{"title":"Temporal attentional bias to visual game stimuli in Internet gaming disorder.","authors":"Mengjian Hu, Yixuan Ku, Lu Liu","doi":"10.1556/2006.2024.00075","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Uncontrollable gaming behavior is a core symptom of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). Attentional bias towards game-related cues may contribute to the difficulty in regulating online gaming behavior. However, the context-specific attentional bias and its cognitive mechanisms in individuals with IGD have not been systematically investigated.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We compared individuals with IGD to healthy controls (HC) using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task to measure temporal attentional bias. By applying game-related and neutral stimuli as targets, we specifically assessed how attentional resources were allocated to game-related stimuli compared to neutral stimuli.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The IGD group showed enhanced attentional blink effect when a game-related stimulus was the first target and a neutral target was the next, reflecting IGD's difficulty in disengaging from game-related stimuli. Both IGD and HC individuals exhibited decreased accuracy in identifying a neutral first target followed by a game-related second target at shorter lags, indicating increased attentional engagement with game-related stimuli in general.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The results provide a cognitive basis for recurrent and uncontrollable gaming behaviors in individuals with IGD. Game cues have priority in the allocation of attentional resources in individuals with IGD. The results shed new light on the development of specific treatments for IGD.</p>","PeriodicalId":15049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral Addictions","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Behavioral Addictions","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2024.00075","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background and aims: Uncontrollable gaming behavior is a core symptom of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). Attentional bias towards game-related cues may contribute to the difficulty in regulating online gaming behavior. However, the context-specific attentional bias and its cognitive mechanisms in individuals with IGD have not been systematically investigated.
Methods: We compared individuals with IGD to healthy controls (HC) using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task to measure temporal attentional bias. By applying game-related and neutral stimuli as targets, we specifically assessed how attentional resources were allocated to game-related stimuli compared to neutral stimuli.
Results: The IGD group showed enhanced attentional blink effect when a game-related stimulus was the first target and a neutral target was the next, reflecting IGD's difficulty in disengaging from game-related stimuli. Both IGD and HC individuals exhibited decreased accuracy in identifying a neutral first target followed by a game-related second target at shorter lags, indicating increased attentional engagement with game-related stimuli in general.
Discussion: The results provide a cognitive basis for recurrent and uncontrollable gaming behaviors in individuals with IGD. Game cues have priority in the allocation of attentional resources in individuals with IGD. The results shed new light on the development of specific treatments for IGD.
期刊介绍:
The aim of Journal of Behavioral Addictions is to create a forum for the scientific information exchange with regard to behavioral addictions. The journal is a broad focused interdisciplinary one that publishes manuscripts on different approaches of non-substance addictions, research reports focusing on the addictive patterns of various behaviors, especially disorders of the impulsive-compulsive spectrum, and also publishes reviews in these topics. Coverage ranges from genetic and neurobiological research through psychological and clinical psychiatric approaches to epidemiological, sociological and anthropological aspects.