Variations in psychological factors and experience-dependent changes in team-based video game performance

Justin W. Bonny, Mike Scanlon and Lisa M. Castaneda

Intelligence, 2020, vol. 80, issue C

Abstract: Success in many types of activities relies upon the performance of skilled individuals. Across formal and more informal environments, the amount of experience an individual has accumulated has been observed to predict skilled performance. Psychological traits have also been found to relate to the development of skilled performance. Questions remain regarding what factors influence the development of skilled performance within team-based activities. Factors including variations in psychological traits and how teammates are selected, in addition to the amount of accumulated experience, may differ in how strongly they influence changes in the skilled performance of individuals. In the present study, the degree to which psychological factors interacted with accumulated experience with regard to skilled performance was examined within a team-based activity. Personality, social, and cognitive measures were collected from players of a team-based online video game. Subsequently, their experience and performance playing video game matches where their teammates were selected by the players versus randomly assigned were assessed across a three-month period. Longitudinal models revealed that performance improved with the number of matches played, with the rate of improvement affected by how teammates were selected and individual differences in specific psychological measures, number processing ability, fluid intelligence, theory of mind ability, and neuroticism. These psychological factors and the method by which teammates were selected moderated the degree to which individuals improved their performance with experience. In line with previous research, these findings indicated that psychological factors, in addition to experience, contributed to the development of skilled performance within a team-based activity.

Keywords: Experience; Gaming; Teams; Personality; Cognition; Performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:intell:v:80:y:2020:i:c:s0160289620300283

DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2020.101450

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