The Role of Video Game Practice in Trial-by-Trial Adaptation, Consolidation, and Reinforcement Learning Biases

Abstract

This study examined whether habitual video game play influences reinforcement learning dynamics, feedback adaptation, consolidation, and motivational biases. Two groups of participants (gamers and controls) completed a Probabilistic Selection Task assessing learning from positive and negative feedback across three phases: learning, test, and transfer. Mixed-effects modeling revealed that gamers showed enhanced learning trajectories, particularly under high-uncertainty conditions, greater sensitivity to accumulated rewards, and a more exploitative decision pattern compared to controls. In the test phase, gamers demonstrated higher accuracy, especially on difficult stimulus pairs, suggesting superior consolidation of probabilistic value representations. However, no group differences emerged in transfer-phase approach/avoidance biases or decision consistency. These findings suggest that habitual video game experience enhances dynamic feedback integration and value updating in uncertain contexts, but does not alter stable reinforcement learning biases. Results have implications for leveraging game-like environments to enhance adaptive learning strategies in educational and clinical settings.