Videogames and Motivational Persistence: A Preliminary Study

The experiment (N = 20) tested the hypothesis that the use of an interactive videogame (Cat Mario) would generally enhance motivational persistence, also in domains not directly related to the gaming context. One half of the sample (n(1) = 10) was randomly assigned to a gaming training condition; the other half (n(2) = 10) to a condition of simple passive exposure to a video reproducing the same gaming section. Results confirmed that the motivational training systematically enhanced motivational persistence in a brain teaser task, both in terms of more time spent in solving the brain teasers, and in terms of a comparatively higher number of tasks resolved. The main results of this experiment, as well as their major limitations and implications, are highlighted and discussed with respect to their potential benefits for research and society.