Feng Jing, Spence Ian, Pratt Jay
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Psychol Sci. 2007 Oct;18(10):850-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.x.
We demonstrate a previously unknown gender difference in the distribution of spatial attention, a basic capacity that supports higher-level spatial cognition. More remarkably, we found that playing an action video game can virtually eliminate this gender difference in spatial attention and simultaneously decrease the gender disparity in mental rotation ability, a higher-level process in spatial cognition. After only 10 hr of training with an action video game, subjects realized substantial gains in both spatial attention and mental rotation, with women benefiting more than men. Control subjects who played a non-action game showed no improvement. Given that superior spatial skills are important in the mathematical and engineering sciences, these findings have practical implications for attracting men and women to these fields.
我们证明了在空间注意力分布上存在一种此前未知的性别差异，空间注意力是一种支持更高层次空间认知的基本能力。更值得注意的是，我们发现玩动作电子游戏几乎可以消除空间注意力方面的这种性别差异，同时还能减少空间认知中更高层次的心理旋转能力方面的性别差距。仅仅经过10小时的动作电子游戏训练后，受试者在空间注意力和心理旋转方面都取得了显著进步，女性比男性受益更多。玩非动作游戏的对照组受试者则没有表现出进步。鉴于卓越的空间技能在数学和工程科学中很重要，这些发现对于吸引男性和女性投身这些领域具有实际意义。
