Video Games that Improve 'Learning to Learn': Focus on Action Video Game Play Elements

A growing body of literature demonstrates that playing action video games (AVGs) can improve attentional and cognitive abilities, thereby facilitating better learning skills that are critical to academic foundations. However, there are no evidence-based rules for selecting a game that can lead to attentional improvements. This exploratory study attempted to develop an Action Video Game Characteristics (AVGC) instrument that distinguishes AVGs from other video game genres, and examine individuals' perceptions of specific video games that were used in previous AVG training research using the AVGC instrument.