Expertise and generalization: lessons from action video games

Training is typically characterized by a trade-off between developing efficient performance, or expertise, and maintaining the ability to generalize one's knowledge beyond the trained domain. Here we ask whether it may be possible to train individuals to enhance their generalization abilities despite this natural trade-off. We first review the proposal that enhanced attentional control and cognitive flexibility may be potential mechanisms that will produce broad generalization. We then consider the case of action video game play which has been associated with enhancements in both attentional control and cognitive flexibility as well as generalization beyond the trained intervention.