ALI ADNAN ZAVIAR AHMED ABDUL BASIT ALI EJAZ

ALI ADNAN, ZAVIAR AHMED, ABDUL BASIT, ALI EJAZ, DANIYAL SANAULLAH THE IMPACT OF VIDEO GAMES ON THE ATTENTION SPAN OF ADOLESCENTS

ABSTRACT DANIYAL SANAULLAH 18729

A Summary Video games are considered as a common pastime amongst adolescents Despite the widespread held claim that video games negatively affect one’s academic performance, our literature review suggests that there are no such decisive studies to prove that. The American Psychiatric Association does not recognize video game addiction as a disorder, considering existing evidence, the organization included video game addiction as a “condition requiring further study”

A Summary Thus, to analyze the impact of video games on Pakistani adolescents, we will ask a sample of hundred undergrad students to fill a questionnaire Complete consent of the participants will be taken, and it will be assured that neither of the participants have taken any special medication in order to boost their attention span We expect to find both kind of effects, be it positive or negative The study has both, strengths and limitations

INTRODUCTION ALI EJAZ 18779

WHY WE CHOSE THIS TOPIC? q Most of us have played or experienced video games in one way or the other including myself q Such studies rarely do occur in a conservative society such as that of ours

PREVIOUS FINDINGS-THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY q Negative correlation between GPAs and time spent on video games q Neuroplasticity effects – evidence of grey and white matter being affected through MRI q Improved cognitive abilities q Meta Study analysis of 192, 000 students from 22 countries worldwide

IMPLICATIONS OF THESE STUDIES q Biases and subjectivity q Self-reporting q Small sample sizes q Other factors may be involved that account for poor class performances such as stress, domestic abuse, etc. q Largest study found no conclusive evidence q More research required

Our hypothesis No correlation More A variables at play that need to be accounted for more thorough experiment preferably on neuroplasticity effects should be carried out

METHODOLOGY ZAVIAR AHMED 17086

Ø Participants q 100 q undergraduate participants(75 men and 25 women Assumption made that none of the participants was taking any special medication or drugs to increase their attention span q Assumption made as in our society people are not open to answering such questions

Ø Tools & Settings q CCTV cameras used to monitor participants q Stop watches used to measure attention span q To make research transparent consent form will be signed by participants q Laptops will be provided to the participants to complete the test

Ø Setting & Design q Study will be held in the library of IBA, Main Campus q First part of study done under the umbrella of descriptive research q Second part of the study also done as descriptive research q Third part of the study is an experimental research as it involves controlling a variable, i. e. time. q The data obtained will be analyzed and corelated to variables q “Co relation does not imply causation. ”

Ø Procedure q A week will be set for research study, from 10 am to 4 pm q 4 members of our group will be monitoring the participants through CCTV cameras q 3 members will record the participants attention span q An average of the 3 individual recording times will be taken out q Before giving the Questionnaire, the participant will be debriefed and consent will be taken q A group member will observe the participant and record any relevant info q Questionnaire will be short and to the point

Ø Questionnaire q Do you play video games? Yes or No q If you do, then for how much time do you play them? q How many times in a week do you play video games? q Which are some of your favorite games? q Which game do you play the most? q How many hours do you study every day? q What type of a student do you consider yourself? Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Below Average, Struggling q What is your GPA?

q After filling out the questionnaire, if the participants agree they will be given a test in the form of a game(https: //www. psytoolkit. org/cgi-bin/as/survey? s=wh. Mq. Y) to test their attention span q The participant will be required to match the correct arrow on the keyboard with that on the screen q The test is very engaging q The group members will note how many times the participant chooses a wrong arrow and the interval between the wrong choices

Ø Ethics q Participants will be debriefed about the purpose of the study q A consent form will be filled before conducting the study q Research is not ambiguous or questionable q Will maintain the confidentiality and morality of the experiment results

EXPECTED FINDINGS ALI ADNAN 18700

A higher percentage of males would say yes to playing video games, as compared to females Response to Questionnaire Live Action Video Games (LAVG) will be the dominant answer to the type of video games played A negative correlation between time spent on video games and time invested in studies

Observational Findings Participants will be distracted and display low attention spans regardless of whether they play video games or not The participants who are experts in Action Video Games (AVG) will prove to have superior visual selective attention (VSA), relative to non-expert participants in AVG

Response to the Arrow Test MOST OF THE PARTICIPANTS WOULD AGREE TO TAKE THE TEST PARTICIPANTS WHO OFTEN PLAY VIDEO GAMES ARE EXPECTED TO SCORE HIGHER

DISCUSSION ABDUL BASIT 19300

Strengths Internal validity that shows that there is no correlation between playing video games and attention span. Identification that playing video games improve decisionmaking skills and lower the reaction time as participants who play video games frequently will do well in the fun-filled arrow game they were asked to play after filling the questionnaire.

Limitations Not accurate as other factors such as mood, stress, and health are not measured. Self reporting of video game playing hours may also cause inaccuracy.

Implications Factors such as poor academic performance (Low GPA/ school grades) won't be blamed on video games in the future. video games, especially educational ones, would be encouraged to improve an individual’s IQ scores, academic performances, decision-making skills, reaction time, etc.

Recommendations factors such as health, stress and mood to obtain an accurate result. Self-reporting should be eliminated as much as possible. questions such as have you experienced any physical/mental abuse? Or have you ever been to a psychiatrist? Should be included in the questionnaire to get cleared on the factors which affect attention span.