| Reference code: | PT/FB/BL-2024-153.03 |
| Location: | BF-GMS
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Title:
| Brief digital and traditional gameplay transiently reallocate attentional resources in preschool children
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| Publication year: | 2026
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URL:
| Visitante: / https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2026.101183
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| Abstract/Results: | ABSTRACT:
Video game play represents one of the most engaging forms of computer-mediated activity in early childhood, yet its immediate cognitive effects remain insufficiently understood. The present single-blind randomized crossover study investigated whether a brief play session transiently alters attentional allocation and executive control in typically developing preschool children. Forty-eight children engaged in an action-like video game, a traditional puzzle board game, or a no-play control condition. Performance was assessed across auditory-phonological, visuospatial, and sensorimotor domains using tasks indexing stimulus-driven processing and executive control. Across domains, both game conditions selectively enhanced performance in tasks primarily relying on rapid, stimulus-driven processing, including phonemic awareness and visual target detection without distractors. In contrast, performance declined as executive demands increased, as reflected by reduced efficiency under high interference load, slight reductions in phonological short-term memory, and less stable sensorimotor aiming. These transient effects emerged immediately after play and did not differ substantially between digital and non-digital conditions. The findings suggest that brief, emotionally engaging play experiences - whether digital or non-digital - may temporarily prioritize bottom-up attentional processes over effortful executive regulation in preschool children. Rather than indicating purely beneficial or detrimental effects, these results highlight dynamic, context-dependent shifts in cognitive resource allocation following gameplay. Understanding such short-term multisensory and sensorimotor modulation is essential for informing the integration of digital play into early childhood learning environments.
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| Accessibility: | Document exists in file
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Language:
| eng
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Author:
| Puccio, G.
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Secondary author(s):
| Franceschini, S., Carbone, S., Filotto, C., Gori, S., Pievani, T., Trezza, V., Mascheretti, S., Facoetti, A., Bertoni, S.
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Document type:
| Article
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Number of reproductions:
| 1
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Reference:
| Puccio, G., Franceschini, S., Carbone, S., Filotto, C., Gori, S., Pievani, T., Trezza, V., Mascheretti, S., Facoetti, A., & Bertoni, S. (2026). Brief digital and traditional gameplay transiently reallocate attentional resources in preschool children. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 23, Article 101183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2026.101183 |
| Impact Factor: | 5.5|2025
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| Impact factor notes: | Impact factor not available yet for 2026
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| Times cited: | 0|2026-07-24
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| Indexed document: | Yes
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| Quartile: | Q1
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| Keywords: | Digital play / Preschool children / Attentional deployment / Executive control / Engagement
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Brief digital and traditional gameplay transiently reallocate attentional resources in preschool children |