The effect of video game experience and the ability to handle workload and workload transitions

Dynamic and complex domains, like those found in the military and healthcare require operators to experience and cope with changes in task demands, i.e. workload transitions. The literature has shown individual differences affect a person’s ability to handle workload transitions, but the role of individual experience has not been thoroughly examined. The focus of this work aims to understand how the role of video game experience, affects an individual’s ability to handle workload transitions in the context of simulated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control. Twenty-one participants completed a UAV simulation under four workload scenarios: low, high, gradual shift from low to high, and sudden shift from low to high. Performance was compared across self-reported video-game players (VGPs) and non-video game players (NVGPs). Overall accuracy for VGPs was higher than NVGPs. This line of work provides the foundation to understand the effect of video game experience, which can help inform training programs and workplace design for operators in various data-rich environments.