Video game players are often accused of passively reacting to tasks that are spoon fed to them through graphics and stimuli on the screen. Researchers from Iowa State University show that playing lots of video games has different effects on two types of cognitive activity, proactive and reactive attention.

Proactive attention can be thought of as a sort of "gearing up" mechanism. For instance, when players that are familiar with a particular game anticipate an action they need to take, such as getting a key or a pot of gold, in order to get to the next level. Reactive control is described as happening "just in time", for example, when a monster suddenly appears that is about to thwart the player's advantage or ability to get to the next level.

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These data reveal a reduction in brain activity and disruption of behavior associated with sustained attention ability related to video game experience, which converges with other recent findings indicating that there is a relation between frequent video game playing and ADD. This negative relationship between action games and proactive attention can be contrasted with the beneficial effects of these games on other aspects of visual processing.

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