attention. Nature, 423, 534-537. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01647
[14]
Green, C. S., Pouget, A., & Bavelier, D. (2010). Improved Probabilistic Inference as a General Learning Mechanism with Action Video Games. Current Biology, 20, 1573-1579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2010.07.040
[15]
Green, C. S., Sugarman, M. A., Medford, K., Klobusicky, E., & Bavelier, D. (2012). The Effect of Action Video Game Experience on Task-Switching. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 984-994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.12.020
[16]
Greenberg, B. S., Sherry, J., Lachlan, K., Lucas, K., & Holmstrom, A. (2010). Orientations to Video Games among Gender and Age Groups. Simulation & Gaming, 41, 238-259. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878108319930
[17]
Hermens, F., Kappers, A. M. L., & Gielen, S. C. A. M. (2006). The Structure of Frontoparallel Haptic Space Is Task Dependent. Perception & Psychophysics, 68, 62-75. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193656
[18]
Kaas, A. L., & Van Mier, H. I. (2006). Haptic Spatial Matching in Near Peripersonal Space. Experimental Brain Research, 170, 403-413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-005-0223-7
[19]
Kappers, A. M. L. (1999). Large Systematic Deviations in the Haptic Perception of Parallelity. Perception, 28, 1001-1012. https://doi.org/10.1068/p281001
[20]
Kappers, A. M. L. (2002). Haptic Perception of Parallelity in the Midsagittal Plane. Acta Psychologica, 109, 25-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-6918(01)00047-6
[21]
Kappers, A. M. L. (2003). Large Systematic Deviations in a Bimanual Parallelity Task: Further Analysis of Contributing Factors. Acta Psychologica, 114, 131-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-6918(03)00063-5
[22]
Kappers, A. M. L. (2007). Haptic Space Processing—Allocentric and Egocentric Reference Frames. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61, 208-218. https://doi.org/10.1037/cjep2007022
[23]
Kappers, A. M. L., & Bergmann Tiest, W. M. (2013). Haptic Perception. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 4, 357-374. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1238
[24]
Kappers, A. M. L., & Koenderink, J. J. (1999). Haptic Perception of Spatial Relations. Perception, 28, 781-795. https://doi.org/10.1068/p2930
[25]
Kappers, A. M. L., & Liefers, B. J. (2012). What Feels Parallel Strongly Depends on Hand Orientation. In P. Isokosi, & J. Springare (Eds.), Haptics: Perception, Devices, Mobility, and Communication, Volume 7282 of Lecture Notes on Computer Science (pp 239-246). Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31401-8_22
[26]
Kappers, A. M. L., & Schakel, W. B. (2011). Comparison of the Haptic and Visual Deviations in a Parallelity Task. Experimental Brain Research, 208, 467-473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-010-2500-3
[27]
Kappers, A. M. L., & Viergever, R. F. (2006). Hand Orientation Is Insufficiently Compensated for in Haptic Spatial Perception. Experimental Brain Research, 173, 407-414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0377-y
[28]
Kühn, S., Gleich, T., Lorenz, R. C., Lindenberger, U., & Gallinat, J. (2014). Playing Super Mario Induces Structural Brain Plasticity: Gray Matter Changes Resulting from Training with a Commercial Video Game. Molecular Psychiatry, 19, 265. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2013.120
[29]
Liu, J., & Ando, H. (2018). Response Modality vs. Target Modality: Sensory Transformations and Comparisons in Cross-Modal Slant Matching Tasks. Scientific Reports, 8, Article No. 11068. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29375-w
[30]
Livingstone-Lee, S. A., Zeman, P. M., Gillingham, S. T., & Skelton, R. W. (2014). Navigational Strategy May Be More a Matter of Environment and Experience than Gender. Learning and Motivation, 45, 30-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2013.09.003
[31]
Ratan, R. A., Taylor, N., Hogan, J., Kennedy, T., & Williams, D. (2015). Stand by Your Man: An Examination of Gender Disparity in League of Legends. Games and Culture, 10, 438-462. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412014567228
[32]
