Reaction time and mental agility among multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) gamers and non-MOBA gamers from De La Salle University Manila

• Main Authors: Momongan, Manuel Anthony A., Pecina, Angeline Gabrielle T., Pepingco, Marianna Christia O., Salapantan, Jimson C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2024
• Subjects: Video gamers; Video games; Reaction time; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_bio/67
• Institution: De La Salle University

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena or MOBA is rapidly rising in popularity, becoming one of the most prominent game genres in the mobile gaming industry, attracting millions of players and paving the way for eSports, which has been integrated in modern sporting event tournaments. Several studies have stated that mobile gaming influences a player’s physiological and psychological aspects, particularly regarding reaction time and mental agility, together with improving cognitive abilities. Hence, the researchers aimed to find out how MOBA and Non-MOBA players differ regarding reaction time and mental agility, and its effects on their performances. The study was quasi-experimental involving thirty (30) participants who were divided into two groups, namely MOBA and Non-MOBA gamers, consisting of 15 participants each through a survey as a selection method. The researchers compared and analyzed both groups’ results pertaining to mental agility and reaction time. In the four mental agility tests conducted, only the monochrome reading test produced a statistically significant difference (p=0.02). While the other three mental agility tests showed no statistical significance between both groups (p>0.05), though MOBA gamers performed nominally better. The results of the reaction time tests were also not statistically significant between both groups, though some tests still favor MOBA gamers. Despite insignificant differences, this study may open more opportunities for gaming to be integrated into daily activities that aim to improve cognitive abilities and supplement further research on physiology, particularly brain plasticity.