Rehbein, F., Kliem, S., Baier, D., Mößle, T., & Petry, N. M. (2015). Prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder in German Adolescents: Diagnostic Contribution of the Nine DSM-5 Criteria in a State-Wide Representative Sample. Addiction, 110, 842-851. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12849
[33]
Rehbein, F., Staudt, A., Hanslmaier, M., & Kliem, S. (2016). Video Game Playing in the General Adult Population of Germany: Can Higher Gaming Time of Males Be Explained by Gender Specific Genre Preferences? Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 729-735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.10.016
[34]
Spence, I., & Feng, J. (2010). Video Games and Spatial Cognition. Review of General Psychology, 14, 92-104. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019491
[35]
Terlecki, M. S., & Newcombe, N. S. (2005). How Important Is the Digital Divide? The Relation of Computer and Videogame Usage to Gender Differences in Mental Rotation Ability. Sex Roles, 53, 433-441. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-6765-0
[36]
Terlecki, M., Brown, J., Harner-Steciw, L., Irvin-Hannum, J., Marchetto-Ryan, N., Ruhl, L., & Wiggins, J. (2011). Sex Differences and Similarities in Video Game Experience, Preferences, and Self-Efficacy: Implications for the Gaming Industry. Current Psychology, 30, 22-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-010-9095-5
[37]
Van Gerven, D. J., Schneider, A. N., Wuitchik, D. M., & Skelton, R. W. (2012). Direct Measurement of Spontaneous Strategy Selection in a Virtual Morris Water Maze Shows Females Choose an Allocentric Strategy at Least as Often as Males Do. Behavioral Neuroscience, 126, 465-478. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027992
[38]
Van Mier, H. I. (2013). Effects of Visual Information Regarding Allocentric Processing in Haptic Parallelity Matching. Acta Psychologica, 144, 352-360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.07.003
[39]
Van Mier, H. I. (2014). Haptic Perception of Parallelity. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 3, 212-221. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.16
[40]
Van Mier, H. I. (2016). Reducing the Motor Response in Haptic Parallel Matching Eliminates the Typically Observed Gender Difference. Experimental Brain Research, 234, 105-115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-015-4437-z
[41]
Van Mier, H. I. (2019). Changing the Influence of the Egocentric Reference Frame Impacts Deviations in Haptic Parallelity Matching. Experimental Brain Research, 237, 2387-2395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05596-x
[42]
Van Mier, H. I. (2020). Combining Visual and Haptic Practice Significantly Reduced Deviations in Haptic Parallelity Matching. Acta Psychologica, 203, Article ID: 103008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103008
[43]
Van Mier, H. I., & Jiao, H. (2020). Influence of Action Video Gaming on Spatial Representation in the Haptic Modality. Experimental Brain Research, 238, 2769-2781. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-020-05931-7
[44]
Volcic, R., & Kappers, A. M. L. (2008). Allocentric and Egocentric Reference Frames in the Processing of Three-Dimensional Haptic Space. Experimental Brain Research, 188, 199-213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1353-5
[45]
Volcic, R., Van Rheede, J. J., Postma, A., & Kappers, A. M. L. (2008). Differential Effects of Non-Informative Vision and Visual Interference on Haptic Spatial Processing. Experimental Brain Research, 190, 31-41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1447-0
[46]
Volcic, R., Wijntjes, M. W., & Kappers, A. M. L. (2009). Haptic Mental Rotation Revisited: Multiple Reference Frame Dependence. Acta Psychologica, 130, 251-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2009.01.004
[47]
Voyer, D., Voyer, S. D., & Saint-Aubin, J. (2017). Sex Differences in Visual-Spatial Working Memory: A Meta-Analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 24, 307-334. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-016-1085-7
[48]
Yee, N. (2017). Beyond 50/50: Breaking down the Percentage of Female Gamers by Genre. https://quanticfoundry.com/2017/01/19/female-gamers-by-genre
[49]
Zuidhoek, S., Kappers, A. M. L., & Postma, A. (2007). Haptic Orientation Perception: Sex Differences and Lateralization of Functions. Neuropsychologia, 45, 332-341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.05.032
